What are the responsibilities and job description for the Inside Sales Representative position at AEM Hi-Rel?
Description
Organizational Overview
AEM, headquartered in San Diego, California, is a portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners (IGP), a private equity firm focused exclusively on middle-market industrial manufacturing and niche services businesses. Through its industry leading brands, AEM, Renaissance Electronics, and Central Semiconductor, AEM serves niche applications across a diverse array of attractive markets including satellite, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, EV/Battery, and telecom.
Position Summary
The Inside Sales Representative protects and grows repeat business for a named portfolio of long-standing customers, primarily within Aerospace & Defense. This role owns the end-to-end quote-to-order workflow and ensures strong customer experience through timely issue resolution and closed-loop support. The ISR also supports strategic growth initiatives through prospecting, lead generation, and lead management, and is expected to run strong discovery in every customer interaction to uncover cross-sell and new program opportunities.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications:
Organizational Overview
AEM, headquartered in San Diego, California, is a portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners (IGP), a private equity firm focused exclusively on middle-market industrial manufacturing and niche services businesses. Through its industry leading brands, AEM, Renaissance Electronics, and Central Semiconductor, AEM serves niche applications across a diverse array of attractive markets including satellite, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, EV/Battery, and telecom.
Position Summary
The Inside Sales Representative protects and grows repeat business for a named portfolio of long-standing customers, primarily within Aerospace & Defense. This role owns the end-to-end quote-to-order workflow and ensures strong customer experience through timely issue resolution and closed-loop support. The ISR also supports strategic growth initiatives through prospecting, lead generation, and lead management, and is expected to run strong discovery in every customer interaction to uncover cross-sell and new program opportunities.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- Own and manage a named portfolio of repeat-business customers; drive retention and growth through proactive phone/email engagement.
- Conduct RFQ discovery and qualification to confirm requirements, timeline, stakeholders, and buying process.
- Use consistent discovery and cross-sell questions in every customer interaction to identify new programs/products and generate qualified opportunities for Territory Account Manager handoff.
- Prepare and deliver accurate, timely quotes; manage revisions and re-quotes as needed by coordinating with internal teams to remove technical, pricing, or lead-time blockers.
- Execute consistent quote follow-up to progress opportunities and secure purchase orders.
- Maintain disciplined CRM opportunity management in Salesforce (stages, value, close dates, next steps, activity).
- Run structured outreach and follow-up using Salesloft to ensure execution and visibility.
- Own order booking and order entry activities, including order changes, and provide proactive customer communication on status, risks, and resolution through fulfillment.
- Resolve routine customer issues (order status, delivery, documentation, returns/RMAs/credits) and escalate appropriately through closure.
- Support lead response and qualification and assist with prospecting/lead management aligned to growth initiatives.
- Full-time, exempt position
- Competitive pay based on knowledge, skills, and relevant experience
- Benefits for eligible employees include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and 401(k) with company match
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- 2 years of relevant experience in inside sales, account management, or business development.
- Strong communication, organization, and attention to detail.
- Experience managing RFQs/quoting workflows and using a CRM (Salesforce/Salesloft).
- Experience in electronic components, semiconductors, or a related technical B2B industry.
- Familiarity supporting Aerospace & Defense customers and/or DoD programs (government contracting exposure a plus).
- Proficiency with sales tech tools such as Salesforce, Salesloft, and ZoomInfo (or comparable platforms).
- Experience working with distribution and manufacturer rep channels.
- Customer-first ownership: Drives responsiveness, follow-through, and strong customer experience from quote through fulfillment.
- Opportunity-minded: Asks strong discovery questions, identifies whitespace, and converts customer conversations/touchpoints into sales-qualified leads (SQLs).
- Operational excellence: Manages multiple priorities (RFQs, quoting, follow-up, order execution) with speed and accuracy.
- Process data discipline: Maintains clean CRM records and uses data/insights to prioritize and communicate effectively.
- Collaborative execution: Coordinates effectively across internal teams and external partners to remove blockers and close the loop.