Market Manager - Specialty Vehicle & Power Sports

Job Title: Market Manager – Specialty Vehicle & Power Sports

Location: Waterloo, IA

Salary: $100-125K plus bonus

Job Summary of the Market Manager:  The Market Manager – Specialty Vehicle & Power Sports is responsible for the strategic direction, market ownership, profitable growth, and competitive positioning of the assigned Specialty Vehicle and Power Sports market segments. The Market Manager develops and leads market plans that define target segments, growth priorities, key account strategies, pricing direction, product line opportunities, market risks, and competitive threats. The position translates market intelligence, customer application needs, competitor activity, and product performance data into actionable recommendations that support revenue growth, margin improvement, product roadmap and long-range strategic plans.

Job Duties & Responsibilities of the Market Manager:

·         Manage key accounts strategically to lead these accounts to continued usage of current company products and to ensure we can quote any new product opportunities that may arise. 

·         Work along with Field Sales Engineers/Reps to develop strategic relationships with key accounts to be able to determine which resources at customer locations are responsible for what type of purchasing, engineering, and marketing decisions. 

·         Identify key opportunities and present as a source solution for the customer’s application needs. 

·         Provide guidance for selecting and bringing forward opportunities to the work groups. 

·         Responsible for the identification and completion of appropriate project deliverables to ensure that thye  APQP development system is consistently followed.

·         Provide clear and consistent delivery of information to both internal and external customers for the segment in conjunction with support for the integrity of products.

·         Develop and lead annual business plans for assigned Specialty Vehicle and Power Sports segments, covering market size, share, growth targets, key accounts, product opportunities, pricing, risks and actions.

·         Conduct ongoing market analysis using customer input, research, trade events, industry networks, CRM data and sales input to identify trends, needs, application changes and growth opportunities.

·         Monitor key competitors’ offerings, pricing, strengths, weaknesses and strategic moves, and communicate threats and opportunities to the Director of Sales and Senior Management Team.

·         Lead market capture and gap analysis to identify priority opportunities for profitable growth across applications, customer segments and product categories.

·         Recommend pricing strategies based on market value, competition, customer needs, profitability, cost changes and margin objectives.

·         Monitor profitability and help determine when products should be redesigned, cost-reduced, repriced, substituted, expanded or discontinued.

·         Translate market and customer input into roadmap recommendations, gap analysis, next-generation needs, substitutions and cost-reduction opportunities with Engineering, Product Management and Sales.

·         Develop key account plans that align customer priorities with market strategy to retain business, capture opportunities and support market-leading customers.

·         Prepare annual sales plans and Five-Year Plan input, including market outlook, sales expectations, opportunities, economic assumptions, growth initiatives and risk assessment.

·         Coordinate outside sales by communicating target accounts, developmental accounts, opportunity priorities, market expectations and follow-up requirements.

·         Ensure ERP/Infor accurately documents market and opportunity information for business planning and decision making.

·   Support APQP and launches by ensuring customer requirements, market expectations, application needs and Phase One deliverables are identified, communicated and completed per processes.

 Education & Experience Requirements of the Market Manager:

·         Must possess a high level of negotiation skills supplemented by employing a very high working knowledge of product lines to influence customers’ selections. 

·         Ability to assess market size, share, trends, customer applications, competitor activity and growth opportunities.

·         Ability to develop market plans, set priorities, align resources and convert strategy into measurable business actions.

·         Ability to build strong customer relationships, understand decision drivers and develop account plans that support retention and growth.

·         Ability to evaluate pricing, product cost, margins, profitability, cost drivers and the financial performance of assigned markets.

·         Ability to monitor assigned market revenue, margin performance, cost trends and profitability, and recommend actions to improve financial results.

·         Strong understanding of company products, customer applications, manufacturing capabilities and product performance requirements.

·         Ability to convert customer needs and market feedback into product roadmap input, project requirements and improvement opportunities.

·         Ability to lead through influence across Sales, Engineering, Product Management, APQP, Customer Service and outside sales representatives.

·         Ability to use CRM data, sales history, market research and financial information to support recommendations and decisions.

·         Working knowledge of APQP requirements and ability to support Phase One deliverables, project specifications and launch readiness.

·         Knowledge of applicable ISO 9001, IATF 16949, QMS, EMS and customer-specific quality requirements.

·         Ability to communicate clearly with customers, sales representatives, technical teams and senior leadership in written and verbal formats.

·         Ability to position company values, resolve concerns and influence customer and internal decisions professionally.

·         Ability to accurately maintain account, opportunity, contact, call report and market information in CRM and related business systems.

·         Ability to identify problems, apply structured problem-solving methods and support improvement actions that strengthen customer satisfaction and business results.