Account Manager

This position reports directly to the Senior Sales Manager, Americas, and works in collaboration with a broader team including Customer Service, Supply Chain, R&D (Research & Development), TS&D (Technical Support & Development), Product Management, Marketing and Finance. Travel will be required for the position.

Account Management (80%)

• Responsible for Ethylene Acrylic Acid and Ionomer specialty polymer sales (under the trade names Primacor, Primacor IO and Ionia) in North America (USA and Canada) in markets including packaging, automotive, consumer goods, compounding, construction, wire & cable and others.
• Manage existing direct customers and distribution partners, in growing the North American territory. Achieve annual sales goals based on business strategy
• Build and maintain strong, lasting customer partnerships across purchasing, technical, operational and senior management personnel at customers, to help drive customer purchasing decisions
• Implement a disciplined approach towards maximizing profit margins through pricing, contracts, commercial terms, on-time customer payments, and controlling working capital
• Provide appropriate sales forecasts, capitalize on positive market trends, and plan appropriate fall back options during market contraction
• Develop key account plans, build internal cross-functional alignment, and drive implementation of strategies outlined in the account plans
• Visit customer manufacturing plants, labs, pilot test facilities, to coordinate product trials and qualifications
• Constantly acquire market and competitive intelligence, and bring new ideas around applications, products and differentiated SK solutions, to help grow market share
• Provide monthly progress reports at sales meetings, analyze results, and identify positive highlights to be reinforced or areas for improvement

Technical Sales Development (10%)

• Build a strong knowledge of the SK specialty product portfolio, including individual products, applications and target markets, to enable recommending appropriate products into market applications
• Initiate and organize meetings with existing and prospective customers, across their technical and purchasing teams, to identify sales opportunities
• Coordinate involvement of internal SK teams including Sales Managers and Directors, TS&D and R&D, to identify appropriate products and solutions towards converting sales opportunities into commercial success
• Own the opportunity pipeline, update regularly, and proactively review pipeline for robustness and win-rate
• Respond to customer’s requests related to raw material questionnaires, confidentiality agreements and Environmental Health and Safety information
• Participate in conferences and exhibitions to promote SK products and solutions
• Record, report, and address issues of workplace misconduct including, but not limited to acts workplace violence, or harassment, or drug abuse.

• Self-motivated:
  Passion for solution selling, combining technical new business development aptitude with commercial account management abilities. Ability to work independently and with minimum direction
• Bias for results: sense of urgency in delivering sales volumes, revenues and profit margins
• Disciplined in following up on customer projects (new application opportunities, share capture, new product commercialization, margin expansion)
• Excellent communication skills: oral and written. Ability to listen to and understand customer needs and challenges, and translate into opportunities for SK
• Strategic thinking and problem solving
• Organization skills:
  Oral and written. To present sales analysis during internal meetings, using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, and driving recommendations
• At ease working in a fast-paced environment, prioritizing and adapting quickly to changes
• Perseverance:
  Ability to recover from setbacks, and staying focused despite challenging circumstances
• Professional demeanor and ability to maintain company confidentiality where required
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills to influence decisions both at customers and internally at SK,…