Business Manager

SF Partners; West Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

SF Recruitment is partnering with an established automotive manufacturer in the West Midlands to appoint an Automotive Business Manager / Commercial Manager on a 12-month FTC, hybrid working. The role focuses on managing customer relationships, pricing, costing and programme profitability across the lifecycle, interfacing with engineering and finance to drive commercial performance.

Candidates should have automotive sector experience, strong negotiations, and advanced Excel skills, with a track

Qualifications

• Experience within automotive manufacturing or Tier 1 supplier
• Experience managing customer quotations, pricing, costing and commercial negotiations
• Strong understanding of programme financials and profitability
• Advanced Excel skills
• Strong customer-facing communication and negotiation skills

Responsibilities

• Act as a key commercial interface between customers and internal programme, engineering and finance teams
• Manage key automotive customer relationships and lead commercial negotiations
• Prepare and negotiate customer quotations for engineering and design changes
• Manage programme pricing, costing and overall commercial performance
• Develop pricing estimates covering piece price, tooling and CAPEX
• Support new business RFQs and programme-related quotation packages
• Monitor and report the financial position and profitability of customer programmes
• Work closely with Programme Development Teams throughout the programme lifecycle
• Support VA/VE and cost-reduction initiatives from a commercial perspective
• Present programme financial performance to senior management and customer stakeholders
• Identify opportunities to improve costing, quotation and commercial processes

Skills

Advanced Excel

Customer negotiations

Pricing & costing

Programme profitability

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Automotive Business Manager / Commercial Manager

West Midlands | Hybrid Working

12-month FTC with strong potential for extension/permanent opportunity

SF Recruitment are working with an established automotive manufacturer to recruit an experienced Automotive Business Manager / Commercial Manager on an initial 12-month contract.

This is a key commercial role with responsibility for managing customer relationships and the financial performance of automotive programmes throughout their lifecycle.

We’re looking to speak with experienced Commercial Managers, Programme Commercial Managers, Business Managers or Key Account Managers from an automotive manufacturing or Tier 1 supplier background who have strong experience across customer negotiations, quotations, pricing, costing and programme profitability.

The role:

• Act as a key commercial interface between customers and internal programme, engineering and finance teams
• Manage key automotive customer relationships and lead commercial negotiations
• Prepare and negotiate customer quotations for engineering and design changes
• Manage programme pricing, costing and overall commercial performance
• Develop pricing estimates covering piece price, tooling and CAPEX
• Support new business RFQs and programme-related quotation packages
• Monitor and report the financial position and profitability of customer programmes
• Work closely with Programme Development Teams throughout the programme lifecycleSupport VA/VE and cost-reduction initiatives from a commercial perspective
• Present programme financial performance to senior management and customer stakeholders
• Identify opportunities to improve costing, quotation and commercial processes

What we’re looking for:

• Strong experience within automotive manufacturing or a Tier 1 supplier
• Background in commercial management, account management, programme commercial management or automotive business management
• Experience managing customer quotations, pricing, costing and commercial negotiations
• Strong understanding of programme financials and profitability
• Experience supporting automotive RFQs and customer change requests
• Advanced Excel skills
• Strong customer-facing, communication and negotiation skills
• Ability to work effectively across commercial, engineering, programme and finance teams
• An engineering or technical background would be advantageous

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced automotive commercial professional who enjoys being at the centre of the customer, commercial and programme relationship, with genuine ownership of programme financial performance.