Commercial Solutions Engineers/Applications Engineers

Akkodis; Greensboro (NC); On-site; USD 105,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Akkodis is seeking three full-time Automotive Commercial Sales Engineers to join our team in the Greensboro, NC (preferred) or Dublin, VA Metro areas. These roles are primary commercial decision-maker positions for complex vehicle customization requests.

Candidates should have backgrounds in vocational and body builder installations, capable of translating customer needs into executable configurations while ensuring end-to-end commercial process ownership and cross-functional leadership.

Qualifications

• Five+ years in commercial engineering, technical sales, pricing, product management, business development, or strategic quotation management within automotive or related industry.
• Experience leading cross-functional work without direct reporting authority.
• Demonstrated experience making complex commercial decisions involving competing customer, financial, technical, and operational considerations.
• Experience developing pricing recommendations, business cases, portfolio strategies, or customer solution strategies.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end commercial evaluation of complex customer requests from intake to final decision, quotation, implementation, and review.
• Coordinate the full process across Sales, Finance, Engineering, Product Management, Operations and other stakeholders.
• Translate customer demand into executable vehicle configurations and commercial actions.
• Define commercial conditions, assumptions, and limitations to protect the company while delivering competitive solutions.
• Monitor outcomes and drive continuous improvement in pricing, processes, and portfolio strategy.
• Lead strategic technical and commercial discussions with major customers and internal executives.

Skills

Truck configurations

Vehicle systems

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic thinking

Pricing strategy

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Engineering/Business

Job description

Due to recent expansion, Akkodis is seeking three full-time Automotive Commercial Sales Engineers to join our dedicated team in the Greensboro, NC (preferred) or Dublin, VA Metro areas. These are primary commercial decision-maker roles for complex and nonstandard customer solution requests towards vehicle customization orders. Seeking candidates with backgrounds in vocational and body builder installations where individuals would be knowledgeable and support processes to prepare specs for vocational customers and customers that use third party body builders.

Primary responsibilities follow:

• Evaluate customer truck customization requests.
• Coordinate solutions across Sales, Engineering, Operations, Product teams, and Order Management.
• Translate customer needs into executable vehicle configurations.
• Guide requests through the approval and implementation process.
• Communicate decisions, requirements, assumptions, and impacts to stakeholders.
• Identify process improvements and drive operational efficiencies.
• Help evolve future-state processes as the organization transitions to the new model.

The role is not expected to perform engineering design work. Instead, the individual should be capable of understanding how commercial trucks are configured and built, the technical impacts involved and coordinating the right resources to deliver solutions. This aligns closely with the job description's emphasis on end-to-end commercial process ownership, cross-functional leadership, customer adaptation evaluation, and strategic decision making.

Pay Range: $105,000 to $150,000/yr. The salary may be negotiable based on experience, education, geographic location, and other factors.

Automotive Commercial Sales Engineers job responsibilities include:

1. End-to-End Commercial Customer Adaptation Process Ownership

• Own the commercial evaluation of complex and nonstandard customer requests from initial intake through final decision, quotation delivery, implementation handoff, and outcome review.
• Establish the appropriate evaluation path based on customer value, strategic importance, financial opportunity, technical complexity, organizational capacity, and risk.
• Coordinate the complete process flow across Sales, Finance, Engineering, Product Management, Operations, and other stakeholders without transferring overall accountability.
• Ensure that decisions, assumptions, commitments, pricing, risks, and implementation requirements are clearly documented and communicated with cross functional stakeholders.
• Monitor outcomes and incorporate lessons learned into future commercial decisions, pricing practices, and portfolio recommendations.

2. Commercial Judgment and Decision Authority

• Exercise independent reasoning and delegated authority to approve, conditionally approve, decline, defer, or escalate customer solution requests.
• Determine whether the most appropriate response is a standard portfolio solution, a modified existing offering, a custom engineering solution, or an alternative commercial approach.
• Evaluate whether customer value and expected financial return justify engineering effort, operational complexity, timing, risk, and long-term support requirements.
• Resolve conflicting priorities by balancing immediate sales opportunities with profitability, portfolio integrity, organizational capacity, and long-term product strategy.
• Establish commercial conditions, assumptions, and limitations necessary to protect the company while providing a competitive customer solution.

3. Pricing Strategy and Profitability Ownership

• Develop and approve pricing for unpublished and nonstandard solutions within delegated authority.
• Evaluate cost, margin, market position, customer value, commercial risk, volume potential, and strategic importance when establishing pricing.
• Define pricing assumptions, exception criteria, and financial guardrails for complex commercial requests.
• Partner with Finance and other stakeholders when decisions exceed delegated thresholds or create broader financial exposure.
• Analyze quotation and order outcomes to identify margin improvement opportunities, pricing inconsistencies, and areas requiring updated commercial guidance.

4. Portfolio and Offering Strategy

• Determine when customer needs should be addressed through existing portfolio offerings and when custom development may be commercially justified.
• Identify recurring requests, capability gaps, and emerging applications that may warrant a standardized or repeatable solution.
• Develop business recommendations regarding which offerings Volvo should standardize, expand, modify, partner to provide, or discontinue.
• Protect the integrity and scalability of the pre-engineered vehicle portfolio by preventing unnecessary customization and promoting commercially sound solutions.
• Translate customer demand, quotation activity, and commercial outcomes into actionable recommendations for Product Management and Engineering.

5. Strategic Market and Customer Analysis

• Synthesize market developments, customer behavior, competitive activity, and technology trends into implications for commercial strategy and product direction.
• Assess the commercial impact of developments in electromobility, connectivity, automation, regulation, and changing customer applications.
• Identify future customer requirements and recommend proactive portfolio, pricing, or process responses.
• Develop evidence-based business cases for new solutions, investments, partnerships, or changes to existing offerings.
• Use quotation, order, margin, and market data to prioritize strategic opportunities and recommend resource allocation.

6. Executive Customer and Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead strategic technical and commercial discussions with major customers, dealers, sales leadership, and internal executives.
• Present complex recommendations in clear business terms, including customer value, financial impact, strategic fit, risks, alternatives, and implementation requirements.
• Negotiate commercially sustainable solutions while maintaining productive customer and dealer relationships.
• Influence cross-functional decisions where stakeholders have competing technical, financial, operational, or commercial priorities.
• Represent the organization’s position on complex offerings and clearly communicate the rationale behind major decisions.

7. Process Governance and Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain decision frameworks, evaluation criteria, pricing principles, escalation thresholds, and governance standards for nonstandard requests.
• Identify process gaps, unnecessary handoffs, recurring delays, and inconsistent decisions across the quotation and approval process.
• Lead improvements that increase decision quality, quotation responsiveness, profitability, accountability, and customer experience.
• Establish feedback loops between Sales, Engineering, Finance, Product Management, and Operations.
• Define and monitor measures such as quotation cycle time, approval effectiveness, margin performance, win rate, implementation success, and recurrence of custom requests.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Finance, Product Management ,OR a related discipline, OR equivalent industry experience.

Experience

• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in commercial engineering, technical sales, pricing, product management, business development, or strategic quotation management within the automotive or a related industry.
• The team is willing to train the right persons, provided they can demonstrate strong understanding of vehicle systems and configuration management.
• Demonstrated experience making complex commercial decisions involving competing customer, financial, technical, and operational considerations.
• Experience leading cross-functional work without relying solely on direct reporting authority.
• Experience developing pricing recommendations, business cases, portfolio strategies, or customer solution strategies.
• Strategic and systems thinking
• Independent reasoning and sound business judgment
• Commercial and financial acumen
• Pricing strategy and profitability analysis
• Portfolio and offering management
• Cross-functional leadership and influence
• Risk assessment and trade-off analysis
• Process ownership and continuous improvement
• Data synthesis and market analysis
• Accountability for decisions and business outcomes

PREFERRED SKILLS

• Commercial truck configurations
• Vehicle systems and components
• Truck industry terminology
• Customer adaptation/customization processes

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

Benefit offerings available for our associates include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, additional voluntary benefits, EAP program, commuter benefits and a 401K plan. Our benefit offerings provide employees the flexibility to choose the type of coverage that meets their individual needs. In addition, our associates may be eligible for paid leave including Paid Sick Leave or any other paid leave required by Federal, State, or local law, as well as Holiday pay where applicable.

To read our Candidate Privacy Information Statement, which explains how we will use your information, please visit https://www.akkodis.com/en/privacy-policy.

The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable:·

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