Key Account Manager

John Crane; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

John Crane, a Smiths Group company, is seeking a Key Account Manager in Houston, TX to develop and manage relationships with assigned customers, align solutions with business objectives, and drive revenue growth.

You will lead strategic account plans, engage senior leaders, and coordinate with local and global teams to meet order intake, sales, and margin targets.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience in Sales and/or Account Management.
• Strong networking and communication skills.
• OEMs for rotating equipment knowledge preferred.
• Willingness to travel ~50% across North America.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and senior leaders within assigned accounts.
• Deploy and execute the global account strategy in alignment with the GAM.
• Develop understanding of customers' objectives and align company solutions.
• Identify opportunities to grow revenue through upselling and cross-selling.
• Lead technical discussions and support customer decision-making.
• Develop and execute account plans to meet order intake, sales and margin targets.

Skills

Account Management

Negotiation

Relationship Building

Communication

Travel flexibility

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Job description

John Crane, a business of Smiths Group, is a global leader in mission-critical flow control solutions for energy and process industries that enable efficient and sustainable operations. Our products include mechanical seals and systems, couplings, bearings, filtration systems, and predictive digital monitoring technologies.

We have a global network of more than 200 sites in over 50 countries and employ more than 6,000 people worldwide. We partner with our customers to help them keep their operations safe, reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and meet the latest environmental standards.

John Crane is part of Smiths Group. For over 170 years, Smiths has been pioneering progress by engineering for a better future. We serve millions of people every year, helping to create a safer, more efficient, productive, and better-connected world across four global markets: energy, security & defence, space & aerospace, and general industrial. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths employs approximately 16,000 colleagues in over 50 countries.

Job Description

The Key Account Manager (KAM) is responsible for developing, managing, and strengthening relationships with assigned customers at the local level. This role focuses on building trusted partnerships with senior management stakeholders and creating mutual value through strategic collaboration.

As a sales-focused position, the KAM drives revenue growth by identifying, developing, and securing new business opportunities within existing customer accounts. The role requires a strong understanding of customer needs, the ability to align solutions with business objectives, and a proactive approach to expanding account potential while ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction and long-term retention.

Responsibilities include but not limited to the following:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and senior leaders within assigned customer accounts, serving as the primary point of contact for all account-related matters.
• Deploy and execute the global account strategy in alignment with direction provided by the Global Account Manager (GAM).
• Develop a deep understanding of customers’ business objectives, challenges, R&D priorities, and strategic requirements to effectively align company solutions.
• Identify and capitalize on opportunities to grow revenue through upselling, cross-selling, and expanding the scope of services within existing accounts.
• Lead technical discussions and support customer decision-making while ensuring compliance with internal engineering standards and policies.
• Develop and execute account plans to achieve order intake, sales, and margin targets in collaboration with local and global account teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Engineering, Marketing, Business Management, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience is preferred. High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Experience in Sales and/or Account Management, including customer relationship management, negotiations, contracts, and related legal/commercial matters.
• Outstanding networking, relationship-building, and communication skills, with the ability to influence customers and stakeholders at multiple organizational levels.
• Recognized industry expertise in Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for rotating equipment and a strong understanding of associated end-user markets.
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 50%, primarily throughout North America, including occasional travel to Canada. Global travel may occur for internal company events as needed.
• Facilitate effective communication and information sharing between the GAM, KAM network, regional sales teams, customer service, and global project teams.
• Experience working within a global, culturally diverse organization is preferred.

Job grade and compensation will be determined based on qualifications and relevant experience.

Additional information

With colleagues stretching across the globe, we are proud of our diversity. To foster inclusivity, we run employee resource groups (ERGs) to provide a safe space for employees to connect and support each other. Our cross-business ERGs include Veterans, Pride Network, Black Employee Network, Women@Work Network, and Neurodiversity.

Across our company, we recognize excellence, culminating in the Smiths Excellence Awards, our annual celebration of the most extraordinary activities, people, and projects that best showcase our strengths and help drive our business forward. We announce these on our annual Smiths Day, a global celebration of Smiths around our network.