Sales Manager

Eleven Recruiting; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Eleven Recruiting is seeking a Sales Manager to join a global aerospace and defense OEM in the greater Los Angeles area. You will own organic sales growth for strategic accounts and product lines, focusing on spares and aftermarket sales within an assigned territory.

Responsibilities include managing the full sales cycle, from lead qualification to negotiated contracts, building a robust pipeline, and collaborating with engineering, program management, and operations to win bids.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, ideally in aerospace.
• 10+ years sales experience or experience in a customer-facing role directly responsible for driving business growth.
• Demonstrated track record converting quotations, campaigns, and pipeline opportunities into booked sales.
• Experience preparing and negotiating complex proposals and sales contracts within delegated authorization limits.
• Strong pipeline and opportunity management skills — building, tracking, and progressing a sales pipeline from lead to close.
• Highly organized, with the ability to manage and prioritize a varied workload across multiple accounts and opportunities.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-functional collaboration skills, able to work effectively with internal stakeholders to support bid development.
• Willingness to travel as needed to support customer and business engagements.
• Eligible to access ITAR-controlled information given the nature of the business.

Responsibilities

• Own personal accountability for achieving an annual delegated sales target, driving spares sales growth within an assigned high-profile territory.
• Identify and pursue growth opportunities within the territory with significant autonomy, applying commercial judgment to prioritize the highest-value pursuits.
• Prepare and deliver complex sales proposals and negotiate sales contracts, exercising considerable discretion within delegated authorization limits.
• Partner with sales analysts to identify new leads and opportunities within existing and prospective customer accounts.
• Identify and execute sales strategies to target key distribution partners and customers.
• Build, manage, and actively work a sales pipeline of leads and opportunities from initial qualification through close.
• Convert quotations and sales campaigns into booked orders, tracking progress against the assigned sales target.
• Develop and maintain relationships with strategic customer accounts, serving as a trusted point of contact through the full sales cycle.
• Lead bids and proposals end-to-end, coordinating with internal stakeholders to develop competitive, deliverable offers.
• Balance a varied workload across multiple accounts and opportunities, managing priorities independently.
• Travel as needed to support customer and business engagements.

Skills

Sales leadership

Pipeline management

Proposal negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

Territory planning

Travel flexibility

ITAR eligibility

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Aerospace-related field preferred

Job description

Eleven Recruiting is searching for a Sales Manager to join a well-established, global aerospace and defense OEM in the greater Los Angeles area. This organization provides complex engineered parts and repair/MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) services supporting established aircraft platforms across the defense and commercial markets, with a large and growing portfolio of legacy product lines and decades of manufacturing and aftermarket support experience.

The Role

The Sales Manager will own organic sales growth for specific strategic customer accounts and product lines, with a particular focus on spares and aftermarket sales within an assigned territory. This role owns the full sales cycle — identifying and qualifying leads, building and managing a sales pipeline, preparing and negotiating complex proposals, and converting opportunities into booked business. The Sales Manager reports to the Senior Sales Manager and works closely with internal stakeholders across engineering, program management, and operations to develop and win bids.

Responsibilities

• Own personal accountability for achieving an annual delegated sales target, driving spares sales growth within an assigned high-profile territory.
• Identify and pursue growth opportunities within the territory with significant autonomy, applying commercial judgment to prioritize the highest-value pursuits.
• Prepare and deliver complex sales proposals and negotiate sales contracts, exercising considerable discretion within delegated authorization limits.
• Partner with sales analysts to identify new leads and opportunities within existing and prospective customer accounts.
• Identify and execute sales strategies to target key distribution partners and customers.
• Build, manage, and actively work a sales pipeline of leads and opportunities from initial qualification through close.
• Convert quotations and sales campaigns into booked orders, tracking progress against the assigned sales target.
• Develop and maintain relationships with strategic customer accounts, serving as a trusted point of contact through the full sales cycle.
• Lead bids and proposals end-to-end, coordinating with internal stakeholders to develop competitive, deliverable offers.
• Balance a varied workload across multiple accounts and opportunities, managing priorities independently.
• Travel as needed to support customer and business engagements.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, ideally in an aerospace-related field.
• 10+ years of sales experience, or experience in a customer-facing role directly responsible for driving business growth.
• Demonstrated track record converting quotations, campaigns, and pipeline opportunities into booked sales.
• Experience preparing and negotiating complex proposals and sales contracts within delegated authorization limits.
• Strong pipeline and opportunity management skills — building, tracking, and progressing a sales pipeline from lead to close.
• Highly organized, with the ability to manage and prioritize a varied workload across multiple accounts and opportunities.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-functional collaboration skills, able to work effectively with internal stakeholders to support bid development.
• Willingness to travel as needed to support customer and business engagements.
• Eligible to access ITAR-controlled information given the nature of the business.

Preferred

• Proven sales experience within the aerospace industry.
• Direct experience selling spares or aftermarket products.
• Experience working with and managing distribution partners.