Senior Sales Manager, Software

Panasonic Automotive; Farmington Hills (MI); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Great Medical/Dental Benefits

Company-Matched 401K Retirement Saving

Annual Bonus Program

Educational Assistance

Relaxed Dress Code

Leadership & Mentorship Programs

Onsite Happy Hours

And many more benefits & perks

Job summary

Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America (PASA) seeks an accomplished leader to drive business development and account growth for automotive and mobility customers. The role blends traditional hardware programs with software, cloud and service solutions, promoting digital transformation and AI-enabled tools across the sales process.

You will coordinate global technology development with Panasonic automotive engineering and software teams, coach senior account managers, and shape plans

Qualifications

• 10+ years in automotive parts, systems or components industry with sales focus.
• Proven track record of developing new sales opportunities and closing negotiations for hardware and software/services.
• Experience selling software as a service (SaaS) and licensing software via cloud platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead technology presentations and live demonstrations of digital, cloud-connected and AI-enabled solutions to customers.
• Coordinate global technology development with engineering and software teams across the portfolio.
• Provide leadership to senior account managers on new technology and value-based selling.
• Define strategic and tactical plans to balance hardware with software/service revenue streams.
• Translate customer needs into solution requirements for software, cloud and data-driven offerings.

Skills

Automotive software sales

AI & data analytics

Strategic account management

Negotiation

CRM proficiency

Cross-functional leadership

Cloud & SaaS offerings

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a related field

Tools

CRM platforms

Microsoft 365

Job description

Overview

Leads business development and account growth for an assigned group of automotive and mobility customers, balancing traditional hardware programs with software, cloud and service solutions, and drives adoption of digital transformation and AI tools across the sales process.

Responsibilities

Technology Development and Solution Leadership

• Leads the development and delivery of technology presentations and live demonstrations, including digital, cloud-connected and AI-enabled solutions, to existing and prospective customers.
• Coordinates global technology development with Panasonic Automotive engineering and software teams across the full portfolio, including cockpit and infotainment hardware, E-Cockpit/ADAS/HMI/camera/wireless charging systems, and the associated software platforms and services.
• Provides strong leadership and coaching to Senior Account Managers on new technology, software and service offerings, and value-based selling.
• Works with planning teams to establish and meet sales objectives across hardware, software and service revenue streams, improving productivity, increasing revenue and maximizing profitability within the group/division.
• Supports E-Cockpit, vSkipGen and software-defined vehicle development teams by translating customer and market needs into solution requirements.
  Strategic and Tactical Plans-Global
• Develops and implements strategic and tactical business plans, aligned with Panasonic Automotive global strategy, that balance traditional hardware programs with recurring software, cloud and service revenue.
• Integrates strategic and tactical plans across business, engineering and software teams to grow global market share and expand Panasonic Automotive's presence with new and existing mobility customers.
• Contributes to the formulation and implementation of division/group policies and goals and executes them through customer engagement.

Sales Forecasting, Analytics and Reporting

• Directs sales forecasting and variance analysis using EDI/APV data, CRM and business intelligence tools, applying AI-driven analytics and predictive models to improve forecast accuracy.
• Prepares periodic sales reports and digital dashboards covering hardware sales, vehicle volume forecasts and customer production updates, as well as software license, subscription and service revenue.
• Provides new product, technology and market direction to Panasonic Automotive product planning, engineering and software teams based on customer insight and market trends.
  Customer Relationships-OEM and Mobility Customers
• Creates and maintains mutually beneficial relationships with executives and staff at automotive OEM, commercial vehicle, recreational vehicle and emerging mobility customers.
• Identifies prospects for new or replacement business, including hardware programs, software licensing and service opportunities, and probes customers to determine their business needs.
• Identifies opportunities for future products, software and services, including cloud, over-the-air (OTA) and data-driven offerings, and provides customers with the scope of each opportunity.
• Understands customer expectations and how they are met, or missed, by competitors, including traditional Tier 1 suppliers and software and technology companies.
• Drives the processes to deliver and exceed customer’s expectations.

Cross-Functional Alignment and Program Delivery

• Partners with program management, engineering and software teams to ensure hardware programs launch on schedule and software and service commitments are delivered as agreed.
• Identifies and establishes product and customer strategy and aligns internal resources to support strategy.
• Uses digital collaboration and project management tools to give the organization real-time visibility into customer requirements, milestones and risks.

Digital Transformation, AI and Market Intelligence

• Demonstrates expert understanding of customer and industry trends, developments and standards, including software-defined vehicles, connectivity, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, as they relate to customer engineering and purchasing organizations.
• Demonstrates clear understanding of software, cloud and service offerings in automotive, commercial vehicle, recreational vehicle and broader mobility markets, and how they complement hardware solutions.
• Champions digital transformation tools, including CRM, collaboration platforms and business intelligence dashboards, to improve sales team efficiency, pipeline visibility and customer responsiveness.
• Applies artificial intelligence and generative AI tools to sales activities such as account research, opportunity identification, proposal and presentation development, pricing analysis and forecasting.
• Promotes AI-enabled vehicle features and data-driven services to customers, positioning Panasonic Automotive as a mobility technology partner rather than a component supplier.
• Ensures responsible use of AI and customer data in line with company information security, data privacy and governance policies.

Financial, Pricing and Commercial Agreements

• Leads quotation, pricing and RFQ strategy for hardware programs as well as software licensing, subscription and service models, and supports GPMP Business Review presentations.
• Maintains high visibility in price negotiations and contract renewals, including software license and service agreements, while meeting minimum profit margin requirements.
• Monitors and takes appropriate action based on the division's P/L statement, and guides and supports Account Managers in areas of operational budget.
• Directs processes to minimize or eliminate chargebacks and ensure accounts receivable are collected in a timely manner, while managing the business plan to meet growth and profitability targets.
  Budget and Midterm Plan-Lead Role
• Takes the Lead Role for development and implementation for the annual sales budget and divisional midterm plan. Monitors actual results versus plan for accuracy.
• Leads MTP planning process working with each Panasonic Automotive business unit.

MUST HAVES:

• High school diploma and ten (10) years of related experience; or two years of college or technical training in business, marketing, technology, or engineering field and nine (9) years of related experience; or Bachelor's Degree in a related field and eight (8) years of related experience.
• Three (3) of the required years must be in automotive parts, systems, or components industry.
• Supervisory experience.
• Working knowledge of artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and digital transformation concepts, and their application to automotive products and the sales process.
• A proven track record of developing new sales opportunities and closing negotiations for both hardware and software/service solutions.
• Excellent analytical and negotiation skills.
• Automotive software sales experience including, but not limited to, establishing appropriate license fees for proprietary software, negotiating software services with potential new customers and tailoring user experience to customer preferences.
• Experience with promoting software as a service (SaaS) and licensing software through cloud-based platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud or Oracle Cloud.
• Demonstrated clear understanding of commercial agreements and revenue generation associated with software services for automotive or mobility-focused customers
• Demonstrated ability to build rapport and establish a high degree of trust at all organizational levels.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams), CRM platforms and AI productivity tools such as Microsoft Copilot.

BENEFITS & PERKS - WE'RE ALL ABOUT YOU:

• Great Medical/Dental Benefits
• Company-Matched 401K Retirement Savings
• Annual Bonus Program
• Educational Assistance
• Relaxed Dress Code
• PASATalks Speaker Summits
• Leadership & Mentorship Programs
• High5 Reward Recognition Program
• Onsite Happy Hours
• And many more benefits & perks found within the ‘Our Culture’ section…

WHO WE ARE:

At Panasonic, our technology and engineering expertise delivers innovation across diverse industries. It's all about the consumer experience and making sure that we find ways to enhance that experience, either through audio enhancements or through safety enhancements inside the vehicle.

Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America (PASA) is an industry-leading global supplier to Automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) for infotainment systems and advanced connected car solutions. Our clients include Ford, GM, Chrysler, Daimler, Fiat, Tesla, Honda, Toyota.

WE TAKE OPPORTUNITY SERIOUSLY:

Panasonic is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to: race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by law. All qualified individuals are required to perform the essential functions of the job with our without reasonable accommodations.

Due to the high volume of responses, we will only be able to respond to candidates of interest. All candidates must have valid authorization to work in the U.S. Thank you for your interest in Panasonic Automotive Systems of America.

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