US OE Vehicle Growth & Leadership Director

SKF Vertevo; Michigan; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Retirement plan

Annual bonus

Benefits package

Job summary

SKF Vertevo in Plymouth, MI is seeking a US Sales Director for OE Passenger Vehicles. You will lead the sales strategy, drive profitability, and oversee a team of Account Managers across US OEMs and Tier 1s. The role requires strong negotiation, market insight, and cross-functional leadership.

Based in a hybrid Plymouth location, you will collaborate with regional and global teams to align platform nominations, RFQs, and pricing to maximize growth and customer value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related field.
• Progressive automotive OE sales experience serving US passenger vehicle OEMs or Tier 1s.
• Experience leading automotive OE Account Managers, coaching negotiations, and delivering profitable account growth.
• Proven success winning platform nominations, retaining production business, and building OEM purchasing, engineering, and program relationships.
• Hands‑on RFQ, sourcing, and negotiation experience covering supply agreements, annual price reductions, tooling recovery, material adjustments, and engineering changes.
• Strong financial skills in cost breakdowns, tooling and capital investment, volume assumptions, and program‑lifetime profitability.
• Working knowledge of component specifications, validation, APQP, PPAP, and IATF 16949 customer requirements; ability to partner with engineering and quality teams.
• Strong communication and negotiation skills, including technical‑commercial proposals and customer escalations.
• Experience managing OE programs from pre‑sourcing through production end, including forecasting and cross‑functional commercial risk management.

Responsibilities

• Lead US OE passenger vehicle sales strategy, aligning account plans with customer sourcing cycles, vehicle platforms, and growth opportunities.
• Lead and develop Account Managers, setting clear targets for account growth, RFQs, negotiations, forecasts, and customer issue resolution.
• Own US sales, pricing, program profitability, and new business awards; report results, risks, and corrective actions to leadership.
• Build OEM and Tier 1 purchasing, engineering, quality, and program relationships to retain business and win new platform nominations.
• Position solutions before RFQ release across combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicle programs, informed by market and competitor trends.
• Negotiate sourcing agreements, pricing, productivity commitments, tooling and engineering charges, material adjustments, and cost recovery within approval and compliance requirements.
• Lead RFQs through sourcing award, validating technical requirements, volumes, capacity, investment, launch timing, and lifetime profitability with cross-functional teams.
• Coordinate with engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, and finance on launch readiness, APQP, PPAP, and commercial impacts of program changes or customer claims.
• Manage program forecasts, budgets, and opportunity records using production volumes, customer releases, pricing, and start- and end-of-production timing.
• Align shared-platform pricing and customer commitments with regional and global teams while retaining accountability for US sales.

Skills

Leadership

Negotiation

Communication

Strategic selling

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, or related field

Tools

APQP/PPAP process

IATF 16949

Job description

SKF Vertevo in Plymouth, MI is seeking a US Sales Director for OE Passenger Vehicles. You will lead the sales strategy, drive profitability, and oversee a team of Account Managers across US OEMs and Tier 1s. The role requires strong negotiation, market insight, and cross-functional leadership.

Based in a hybrid Plymouth location, you will collaborate with regional and global teams to align platform nominations, RFQs, and pricing to maximize growth and customer value.