Key Account Manager – Strategic Customer Focus (Thin-Film Photovoltaics)
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What you'll do
- Serve as the primary business interface for a major U.S.-based manufacturer in the solar/energy sector
- Develop and execute an account plan aligned with the customer’s long-term roadmap and production goals
- Build trust with technical, operations, and procurement stakeholders across multiple facilities
- Identify opportunities for cost reduction, performance improvement, and reliability enhancement in materials and equipment
- Drive revenue growth through new program wins, volume expansion, and solution-based selling
- Lead pricing, proposal, and negotiation processes for both recurring and capital business
- Support complex commercial cycles with input from engineering, quality, and leadership teams
- Act as the voice of the customer internally — ensuring alignment across R&D, product, service, and supply chain
- Support field service teams on escalations, upgrades, and maintenance planning
- Monitor inventory, forecast material usage, and align delivery with customer production schedules
- Stay current with trends in photovoltaic manufacturing, vacuum deposition, and thin film coating
- Recommend changes to product or service offerings based on customer feedback and market evolution
What they're looking for
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, or Business
- Minimum of 10+ years’ experience in account or technical program management in a manufacturing or industrial environment
- Proven ability to manage a high-value, technically complex customer relationship
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills across all levels of customer and internal teams
- Familiarity with industrial capital equipment, materials, or consumables for high-volume manufacturing
- Ability to travel domestically as needed (typically 25–35%)
Nice to have
- Prior experience working with or supporting customers in solar thin film manufacturing and related materials
- Exposure to PVD systems, sputtering targets and vacuum coating environments
- Understanding of production environments with stringent uptime, cost-per-watt, or throughput goals
- Experience navigating long-term agreements, supply chain coordination, and customer scorecard metrics
- Regulatory familiarity (Inflation Reduction Act) a plus
Summarised by NextRaise from the employer’s description, which follows in full below.
Full description from employer
Key Account Manager – Strategic Customer Focus
(Thin-Film Photovoltaics)
Location: Ohio (preferred)
Reports To: VP of Sales & Marketing
Travel: Up to 50%, as required
Position Overview
We are seeking a results-driven Key Account Manager (KAM) to lead one of our most important customer relationships in the thin film photovoltaic manufacturing sector. This role requires a strategic, hands-on account leader who understands how to support a high-volume manufacturing customer with evolving performance, reliability, and cost targets.
The successful candidate will manage the full customer relationship across materials (e.g., sputter targets, evaporation materials), thin film equipment (inline tools), consumables, and recycling services. Experience in PVD, vacuum systems, or advanced materials used in solar applications is highly desirable.
Key Responsibilities
Account Ownership & Growth
- Serve as the primary business interface for a major U.S.-based manufacturer in the solar/energy sector
- Develop and execute an account plan aligned with the customer’s long-term roadmap and production goals
- Build trust with technical, operations, and procurement stakeholders across multiple facilities
- Identify opportunities for cost reduction, performance improvement, and reliability enhancement in materials and equipment
Sales & Strategic Execution
- Drive revenue growth through new program wins, volume expansion, and solution-based selling
- Lead pricing, proposal, and negotiation processes for both recurring and capital business
- Support complex commercial cycles with input from engineering, quality, and leadership teams
Cross-Functional Coordination
- Act as the voice of the customer internally — ensuring alignment across R&D, product, service, and supply chain
- Support field service teams on escalations, upgrades, and maintenance planning
- Monitor inventory, forecast material usage, and align delivery with customer production schedules
Market & Industry Insight
- Stay current with trends in photovoltaic manufacturing, vacuum deposition, and thin film coating
- Recommend changes to product or service offerings based on customer feedback and market evolution
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, or Business
- Minimum of 10+ years’ experience in account or technical program management in a manufacturing or industrial environment
- Proven ability to manage a high-value, technically complex customer relationship
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills across all levels of customer and internal teams
- Familiarity with industrial capital equipment, materials, or consumables for high-volume manufacturing
- Ability to travel domestically as needed (typically 25–35%)
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience working with or supporting customers in solar thin film manufacturing and related materials
- Exposure to PVD systems, sputtering targets and vacuum coating environments
- Understanding of production environments with stringent uptime, cost-per-watt, or throughput goals
- Experience navigating long-term agreements, supply chain coordination, and customer scorecard metrics
- Regulatory familiarity (Inflation Reduction Act) a plus
Company
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