Key Account Manager – UK – Aerospace components

Our international client is a leading precision manufacturer with a prestigious customer base and they were seeking to appoint a Key Account Manager to lead the UK sales activities in to their aerospace customers.

We were asked to search for an experienced Sales/ Account Manager/Technical Sales Specialist ideally with experience of selling into the aerospace OE’s, and suppliers, however our client would also have considered someone who has sold into other industrial and technical markets looking to progress their sales career dealing with some of the worlds leading Aircraft Manufacturers. They definitely however preferred to try and recruit someone with an aerospace track record.

They required someone with good technical qualifications and an engineering background but most important to the business was their potential for the future combined with their sales experience, sales skills and inter-personal style

The role was interacting with both the external and internal clients in order to maximise each commercial opportunity.

We sought someone with a strong influencing style, being able to identify, develop and win business opportunities within existing and new accounts by helping customers with their ad hoc projects as well as the long term contracts and requirements. They also needed to be comfortable operating as the main UK sales contact working as part of an international team in a busy, dynamic engineering environment being required to visit clients as necessary within the UK and across Europe.

After meeting with all the key stakeholders within the business and drawing up an agreed person specification, job description, and company profile, Standley Associates helped the business identify the core competencies and developed a planned route to market.

Standley Associates researchers then set about identifying the key businesses within which these individuals were working and taking a combination approach of both pro-active search and a discreet but focused online targeting programme we quickly presented a shortlist of motivated and interested candidates with strong related sales backgrounds.

Within 6 weeks of the project commencing the successful candidate (who was not necessarily considering a move at the time) was offered and appointed to the role and then they started after working a months notice.