Business Development Manager

Position Purpose:

The Business Development Manager for Military and Specialty Vehicle (BDM) is responsible for driving sales growth by promoting product across Hendrickson's family of brands to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's) primarily servicing the defense and specialty vehicle markets. This role increases product penetration, resolves customer concerns, supports product performance in the field, and coordinates closely with all Hendrickson divisions.

Essential Functions:

Defense & Military Market Responsibilities

• Manage responsibilities for military applications representing all Hendrickson brands to both truck and trailer OEM's.
• Develop and execute business development and sales strategies for the defense market.
• Drive market share growth by identifying unique market needs, supporting new product development, and applying existing technologies.
• Develop opportunities for niche technologies (e.g., elastomers, composites, brakes, stabilizer bars, aftermarket).
• Manage commercial negotiations with assigned military accounts and support internal alignment on business cases.
• Engage across all truck and trailer segments and all sales channels (direct and indirect).
• Build relationships with government entities (T2COM, PAE, CPM, PEO).

Specialty OEM Responsibilities

• Promote product to assigned specialty vehicle accounts.
• Build and maintain relationships across multiple departments, including Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Engineering, Operations, and Ownership.
• Participate in select OEM, W&C and Hendrickson project meeting where commercial direction or input is requires; utilize meeting to mine for information useful to new business pursuits.
• Participate in sales and marketing events that pertain to the assigned OEM's, seek out opportunities to proliferate current products to additional models or configuration, grow supplied content and increase market share for existing Hendrickson solutions.
• Assess product usage for current and future customer platforms and make appropriate product recommendations to drive business growth
• Confirm OEM timing to set product plans for the coming year; execute product planning meetings at each OEM and ensure new programs are included in the OEM plans.
• Provide installation guidance, service procedures, and supervise installations when required.
• Lead the development, negotiation and closure to any commercial agreement or contracts with the customer. Ensure both parties are living up to the contractual commitments.
• Understand OEM supplier metrics and clearly communicate requirements to Hendrickson divisions. Assist in the resolutions of disputes as needed.
• Assist in resolving billing, invoicing, credit, and collection issues.
• Coordinate with internal teams to resolve field complaints and recommend repair procedures.

Fleet & End User Development

• Contact fleet accounts, end users, and OEMs to influence specification decisions.
• Identify, manage, and maintain primary customer relationships.
• Develop and maintain relationships with current and potential users.
• Address customer concerns related to product application and performance.
• Review recommended service procedures with users.
• Identify end-user applications suitable for component testing.

Other Responsibilities

• Be the voice of the customer and advocate within Hendrickson.
• Represent various brands at industry trade shows.
• Participate in national, state, and local associations as assigned.
• Complete timely call reports using Salesforce.
• Conduct business calls at all organizational levels, including executive, director, and tactical functions (purchasing, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales).
• Manage product, customer, and competitor information through effective administration and communication.
• Monitor competitive activity, including new product offerings, pricing trends, incentives, customer penetration, and product performance.
• Provide accurate forecast inputs, including major OEM purchase expectations.
• Document customer and product requirements.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of company product offerings.
• Other duties as assigned by management.

Education and Training

Education

• Bachelor's degree required.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience

• Minimum 10 years sales experience.
• Minimum 5 years in military contracting / sales experience required.
• Minimum 5 years of OEM sales experience preferred.
• Strong preference for experience in the heavy-duty truck/trailer industry.
• Candidates without industry experience must have significant industrial sales/marketing experience.

Physical Demands

• Entrepreneurial mindset and strong initiative.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong presentation skills, including proficiency with presentation software.
• Effective account management capabilities.
• Ability to travel extensively by car and air (approximately 3 nights per week).

Environmental Conditions

• Exposure to extreme heat or extreme cold while in the plant, outdoor testing, or customer site visits.

Behavioral Traits

• Independent and self-driven.
• Entrepreneurial approach to business development.
• Strong passion for new business growth.
• Effective communicator of customer needs within the organization.
• This is not a comprehensive list of duties. Duties may change without notice in management's sole discretion. W&C Suspensions is an at-will employer, each employee is free to resign at any time, just as W&C Suspensions is free to terminate employment at any time without cause or notice.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.