Executive Director of Account Management
Who We Are:
Challenge Manufacturing’s mission is to manufacture with operational excellence by empowering our employee-owners. As a leading tier 1 supplier of complex metal assemblies for the global automotive industry, we drive innovative solutions for future mobility. We believe the best ideas come from individual unique perspectives. These ideas combined with the teamwork of industry leaders allow us to accomplish any challenge. Our team members take pride in the work we do and embody our core values of safety, ownership, and teamwork every day; they are the true driving force in our operations.
Challenge is proud to be one of the largest employee-owned automotive companies in North America. One of the many benefits of joining the Challenge team is the ESOP program. This program allows Challenge to give shares of the Company to all employee-owners annually. These shares are an additional retirement benefit that will continue to grow during your time at Challenge. Being part of an ESOP means our employee-owners share in Challenge’s success!
Challenge is #QualityDriven and #PeoplePowered!
Who We Want:
The Executive Director of Account Management provides enterprise-wide leadership for all Account Management and commercial activities. This role owns the full customer lifecycle—from new business pursuit and market expansion through long-term OEM account growth, profitability, and retention. The ideal candidate brings deep automotive OEM experience, a strategic commercial mindset, and a proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary commercial teams. This leader will define commercial strategy, align market opportunities with company capabilities, and ensure disciplined execution across quoting, negotiations, launches, and ongoing account performance. Serving as a trusted executive partner to both customers and internal leadership, this role is critical to driving sustainable growth, margin expansion, and long-term customer partnerships, while developing high-performing commercial talent across the organization.
What You'll Do:
- Provide executive leadership and oversight for the Account Management organization, aligning new business acquisition and existing account growth strategies.
- Define and execute the company’s enterprise commercial strategy, aligning sales, account management, and market expansion with long-term business objectives.
- Own the commercial P&L for the customer portfolio, including revenue growth, margin performance, forecasting accuracy, and risk management.
- Lead OEM customer strategy at the executive level, cultivating senior relationships and positioning the company as a preferred long-term partner.
- Guide market entry, diversification, and customer targeting strategies aligned with company capabilities, geographic footprint, and capacity planning.
- Oversee all major commercial activities including:
- Pricing strategy
- Contract negotiations and long-term agreements
- Quoting governance and commercial approvals
- Ensure disciplined execution of the sales funnel, from opportunity identification through award, launch, and steady-state production.
- Partner closely with Operations, Engineering, Program Management, Finance, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure commercial commitments are executable and profitable.
- Serve as the executive escalation point for critical customer, commercial, or performance issues, driving timely resolution and relationship preservation.
- Establish standardized commercial processes, scorecards, and KPIs to drive accountability, visibility, and continuous improvement.
- Analyze market trends, OEM strategies, and competitive dynamics to proactively adjust commercial priorities.
- Develop, mentor, and succession-plan senior commercial leaders (Directors and Managers) to strengthen the leadership pipeline.
- Represent the company externally with credibility in executive customer meetings, negotiations, and industry engagements.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and results-driven execution across all commercial functions.
When and Where:
This will be a M-F position located at our Corporate Office in Walker, MI.
Occasionally, this may require you to arrive early, stay late, or work on weekends, outside of our regular hours, to ensure we successfully meet customer needs, deadlines, or urgent requests.
What You Need to Have:
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required in Business, Engineering, or related field
- 10+ years of progressive experience in automotive OEM Sales, Account Management, or Commercial Leadership
- Proven experience leading both Business Development and Account Management organizations
- Strong understanding of:
o Automotive manufacturing processes
o Program economics and lifecycle costing
o OEM sourcing models and customer expectations - Demonstrated success driving profitable growth, market expansion, and long-term OEM partnerships
- Advanced financial acumen, including pricing strategy, margin management, forecasting, and commercial risk assessment
- Exceptional executive presence, negotiation skills, and ability to influence at senior OEM levels
- Ability to operate strategically at the enterprise level while ensuring disciplined tactical execution
- Strong leadership capability with a track record of building and developing high-performing commercial organizations
- High proficiency with Microsoft, CRM platforms, and sales performance analytics
- Willingness to travel as required to support customer and business needs
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related field
- 15+ years of progressive experience in automotive OEM Sales, Account Management, or Commercial Leadership
- Experience leading commercial strategy across multiple OEMs and vehicle platforms
- Background in Tier 1 automotive manufacturing environments
- Experience managing long-term agreements (LTAs) and complex commercial negotiations
- Exposure to new market entry, electrification platforms, or next-generation vehicle programs
- Proven experience implementing enterprise-wide commercial governance models and KPI frameworks
- Track record of developing successor leaders and scalable commercial organizations
What We Offer:
We’re excited to offer a range of awesome benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions, Flexible Spending Accounts, company-paid Short-Term Disability and Basic Life Insurance, Voluntary Life and Long-Term Disability options, an Employer 401k Match, ESOP shares, tuition reimbursement, a Referral Bonus Program, Challenge Incentive Program, and paid time off.
Please note, while these benefits are part of what we offer, they may not all apply to this specific role. The details shared in this job description are intended to give you a general idea, but duties and responsibilities may evolve over time, with or without notice. And of course, we’re happy to provide reasonable accommodations to help individuals with disabilities succeed in their role.
