THE COMPANY

Continental is a leading tire manufacturer and industry specialist. Founded in 1871, the company generated sales of €39.7 billion in 2024 and currently employs around 95,000 people in 54 countries and markets.

Tire solutions from the Tires group sector make mobility safer, smarter, and more sustainable. Its premium portfolio encompasses car, truck, bus, two-wheel, and specialty tires as well as smart solutions and services for fleets and tire retailers. Continental has been delivering top performance for more than 150 years and is one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers. In fiscal 2024, the Tires group sector generated sales of 13.9 billion euros. Continental's tire division employs more than 57,000 people worldwide and has 20 production and 16 development sites.  

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT

SG 13

Lead and direct a cross-functional unit to create value within a defined geographic business region while maintaining our company’s core values.

Sales Management:

• Prepare and implement individual and team action plans to meet/exceed sales and performance objectives. Action plans should include, but not be limited to regional fleet development and dealer growth, new and retread. They should also include any other customer solutions Continental can provide such as Digital Solutions.
• Regularly direct District sales groups towards achieving sales and profit targets.  
• Frequently analyze current sales position vs objectives and implement necessary changes to stay on track with objectives.
• Direct District sales groups toward priority targets, customers, or objectives as the environment or market changes.
• Analyze pricing and volume proposals from the field to ensure they are in line with corporate margin objectives.

Strategy:

• Align region strategy with truck tire overall strategy.
• Create and implement an effective strategy that meets or exceeds the region's expectations for profitability and growth.
• Advise senior management on new potential, trends or key market information that could be used to adapt existing strategies. 
• Actively participate with leadership on future business practices.
• Collaborates closely with Sales Operations to evaluate sales mix and profitability, ensuring alignment with current strategic objectives.

Strategic Partner Development:

• Directly manage relationships with key principals of current strategic business partners.
• Aggressively pursue opportunities within current customer base to improve vendor/customer relationship.
• Actively pursue strategic partnership opportunities at the dealer level for new tire and retreading.
• Collaborate with KAM/SAM/OE/Key Dealer/CRS verticals to grow and improve large fleet relationships on a national level.
• Direct district group to support KAM/SAM/OE/Key Dealer/CRS vertical to ensure we are providing top level customer service.

Retread Development

• Collaborate with Retread Department on potential CRS partners.
• Direct Regional Retread Business Deployment Manager towards maintaining a high level of customer service from a sale and forecasting perspective for our retread partners
• Direct CRS Technician for responsive/prompt customer service to improve our CRS partners manufacturing process and efficiencies. 
• Create, Implement, and Maintain strategy and action plans for improving retread sales and profitability

Customer Service

• Direct District Sales groups towards maintaining a  high level of customer service and approval
• Direct Technical Customer Service Reps towards proactively helping fleet customers with service solutions, warranty claims, and training.
• Collaborate with training department to integrate our customer’s personnel into Continental lead training seminars.

Fleet Development

• Direct District Sales groups on regional growth on current and prospective fleets.
• Collaborate with Key Account Representatives to support assigned fleets.
• Collaborate with Key Account Representatives to collaborate and support the KAM/SAM/OE/Key Dealer/CRS verticals

Employee Development:

• Leadership:  Manage team by leading from the front, directing, and coaching. Including giving direct reports regular feedback on their job performance vs expectations.
• Hiring & Retaining: build a strong sales team by attracting, retaining, and motivating field personnel that supports Continental's core values, long-term stability and growth. 
• Employee Development:  Ensure team members have an environment that supports their professional growth within the company. This includes providing one-on-one coaching, coordinating training sessions, and assigning mentors to support each employee’s development journey. Creates, implements, and reviews performance improvement plans for any staff members not meeting the regions' expectations.
• Employee Dialogs:  Ensure employees receive meaningful performance feedback through structured midyear and year-end dialogues. This includes formally setting, tracking, and reviewing KPI objectives within the system. Additionally, support career development by identifying potential growth paths, advancement opportunities, and international assignment options.
• Succession Planning:  Develop and plan for employee’s future growth. Identify strong performers and potential positions. 

       Administrative tasks:

• Forecasting:  along with the supply chain team, validate the accuracy of the production forecast for new and retread tires.
• Customer Request Approvals:  Review all customer request approvals that are generated within the region to ensure accuracy, safeguard profitability, and ensure timely responses to customers.
• Expense Budget and Reporting: Define, implement, and oversee the region's annual expense budget, including but not limited to travel, entertainment, and customer events.  Review expense from direct reports using the current approval tool.   Conduct monthly reviews of the overall regional budget to ensure accountability across all roles.
• Monthly Operational Reviews: Deliver comprehensive monthly performance updates to senior management, covering sales units, revenue, and profit development for the current month, year-to-date (YTD), and full-year forecast. Benchmark results against previous months, prior years, and budget targets. Include additional highlights such as strategic shifts, personnel development, and other notable regional updates.
• Responsible for identifying any opportunities for efficiencies in the above-mentioned administrative tasks and implement corrective actions for any of the areas that are falling below expectations or not meeting defined objectives.

Additional Functions:

Marketing:

• CRM:  Ensure the use of our CRM system to collect customer data.
• CT2: Monitor collective use of the CT2 system as a value leveraging tool to support our customers. Stressing the importance of data accuracy and delivery to Marketing and R&D to be used for future development.
• Pricing: Analyze current pricing vs market pricing. In coordination with the pricing team, create, implement, and manage pricing programs to ensure continuous market competitiveness.
• Market Intelligence:  Collect, report, and collaborate with the Marketing team on any visible changing market trends, including competitive information, competitor strategic initiatives, event planning and promotions.

Other Duties:

• Collaboration:  Direct region towards a positive collaboration with all internal functions by leading by example. This includes advising on clear, prompt, professional, and respectful communications.
• R&D / Product Development:  Being trusted advisors in market intelligence during the product development process.
• Credit:  Direct district teams to work in conjunction with the credit department to open new accounts, protect receivables, and provide the highest levels of customer service.
• Protecting Core Values and Leadership Principals:  Ensure our employees understand, recognize, and exhibit our company's core values and leadership principals.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE ROLE

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (preferred) or related field.
• 5+ years experience in the automotive/industrial applications industry
• 10+ years overall commercial sales experience
• 3+ years sales team management experience with proven track record of performance
• Ability to travel extensively within assigned region, 50%+
• Internal qualified candidates will meet internal guidelines for this executive level role:
  • 18+ months experience of leading people and/or projects
  • 18+ months working internationally, cross functionally and/or cross organizationally
  • ACfEL must be complete before a promotion to SG 13/14
• Continental is able to provide relocation assistance for this position
• Legal Authorization to work in the US is required. We will not sponsor individuals for employment visas now or in the future for this job opening.

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO STAND OUT

• Work experience in multinational diverse teams with complex matrix organizations
• Experience in long-term project management

THE PERKS

• Immediate Benefits 
• Robust Total Rewards Package
• Paid Time Off
• Volunteer Time Off
• Tuition Assistance
• Employee Discounts, including tire discounts
• Competitive Bonus Programs
• Employes 401k Match
• Diverse & Inclusive Work Environment with 20+ Employee Resource groups.
• Hybrid Work 
• Employee Assistance Program
• Future Growth Opportunities, including personal and professional
• And many more benefits that come with working for a global industry leader!

EEO-Statement:

EEO / Disabled / Protected Veteran Employer. Continental offers equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals, without regard to unlawful consideration to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. In addition, as a federal contractor, Continental complies with government regulations, including affirmative action responsibilities for qualified individuals with a disability and protected veterans, where they apply. To be considered, you must apply for a specific position for which Continental has a current posted job opening. Qualifying applications will be considered only for the specific opening(s) to which you apply. If you would like to be considered for additional or future job openings, we encourage you to reapply for other opportunities as they become available. Further, Continental provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance in the application process, please reply to [email protected] or contact US Recruiting at 800-821-2727. This telephone line and email address are reserved solely for job seekers with disabilities requesting accessibility assistance or an accommodation in the job application process. Please do not call about the status of your job application, if you do not require accessibility assistance or an accommodation. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or non-disability related technical issues, will not receive a call back.

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