Sales Engineer / Business Development Engineer

Sales Engineer / Business Development Engineer
Segment: Automobile / Automotive Components/Solar/PCB/Wiring Harness
Department: Sales / Business Development
Industry: Automotive / Auto Components
Experience: 5 Years
Employment Type: Full-time
Location: Chennai/Bangalore
Job Summary
We are looking for a technically strong and target-oriented Sales Engineer / Business Development Engineer – Automobile with around 5 years of experience in the automotive or auto-component industry.
The candidate will be responsible for new business development, customer acquisition, account management, RFQ handling, technical coordination, commercial negotiations, and achievement of monthly, quarterly, and annual sales targets.
The ideal candidate should have a good understanding of the automotive product development and procurement cycle, along with strong customer relationships with OEMs, Tier-1, and Tier-2 automotive companies.
Key Responsibilities
Sales & Business Development
Achieve assigned monthly, quarterly, and annual sales/revenue targets.
Develop and maintain a strong sales pipeline to ensure consistent monthly target achievement.
Identify and develop new business opportunities in the automotive and auto-component sector.
Acquire new customers and develop relationships with Automotive OEMs, Tier-1, Tier-2 suppliers, and component manufacturers.
Generate leads through customer visits, market research, industry exhibitions, referrals, networking, and other business-development activities.
Understand customer requirements and identify suitable products and technical solutions.
Manage the complete sales cycle from lead generation → customer requirement → RFQ → technical discussion → costing → quotation → negotiation → nomination/PO → development → SOP → repeat business.
Develop strong relationships with key decision-makers in Purchase, Sourcing, Engineering, R&D, Quality, and Program Management.
Conduct regular customer visits, product presentations, technical discussions, and business reviews.
Identify opportunities for new products, applications, and customer programs.
Automotive Customer & Account Management
Develop and maintain strong relationships with existing automotive customers.
Identify opportunities for new programs, new platforms, cross-selling, and up-selling.
Track customer development programs, upcoming vehicle launches, and sourcing opportunities.
Understand customer sourcing strategies, technical specifications, commercial requirements, and project timelines.
Coordinate with customers for new product development and engineering changes.
Support customer audits, technical meetings, plant visits, trials, and validation activities.
Ensure timely resolution of customer complaints and commercial/technical issues by coordinating with internal teams.
RFQ, Costing & Commercial Activities
Receive and analyze customer RFQs, drawings, specifications, BOMs, and technical requirements.
Coordinate with Engineering, Costing, Procurement, Quality, Production, and Finance teams to prepare quotations.
Prepare competitive technical and commercial proposals.
Support product costing and understand key cost elements including raw materials, tooling, process costs, labor, overheads, logistics, and packaging.
Participate in commercial negotiations related to price, tooling, payment terms, delivery schedules, MOQ, and other commercial conditions.
Follow up on open RFQs and quotations to ensure timely conversion into business.
Maintain sales forecasts, opportunity pipelines, and monthly business reports.
New Product Development & Program Support
Coordinate with internal Engineering and NPI teams during new product development.
Support activities from RFQ → prototype → validation → PPAP → SOP → mass production.
Track customer development timelines and ensure commercial commitments are aligned with project schedules.
Coordinate with cross-functional teams for engineering changes, sample requirements, customer approvals, and product launches.
Identify opportunities to convert development projects into long-term production business.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Monthly sales/revenue target achievement
Quarterly and annual target achievement
New customer acquisition
New RFQs generated
RFQ-to-order conversion
New business/order booking
Sales pipeline value
New automotive program acquisition
Customer retention and repeat business
Gross margin/profitability
Development-to-production conversion
Customer visits and engagement
Forecast accuracy
Timely closure of RFQs and customer requirements
Candidate Profile
Bachelor's degree/Diploma in Mechanical, Automobile, Electrical, Electronics, Mechatronics, or related engineering discipline.
Around 5 years of relevant experience in Automotive Sales, Business Development, Technical Sales, Key Account Management, or Auto Components.
Experience dealing with Automotive OEMs, Tier-1, and Tier-2 customers.
Good understanding of automotive product development and procurement processes.
Proven track record of achieving monthly and annual sales targets.
Experience handling RFQs, costing, quotations, negotiations, and order conversion.
Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and customer relationship-management skills.
Ability to work closely with Engineering, Quality, Production, Procurement, and NPI teams.
Strong commercial awareness and customer-oriented approach.
Willingness to travel for customer meetings, plant visits, and business-development activities.

Work arrangement
No