We’re recruiting for a Sales Engineer to work for a growing SME and supplier to the F1 industry in central Southampton.

The organisation have their products on every F1 car in the field and are looking to expand this reach further in the coming years.

Successful applicants will have previous experience selling engineered products to the F1 / motorsport sector – be technically minded and have a passion for the industry.

Candidates with no prior sales experience but a background in Automotive / Motorsport Design or Project Management (for example) and looking to get into business development, will be considered.

Package

• Initial salary of £40,000 - £60,000 (DOE)
• Car allowance
• Additional bonus / reward scheme
• Flexible working arrangement
• Competitive annual leave scheme with service escalation

Person Specification

You have an in-depth knowledge of custom motorsport applications. You are ambitious and love the selling process, whilst understanding the importance of growth through great service and account management. You’re energised by visiting and talking to customers to fully understand their needs and then working through a proposal with them to help solve their challenge.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• You’ll be the first point of contact, alongside your sales support person, for sales and service-related communication with customers. You’ll ensure that they are kept informed and made to feel valued.
• You will position yourself as a trusted advisor so that we are the first to see new opportunities from prospects and existing customers.
• You’ll make sure that your customers’ specific requirements are met, helping them to understand what we’re offering and why. This will include offering bespoke engineering solutions and developing sales proposals.
• You will understand real customer need and the commercial value that we bring. You will add value so that our customers are as enthusiastic as we are.
• You’ll become the expert within your industry, and your insights will be critical in helping us with marketing, service offerings and other improvements to facilitate growth.
• Your KPIs will be the basis for prioritising your workload and your goal will be to meet and maintain your targets and response times – all aimed at service improvement and business growth.
• You’ll liaise with internal departments to make sure things happen how and when you need them to. A collaborative approach and interpersonal skills are a must.
• We’re a small team. That means that now and again you’ll be asked to do stuff outside of your core role – we will need you to be on board with this approach.

What you’ll need to succeed

• The determination and resilience to get opportunities over the line in a tough engineering environment. This will mean working with a sense of urgency, innovation and the ability to demonstrate value to the customer’s bottom line.
• An ability to find, cultivate and close new business that fits our desired profiles. You will do this by developing plans and tactics that are specific to your industry sector.
• The ability to communicate well and put people at ease, whilst having excellent negotiation skills.
• The skills and mind-set for multitasking in a busy environment. You will become an exceptional plate spinner, but that doesn’t mean messy; we have clear processes that need to be followed.
• The capacity for problem solving. You’ll be surrounded by smart people who will want to support you – but you need to be able to think for yourself and present your own solutions.
• Demonstrable success in previous similar roles – we need someone to hit the ground running, and although we love to develop our people you need to be ready to go.
• A qualification relevant to engineering. We’d prefer an HNC equivalent or above – but if you think you have enough experience in the field, we’d certainly like to talk to you.
• Computer literacy. We work via Hubspot CRM and an ERP system – we will train you on the specifics but it will be a big help if you are experienced in using business management software.
• Although not critical, knowledge of ISO9001 / AS9100 quality systems would be of benefit as we’re a manufacturer and hold ourselves to high standards.