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.