Key Account Manager|Aerospace|Iași, Romania

Department: Commercial / Key Account Management
Reports To: Head of Key Account Management
Direct Reports: None
Location: Iași, Romania

About the Role

The Key Account Manager is responsible for driving profitable and sustainable growth across strategic aerospace accounts while ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction, effective demand management, and long-term business development.

Acting as the main commercial interface between the company and its customers, the Key Account Manager oversees contract execution, pricing, commercial performance, demand alignment, and delivery performance.

The position requires a strong combination of commercial awareness, technical understanding, customer relationship management, and cross-functional leadership. The successful candidate will work within a matrix organization, collaborating closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Supply Chain, Planning, and senior management while maintaining strong relationships with customer stakeholders ranging from operational buyers to senior executives.

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Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Account Management & Customer Satisfaction

• Serve as the primary commercial interface for strategic aerospace customers, including OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and MRO organizations.
• Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships across multiple levels of the customer organization, from operational and purchasing teams to senior executives.
• Drive customer satisfaction and performance indicators, including NPS, customer scorecards, performance ratings, and audit outcomes.
• Maintain proactive communication with customers, anticipate potential issues, and coordinate effective problem-solving and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Anticipate customer requirements and align internal stakeholders to ensure strong delivery performance, responsiveness, and value creation.
• Coordinate quarterly and annual business reviews covering:
  • Customer relationship health
  • Commercial and operational performance
  • Key performance indicators
  • Risks and opportunities
  • Future growth plans

2. Business Development & Revenue Growth

• Take ownership of the P&L contribution of assigned accounts, ensuring revenue and margin objectives are achieved or exceeded.
• Identify and execute opportunities for profitable growth, including:
  • Contract renewals
  • Price adjustments
  • Long-term agreements
  • New RFQs
  • New development programs
  • Additional business with existing customers
• Proactively map customer sourcing pipelines and position the company early in RFQs and future development programs.
• Build and maintain a structured opportunity pipeline with clearly defined win strategies and value propositions.
• Partner with Engineering and Operations to translate customer roadmaps, technical requirements, and future technology needs into differentiated commercial proposals.
• Work with internal stakeholders to evaluate and improve:
  • Cost competitiveness
  • Production efficiency
  • Commercial positioning
  • Pricing
• Monitor contribution margins, commercial risks, contractual conditions, and payment terms.
• Initiate corrective actions whenever account profitability is at risk.
• Support annual business planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes while ensuring alignment with site and group financial objectives.

3. Demand Management & Forecast Alignment

• Consolidate, analyze, and validate customer demand in close cooperation with Supply Chain, Planning, Production, and other relevant functions.
• Translate customer forecasts into internal capacity and production requirements, ensuring appropriate demand visibility and operational readiness.
• Challenge inconsistencies or unrealistic assumptions in customer forecasts and demand.
• Negotiate feasible delivery solutions that balance customer priorities with manufacturing capacity and operational constraints.
• Track key commercial and operational indicators, including:
  • Monthly order intake
  • Backlog
  • Customer forecasts
  • Delivery performance
  • Revenue realization
• Ensure demand and delivery performance remain aligned with agreed topline objectives.

4. Cross-Functional & Matrix Leadership

• Lead cross-functional account teams involving Commercial, Engineering, Operations, Quality, Finance, Supply Chain, and other relevant departments.
• Coordinate commercial, technical, quality, and delivery objectives within a matrix organizational structure.
• Influence stakeholders effectively without requiring formal reporting authority.
• Ensure alignment between customer expectations and the company's operational and technical capabilities.
• Coordinate the resolution of complex customer or operational issues.
• Escalate critical matters to site leadership and the Head of Key Account Management when required.
• Maintain effective communication between customers, site management, and corporate leadership.

5. Reporting, Governance & Strategic Insight

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date:
  • Strategic account plans
  • Revenue forecasts
  • Opportunity pipelines
  • Commercial documentation
  • Project and contract information
• Provide regular reporting to the Head of Key Account Management and senior leadership regarding:
  • Account performance
  • Revenue and profitability
  • Business development pipeline
  • Commercial and operational risks
  • Growth opportunities
• Monitor relevant market developments, competitor activities, customer strategies, and emerging aerospace technologies.
• Translate market and customer intelligence into recommendations supporting long-term commercial positioning.
• Ensure compliance with contractual, ethical, quality, and regulatory requirements, including relevant aerospace standards such as AS9100, ISO 9001, and ITAR requirements where applicable.

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Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance will be measured against indicators including:

• Customer satisfaction and customer performance ratings, including NPS, scorecards, and audit results
• Revenue/topline growth and realization against forecast
• New business won and opportunity pipeline conversion
• Gross margin and profitability by account
• On-time and on-quality delivery performance
• Forecast accuracy and demand adherence
• Contract renewal rate
• Success in securing new business and development programs

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Candidate Profile

Education

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
• MBA or additional commercial/business qualification is considered an advantage.

Professional Experience

• Minimum 2–3 years of experience in:
  • Key Account Management
  • Sales
  • Business Development
  • Commercial Management
  • Similar customer-facing commercial roles
• Previous experience within aerospace or precision manufacturing is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience working with OEM and/or Tier 1 customers.
• Experience managing strategic customer accounts with responsibility for commercial performance and P&L contribution.

Commercial & Financial Skills

• Strong negotiation and commercial management capabilities.
• Good financial acumen and understanding of:
  • Revenue
  • Pricing
  • Contribution margins
  • Profitability
  • Commercial risks
  • Payment terms
• Ability to understand customer requirements and translate them into commercially and operationally viable solutions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

Industry & Technical Knowledge

• Understanding of manufacturing and industrial environments, preferably aerospace or precision manufacturing.
• Knowledge of aerospace quality standards and regulatory frameworks, including:
  • AS9100
  • ISO 9001
  • ITAR or comparable regulatory requirements
• Ability to work effectively with Engineering, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Finance teams.

Systems & Reporting

• Proficiency in ERP systems and data-driven reporting tools.
• Ability to work confidently with commercial, operational, financial, and customer-performance data.

Leadership & Personal Competencies

• Proven ability to lead and coordinate cross-functional teams within a matrix organization.
• Ability to influence stakeholders without formal authority.
• Strong customer orientation and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Commercial mindset combined with technical understanding.
• Strong ownership, accountability, and problem-solving approach.
• Ability to manage competing customer and internal priorities.
• Confidence when interacting with senior internal and external stakeholders.

Languages

• Fluent English, both spoken and written.