Cirrus Aircraft is the recognized global leader in personal aviation and the maker of the best-selling SR Series piston aircraft and the Vision Jet®, the worlds first single-engine Personal Jet™, and the recipient of the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Founded in 1984, the company has redefined aviation performance, comfort and safety with innovations like the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System® (CAPS®) – the first FAA-certified whole-airframe parachute safety system included as standard equipment on an aircraft. To date, worldwide flight time on Cirrus aircraft has passed 16 million hours, and 250 people have returned home safely to their families as a result of the inclusion of CAPS as a standard feature on all Cirrus aircraft. The company has seven locations in the United States, including Benton Harbor, Michigan; Duluth, Minnesota; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Greater Dallas, Texas; Greater Phoenix, Arizona; and Greater Orlando, Florida and Knoxville, Tennessee. Learn more at cirrusaircraft.com.
Job Summary
The Vice President, Fleet & Special Mission Aircraft Sales (SR Series - Global) is a key member of the leadership team at Cirrus Aircraft and is responsible for leading SR Series Fleet & Special Mission aircraft sales activities throughout the world. This role sets strategy, develops plans, and drives profit, revenue and unit growth in the global fleet, flight training, and special mission new aircraft sales markets.
This role requires a deep understanding of the Cirrus Aircraft brand, Fleet, Special Mission, and Flight Training customer behavior and the aviation market, as well as demonstrated success in sales leadership and motivating remote teams. This role is also a key resource, advocate, and voice-of-the-customer to other cross-functional teams across the organization including service, training, marketing, supply chain, legal, finance, and product development, with the intent of ensuring we meet our customer-centric mission.
This role is based in Knoxville, TN (USA) and reports to the Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing.
Duties and Responsibilities/Essential Functions
- Develop sales strategies with plans to grow new SR Series aircraft sales in the global fleet, special mission, and institutional flight training markets
- Lead and motivate sales team (Fleet Sales Directors, Fleet Business Development Representatives) and select support roles to achieve team objectives
- Recruit, hire, and train Fleet & Special Mission sales team members.
- Work closely with Product Line Managers and Cirrus Services (Support/Flight Training) to ensure we are developing and implementing value-add, market-leading products and services
- Work closely with the Marketing team to anticipate customer preferences and support demand generation activities
- Develop, encourage, and maintain strong relationships with the global retail sales team
- Develop and implement sales operations strategies, contract best practices, and efficiency improvements
- Develop, monitor and work with team members to achieve sales targets
- Develop, monitor and manage sales team budget
- Establish and maintain key customer relationships
- Review and approve SR Series Fleet & Special Mission sales orders in alignment with company objectives
- Develop and maintain a three (3) year plan to increase profit, revenue and unit sales.
- Enhance, document and continuously improved Fleet & Special Mission Sales team training procedures
- Improve customer satisfaction by anticipating customer needs and communicating them to internal teams to drive change
- Drive use of Salesforce and Power BI to augment sales team and companywide access to decision making information
- Monitor market and competitor activity
- Other relevant duties as assigned
- Percent of Travel Required – Approximately 50-75
Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education and/or Experience:
- 10+ years sales leadership experience required
- 10+ years aviation sales/market experience required
- 10+ years business to business (B2B) client experience required
- Piston flight training aircraft experience preferred
- New product launch and new market penetration experience preferred
- In-depth knowledge of selling strategies and methods
- In-depth knowledge of implementing and utilizing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software preferred
- Excellent customer service skills, as well as written and verbal communication skills
- Masters degree from accredited institution preferred
- Private Pilot FAA rating preferred
Competencies
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
- Business Insight: Applies knowledge of business and the marketplace to advance the organizations goals.
- Financial Acumen: Interprets and applies understanding of key financial indicators to make better business decisions.
- Strategic Mindset: Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies.
- Action Oriented: Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
- Drives Results: Consistently achieves results, even under tough circumstances.
- Interpersonal Savvy: Relates openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people.
- Situational Adaptability: Adapts approach and demeanor in real time to match shifting demands of different situations.
Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Work beyond 40 hours per week may be required.
Cirrus is dedicated to a drug free work environment promoting equal employment opportunity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, national origin, color, age, disability, religion, pregnancy, veteran status, marital and family status, sexual orientation, receipt of public assistance, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
