Cirrus Aircrafts Mission is to deliver an aviation experience that is the pinnacle of innovation, quality, and safety to our customers. 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 recipient of the 2017 Robert J. Collier Trophy. Founded in 1984, the company has redefined performance, comfort and safety in aviation 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 over 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. Find out more at www.cirrusaircraft.com.
Cirrus offers a competitive benefits package and is dedicated to the advancement of general aviation. The Cirrus Flying Club offers employees and their family members the unique opportunity to obtain their private pilots license in the comfort of a Cirrus or rent a Cirrus for an impromptu adventure at a greatly reduced rate. We are committed to investing in the future of our employees and company by offering professional development and career progression opportunities and we engage employees by offering several employee and family events throughout the year, as well as the opportunity to take part in activity clubs and community events.
Job Summary
Cirrus Aircraft seeks a driven and talented Sales Engineer to join the global leader in personal aviation as we continue expanding our global footprint, product portfolio and operations.
The SF50 Sales Engineer will be the primary technical resource for the field sales and marketing including technical analyses, competitive analyses, operational expertise and sales proposal responses. The Sales Engineer will assist in defining aircraft features packaging and pricing, develop product positioning, product messaging, communicate the value proposition to key stakeholders by organizing and planning the launch of new products through cross-functional team coordination, assist with demand generation ideas and activities, and gather, analyze and report market intelligence. This person will work closely with other departments including marketing communications, sales, engineering, design, and global event management.
The position will be located in Knoxville, TN. This role does not have supervisory responsibilities and reports to the Executive Director, Vision Jet Product Line.
Duties and Responsibilities/Essential Functions
- Must have a connection to and awareness of market needs and pilot feature desires, including technology trends, to prepare marketing and sales messages in support of the Vision Jet features.
- Must be technically savvy in relation to competitive aircraft and/or other gadget, technology trends to prepare competitive comparisons to be used in the sales process and company decision making.
- Adhere to project timelines, budget and scope.
- Work with cross-functional teams to design, develop, and launch new products. This includes working with engineers, marketing, sales, and other departments to ensure that new products meet customer needs and are launched successfully.
- Respond to functional and technical elements of RFIs/RFPs.
- Provide timely and accurate sales support, customer question responses, and generation of customer specific sales material.
- Provide market and feature guidance to product development teams.
- Have and understanding of aircraft finance procedures.
- Create sales tools to help the sales team describe the value proposition for the Vision SF50.
- Provide turbine operational expertise to customers and sales team.
- Represent Sales and Marketing in the product development process.
- Represent the product line to customers and other stakeholders. This includes giving presentations, attending trade shows, and meeting with customers to gather feedback and promote the product line.
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.
- Bachelors Degree in Aviation, Business, Engineering or related curriculum.
- 3+ years experience in the aerospace field in sales support, marketing, flight operations or services.
- Private pilot certification with instrument rating minimum, commercial certificate with instrument rating and certified flight instructor preferred.
- SF50 Type Rating Preferred
- Travel required. Must have a valid drivers license to operate a motor vehicle and possess and acceptable driving record.
- Work hours vary as events often fall outside regular business hours.
- Computer skills with the ability to learn customer databases, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Keynote.
Competencies
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
- Tech Savvy: Anticipates and adopts innovations in business-building digital and technology applications.
- Nimble Learning: Actively learns through experimentation when tackles new problems, using both successes and failures as learning opportunities.
- Global Perspective: Takes a broad view with approaching issues, using a global lens.
- Customer Focus: Develops and delivers multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
- Communicates Effectively: Develops and delivers multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
- Collaborates: Builds partnerships and works collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
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.
