Job Description
Global Key Account Manager – Korea OEM
Department / Function:Sales / Global Key Account Management
Company: Our client is a global leading European powertrain technology company.
Reporting Line: Head of Global Key Account Management
Location: South Korea(Remote)
Job Purpose
Our client is a global leading European powertrain technology company serving major automotive OEMs and partners across international markets.
The Global Key Account Manager – Korea will be responsible for shaping and driving the company’s global strategic relationships with Korean automotive OEM customers, with Hyundai as a key strategic account.
Based in Korea, the role will act as the senior commercial lead and global strategic coordination point for Korean OEM accounts, ensuring consistent customer engagement, long-term partnership development, and alignment across regional and global functions.
Geographical Scope
- Global strategic responsibility for Korean OEM accounts.
- Korea-based executive commercial leadership with cross-regional coordination across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
- Responsibility for strategic customer activities impacting multiple global entities, business units, and functions.
- Frequent interaction with global senior management and customer stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
1. Korean OEM Commercial Leadership
- Lead strategic global commercial relationships with Korean OEM customers, with Hyundai as a primary strategic account.
- Develop and execute long-term global account strategies aligned with the company’s business objectives, technology roadmap, and growth priorities.
- Build and maintain senior-level relationships with key decision makers and influencers across Korean OEM organisations.
- Act as the executive sponsor and strategic coordination lead for Korean OEM relationships globally.
- Serve as the senior escalation point for strategic commercial, relationship, and customer-related matters.
- Identify and develop new global business opportunities arising from Korean OEM technology, platform, and product strategies.
2. Global Account Strategy & Commercial Development
- Develop comprehensive account plans covering customer strategy, business opportunities, competitive positioning, relationship mapping, and long-term growth potential.
- Ensure a consistent global approach to customer engagement, account governance, commercial positioning, and negotiation strategy.
- Coordinate internal alignment around customer priorities, investment decisions, product opportunities, and strategic business development.
- Lead or support global commercial negotiations and strategic partnership discussions with Korean OEM customers.
- Monitor customer strategies, technology roadmaps, market developments, competitor activities, and industry trends.
- Identify opportunities related to future mobility, electrification, hybridisation, advanced powertrain technologies, and other emerging automotive technologies.
- Drive strategic discussions around future platforms, technology partnerships, and long-term cooperation models.
3. Executive Stakeholder Management & Governance
- Represent Korean OEM business and account priorities in global commercial and executive leadership discussions.
- Establish trusted relationships with senior executives and key stakeholders within Korean OEM organisations.
- Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders across different regions, functions, and cultures.
- Act as a cultural and commercial bridge between Korean OEM organisations and the company’s global teams.
- Lead and support executive customer meetings, strategic workshops, business reviews, and governance forums.
- Ensure customer expectations, commitments, and strategic priorities are clearly understood and aligned internally.
4. Cross-Functional Business Leadership
- Coordinate closely with Sales, Engineering, Product Management, Program Management, Finance, Operations, Strategy, and other relevant functions.
- Translate customer strategy and requirements into clear internal business priorities.
- Ensure effective coordination between Korean customer requirements and global product, technology, and commercial strategies.
- Support global sales planning, forecasting, pipeline management, and long-term business planning for Korean OEM accounts.
- Contribute to strategic resource allocation and commercial prioritisation.
- Establish and promote best practices for managing Korean OEM relationships across the global organisation.
5. Strategic Business Development
- Develop a forward-looking view of Korean OEM purchasing, technology, platform, and partnership strategies.
- Proactively identify opportunities beyond existing business and technologies.
- Develop relationships with relevant Korean automotive ecosystem stakeholders where strategically relevant.
- Support the identification and evaluation of strategic partnerships, technology collaborations, and potential joint business opportunities.
- Provide market intelligence and strategic recommendations to senior management.
Key Collaborations
Chief Sales Officer / Global Sales Leadership
- Align on global customer strategy, commercial priorities, account development, and growth objectives.
- Provide strategic updates on customer relationships, opportunities, risks, and competitive developments.
Executive Management Team
- Provide senior management with insights into Korean OEM strategies, commercial performance, market developments, and strategic opportunities.
- Support executive-level decision making on major customer opportunities and partnerships.
Product Management & Engineering
- Coordinate customer requirements, technical priorities, product roadmaps, and future technology opportunities.
- Facilitate alignment between customer needs and global technology development.
Regional Sales & Business Development Teams
- Ensure consistent customer engagement and global account governance.
- Coordinate opportunities and customer activities across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Strategy & Partnership Teams
- Identify and develop strategic partnerships, technology collaborations, and new business opportunities involving Korean OEMs.
Program Management, Finance & Operations
- Ensure commercial commitments are aligned with programme execution, financial objectives, operational capabilities, and long-term business plans.
Decision-Making Authority
- Lead customer-facing commercial discussions and strategic negotiations within approved delegation of authority.
- Provide strategic direction and influence regarding global Korean OEM account development and commercial priorities.
- Lead global account governance and coordination activities for Korean OEM customers.
- Influence cross-functional resource prioritisation, investment decisions, and customer engagement strategies.
- Escalate material commercial, strategic, and relationship risks to senior management.
- Provide recommendations to executive management regarding major customer opportunities, partnerships, and long-term business development.
Candidate Profile
Education & Knowledge
- Bachelor’s degree or above in Business, Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Economics, or a related discipline.
- MBA or equivalent advanced business qualification is preferred.
- Strong understanding of the Korean automotive industry and OEM business culture.
- Strong knowledge of global automotive OEM purchasing, commercial processes, account management, and supplier relationships.
- Good understanding of automotive powertrain technologies and industry transformation is highly desirable.
Professional Experience
- 10+ years of senior commercial, sales, business development, or key account management experience within the automotive OEM or Tier 1 supplier environment.
- Demonstrated and substantial experience working directly with Korean automotive OEMs, with Hyundai experience strongly preferred and considered essential for the role.
- Proven track record of winning and developing complex, high-value international automotive business.
- Experience managing strategic global accounts across multiple countries and regions.
- Demonstrated ability to build relationships at C-suite, executive, purchasing, engineering, and programme management levels.
- Experience working within multinational, matrixed organisations.
- International experience, ideally including living and/or working in Korea, is strongly preferred.
Core Skills & Competencies
- Exceptional executive stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
- Strong commercial negotiation and influencing capabilities.
- Strategic account management and business development expertise.
- Strong understanding of Korean business culture and relationship-driven decision-making.
- Ability to navigate complex customer organisations and identify formal and informal decision-making structures.
- Strong intercultural communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to influence senior stakeholders without direct reporting authority.
- Strong strategic thinking combined with commercial execution capability.
- Excellent presentation and executive communication skills.
- High level of business acumen and commercial judgement.
- Ability to operate independently while coordinating effectively across a global organisation.
- Resilient, entrepreneurial, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-changing international environment.
Languages
- Fluent Korean – required
- Fluent business English – required