Global Key Account Manager

ROLE: Global Key Account Manager, Automotive OEMs

LOCATION: Remote, South Germany (Munich or Stuttgart preferred)

SALARY: Base salary + bonus + car allowance

About the company

Our client designs high-performance analog, power management and mixed-signal ICs. They were founded a little over a decade ago and are now publicly listed, with teams across China, the USA and Europe. Revenue has grown at more than 40% a year since 2018, and rose by more than 50% again in 2025.

A few things set them apart from the usual challenger supplier:

• Their own process technology. They run their own power IC process rather than relying only on standard foundry platforms. That gives them real control over efficiency, die size and cost.
• A serious automotive range. AEC-Q100 Grade 1 qualified buck, boost and buck-boost converters and controllers, LDOs, LED drivers, gate drivers, PMICs, Vcore power, high-side switches, current-sense amplifiers and CAN transceivers.
• Proven in the car. Their parts are used across ADAS, cockpit and cluster, body and lighting, and hybrid and EV powertrain systems.
• Investment behind the growth. They are putting money into R&D and into building sales and support capability outside China, and Europe is a priority.

The role

You will be the company's face to German car makers, with global responsibility for each account you own. German OEMs make decisions in Germany but build, buy and engineer in China and the US too. You will follow the account wherever it goes, working with colleagues in all three regions.

This is not a role where you inherit a big revenue number and keep it ticking over. The job is to get the company specified, nominated and designed in, then grow that into recurring, OEM-directed business through the Tier 1s. You will have the product range, the engineering support and the backing of HQ. What they need from you is the access, the credibility and the know-how to get it in front of the right people.

What success looks like in your first 12 to 18 months: approved supplier status at your target OEMs, first platform nominations secured, and a pipeline of directed-buy business converting at the Tier 1s.

What you'll do

• Own the global relationship with your assigned German automotive OEMs, covering E/E architecture, development, purchasing and quality, plus the Tier 1s that build their ECUs.
• Build and run account plans around each OEM's platform roadmap: target sockets, SOP timelines, revenue forecast and the people who make the call.
• Get the company onto OEM supplier panels and preferred parts lists, working with the quality team on audits, IATF 16949 and PPAP requirements.
• Drive OEM-directed and recommended business. Get parts specified at the OEM, then work with regional sales to convert the business at the Tier 1s.
• Lead commercial negotiations on pricing, long-term agreements and supply commitments.
• Coordinate a virtual team of FAEs in Europe, product lines and R&D in China, and colleagues in the US.
• Stay close to your OEMs' engineering and purchasing teams in China, where many European platforms now get developed and sourced.
• Bring European requirements back to HQ, such as functional safety, zonal architectures and EV power, so the roadmap reflects what German OEMs actually need.
• Report on pipeline, forecast and design-win progress to senior management.

What you'll bring

Essential

• At least 5 years selling semiconductors or electronic components directly to automotive OEMs. Tier 1 or distribution experience on its own won't be enough for this one.
• Working relationships at one or more German OEMs, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz or the Volkswagen Group (including Audi and Porsche).
• A clear understanding of how OEM-directed business works, from specification and nomination through design-in, SOP and Tier 1 conversion.
• Enough technical depth in power, analog or automotive electronics to hold your own with OEM engineers. An engineering degree or a background as an FAE would suit well.
• Fluent German and English.
• Based in southern Germany, ideally around Munich or Stuttgart, and happy to travel to customers and, from time to time, to China and the US.

A real advantage

• Mandarin Chinese. Spoken matters most, written is a bonus. It will make a big difference when working with HQ and with your OEMs' teams in China.
• Experience helping a challenger or non-European supplier break into German OEMs.
• Knowledge of zonal E/E architectures, ADAS or EV power systems.

Probably not for you if you'd rather manage a mature account with a large team behind it, or if your automotive experience is mostly at Tier 1 level. This role suits someone who enjoys opening doors and building something.

The package

• A strong base salary that reflects your seniority and the OEM relationships you bring
• Performance bonus tied to design wins and revenue
• Car allowance
• Fully remote, home-based in southern Germany
• The chance to build the company's German OEM business from the ground up, with genuine influence over product direction at HQ