Description
About This Role
Depatie is seeking an experienced, commercially driven Business Development Manager to lead growth within our New Product Design practice. This is a high-impact role for a proven technical sales professional who understands the product development process, knows how to get into opportunities early, and has the engineering credibility to influence design decisions at the customer level.
You will operate at the intersection of customer insight, technical feasibility, and commercial execution — engaging prospects at the earliest stages of design, shaping specifications in favor of Depatie's capabilities, and converting early-stage concepts into qualified revenue. This role demands both the strategic instincts to identify the right opportunities and the hands-on drive to pursue them through to close.
Requirements
What You'll Do
New Business Development
- Generate and develop net new business opportunities centered on new product design and engineering engagements.
- Identify early-stage design opportunities and influence specifications in favor of Depatie's capabilities before decisions are locked.
- Conduct ongoing market and industry mapping to surface target segments, high-potential accounts, emerging applications, and competitive dynamics.
- Proactively develop industry-specific leads and design-in opportunities aligned with company growth strategy and capability investments.
- Build and manage a healthy pipeline from first contact through close.
Customer Engagement & Technical Value Selling
- Engage directly with engineers, product developers, and key decision-makers to understand application requirements, design challenges, and future product needs.
- Translate customer needs into compelling technical and commercial value propositions that clearly differentiate Depatie's capabilities.
- Lead and support proposal development, technical discussions, and design reviews in collaboration with engineering teams.
- Build trusted, long-term partnerships with customer contacts across technical and commercial functions.
Pipeline & Performance Management
- Build and maintain a well-qualified pipeline aligned with new product design growth objectives and revenue targets.
- Track and report against defined scorecard metrics including leads generated, opportunities advanced, and revenue contribution.
- Gather and communicate customer and market feedback to inform Depatie's product and capability development priorities.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with engineering and technical teams to assess feasibility, define solution approaches, and ensure customer commitments are delivered.
- Serve as the voice of the customer internally — translating field insights into actionable input for engineering and operations.
- Travel domestically 40–50% of the time to engage customers, attend industry events, and advance strategic opportunities across the U.S. Home base is Michigan.
What We're Looking For
Required Qualifications:
- 5+ years of experience in technical sales, application engineering, business development, or a related commercial role in an industrial, manufacturing, or engineering environment
- Demonstrated success identifying and developing early-stage design-in or new product opportunities and advancing them through a structured sales process
- Strong technical aptitude — able to understand engineering concepts, manufacturing processes, and design-for-application considerations and translate them into customer-facing value
- Proven ability to influence product specifications and build relationships with engineering and technical decision-makers
- Experience developing and executing a market development plan, including industry mapping, target account identification, and pipeline strategy
- Self-directed and proactive — you pursue opportunities independently and drive deals forward without waiting for direction
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent opportunities to defined outcomes
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills — equally effective with engineers and executive stakeholders
- Must be Michigan-based with the ability to travel domestically 40–50% of the time
Preferred Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, or a related technical field — or equivalent industry experience
- Background in fluid power, industrial manufacturing, product development, or OEM sales
- Hands-on experience with design-for-manufacturability, component selection, or application engineering
- Existing relationships within target industrial, OEM, or product development markets
- Familiarity with CRM pipeline tools (NetSuite experience a plus)
- Experience developing ROI-based proposals and technical value justification for engineering-driven customers
Compensation & Work Location
- Base salary plus quarterly commission tied to target incentive milestones
- Michigan-based remote home office
- 40–50% domestic travel to engage customers and develop market opportunities across the U.S.
