Director, Early Business Pursuits- Displays

As a Pursuit Management SME (P5), you own full responsibility for high-value VX/Displays pursuits with complex or strategic scope. Your work is often characterized by large pursuit size, high technical complexity, and strategic executive customer engagement. You shape how HARMAN competes in the market—qualifying technology for new segments, building and executing differentiated strategies, and guiding teams to win high-impact growth opportunities aligned with long-term objectives.

What You Will Do

• Own full responsibility for high-value, complex or strategic pursuits (A+ “unicorn” programs), ensuring the pursuit is positioned to win with healthy commercials.
• Qualify HARMAN technology for new segments and customer white spots in view of 2035 growth targets.
• Execute Harman’s GM CAM strategy to target OLED, HUD, and other display businesses, seeking to disrupt GM’s supply chain and entrenched incumbents’ dominant penetration. The ideal candidate will have extensive existing background, depth of experience, and strengths and proven success in significant business growth history in this area to help us successfully execute this strategic objective. In addition to focusing on GM VX growth, this role may support CGA OEMs’ pursuits and strategies.
• Drive early engagement standards and established relationships at high levels with key Customer Purchasing and Engineering Leadership, as well as Planning, and Studio members and coach sales managers to apply early engagement practices and further develop concepts and standards.
• Interact frequently with executive customer contacts to shape customer-focused, innovative strategies and foster long-term strategic partnerships and value propositions that differentiate HARMAN from competitors.
• Lead internal senior stakeholder relationships to ensure strategic alignment for defined pursuits and clear, effective communication.
• Drive cross-functional pursuit teams to win high-impact growth opportunities aligned with customer and market trends.
• Own the RFI/RFQ process for pursuits in scope, including quote accountability and commercial negotiation leadership.
• Drive complex commercial negotiations, crafting deal structures that balance customer investment, Automotive profitability, and HARMAN’s strategic positioning.
• Lead comprehensive market differentiation strategies that establish Automotive’s competitive advantage and develop concepts and standards further.
• Develop winning sales strategies for highly complex programs and coach sales managers to enhance pursuit strategies.
• Ensure value statements and winning narratives are sharp, credible, and consistently reinforced through the pursuit.

What You Need

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management or Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering
• 10+ years of related sales and business development experience, product development, or program management within the automotive industry.
• A base of strong, existing contacts within CGA OEM Purchasing and Engineering Leadership, specific to VX products & technologies
• Understanding of GM and other OEM VX portfolio needs, roadmaps, and decision-making criteria, and a proven track record of winning business.
• Well established VX industry contacts and deep knowledge and working experience of display technology trends, competitive benchmarking, and market costs and pricing details to push SBU and Harman internal organizations (i.e. Procurement, Manufacturing, et al.) to make sure we are positioned in all areas to win.
• In-depth understanding of P&L statements, business cases, and the preparation and management of quotes and contracts with automotive OEMs.
• Essential skills include cross-functional and international team leadership, the ability to arbitrate technical and commercial trade-offs, strong problem-solving abilities, negotiation, solid P&L expertise, and effective communication.
• Demonstrated strength in business development (hunting) and commercial negotiation and GM quotation documentation creation and defending to customer Purchasing and Cost Estimating.
• Strong hunting and negotiation skills
• Experience executing a strategy

What is Nice to Have

• Basic technical understanding of Automotive HW and SW systems, with detailed understanding of GM’s SDV architecture a strong plus.
• Understanding of Automotive OEM organization and processes
• Ability to drive OEM product roadmap, including technical discussions to shape theirs to ours and to ensure that Harman’s technical roadmap is industry aligned and ready for the market in a timely manner.
• Experience within or working with applicable customers and display Tier2s and industry influencers

What Makes You Eligible

• Be willing to travel up to 25%, domestic and international travel
• Be willing to work in an office, manufacturing facility, or client-site OR be eligible to work in a hybrid environment.
• Successfully completing a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment

What We Offer

• Access to employee discounts on world-class Harman and Samsung products (JBL, HARMAN Kardon, AKG, etc.)
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University
• Competitive wellness benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Access to HARMAN Campus Fitness Center and Cafeteria
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development