Manager, Strategic Accounts - GM Defense

GM Defense (GMD) is building and expanding strategic relationships with traditional Defense Primes and government customers across the Department of War (DoW) and the broader defense industrial base. The Manager, Strategic Accounts is accountable for developing and executing customer account strategies that create durable growth across manufacturing, engineering and supply chain opportunities. The role combines senior customer engagement, business development, program management and organizational leadership to move opportunities from early concept and gate development through executable program plans and business cases.

Reporting to the Vice President, Strategy and Transformation, this leader will serve as a senior representative of GM Defense with Defense Primes, DoW stakeholders and internal GM leaders. The role will establish the conditions for winning business by applying the “Real, Win, Worth” framework, aligning customer need with GM Defense capabilities, and ensuring that opportunities are strategically attractive, executable and economically sound.

The successful candidate must be highly self-directed, exceptionally organized and effective in building trust across distributed teams, customer organizations and partner ecosystems. The role will lead a small team of individuals and mobilize cross-functional resources to support a portfolio of defense-prime accounts and opportunities.

• →Own and execute strategic account plans for traditional Defense Primes, including relationship maps, customer priorities, whitespace opportunities, engagement strategies, pipeline objectives and executive action plans.
• →Build and maintain trusted relationships with Defense Prime executives, business-unit leaders, program managers, capture leaders, engineering organizations, manufacturing leaders, supply chain teams and procurement stakeholders.
• →Identify, qualify and shape new business opportunities across manufacturing, engineering and supply chain support for DoW programs and Defense Prime customers.
• →Lead opportunity development through early gates by applying the “Real, Win, Worth” framework: validate the customer need and addressable market, define the path to win, and establish the strategic, operational and financial value for GM Defense.
• →Develop integrated program plans and business cases that define scope, customer requirements, solution approach, milestones, resources, investment, risks, dependencies, pricing inputs, expected returns and decision points.
• →Translate customer requirements and Defense Prime program needs into actionable internal workstreams with clear owners, timelines, deliverables and escalation paths.
• →Lead a small team of account, business development and program professionals; set priorities, coach performance, establish operating cadence and ensure consistent execution across the portfolio.
• →Mobilize and lead cross-functional teams across strategy, business development, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, finance, legal, contracts, security and operations.
• →Brief the Vice President of Strategy and Transformation, GM Defense senior leaders and other executive stakeholders on account health, opportunity status, program plans, business cases, risks, decisions required and recommended actions.
• →Prepare concise, decision-quality executive materials and customer-facing content, including account reviews, opportunity reviews, gate packages, capture strategies, program plans and business cases.
• →Establish disciplined operating rhythms for account reviews, opportunity tracking, customer engagement, action-item closure, risk management and executive escalation.
• →Partner with government-facing and capture organizations to align Defense Prime engagement with DoW priorities, acquisition timelines, programming and budgeting processes, contracting strategies and industrial-base objectives.
• →Represent GM Defense in customer meetings, industry engagements, program reviews and partner discussions; communicate the company’s capabilities and value proposition with credibility and executive presence.
• →Advance organizational effectiveness by improving standard work, decision processes, information flow, cross-functional alignment and repeatable practices for defense-prime growth.
• →Operate in accordance with GM Behaviors and GM Defense values while protecting sensitive company, customer and program information.

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Proven ability to develop and manage senior customer relationships and convert those relationships into qualified, executable business opportunities.
• Strong program management skills, including the ability to integrate scope, schedule, resources, risks, dependencies, financial considerations and cross-functional deliverables.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and directing a small team of professionals in a matrixed, fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional organizational effectiveness, prioritization and follow-through; able to manage multiple accounts, opportunities and deadlines without losing strategic focus.
• Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to brief senior leaders, facilitate decisions, influence without authority and represent GM Defense with external customers and partners.
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment while maintaining a high-cadence, collaborative operating model with distributed internal and external teams.
• Candidate must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, asylee or refugee).
• U.S. citizenship required to comply with federal government contract provision expressly restricting role to U.S. citizens.
• Eligible to obtain Secret U.S. Security Clearance after hire.
• Willingness and ability to travel as required to support customer, partner and GM Defense engagements.

• Bachelor's in business, engineering, operations, public policy or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Master’s degree in business administration, engineering, operations, national security, public policy or a related field.
• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in business development, capture, program management, account management, strategy or a related discipline.
• Experience building program plans, business cases and executive recommendations through early-stage opportunity or investment gates, including clear “Real, Win, Worth” assessments.
• Demonstrated experience working with or in the Department of War (DoW) and traditional Defense Primes, with an understanding of their mission needs, acquisition environments, program lifecycles and decision processes.
• Existing relationships with senior leaders and program organizations within one or more traditional Defense Primes and relevant DoW organizations.
• Working knowledge of defense manufacturing, engineering, supply chain and/or sustainment environments, and the ability to connect customer requirements to operational execution.
• Experience supporting defense acquisition, program capture, contract development, industrial-base expansion, production ramp-up or complex supplier partnerships.
• Experience with manufacturing, engineering or supply chain business cases involving capacity, capability, tooling, quality, sourcing, schedule, cost and risk.
• Experience establishing account-management operating models, governance forums, executive reviews and repeatable opportunity-development processes.
• Familiarity with GM and GM Defense technologies, capabilities, operating systems and enterprise resources, or the demonstrated ability to learn them quickly.
• Active Secret U.S. Security Clearance as of the first day of work.
   

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