Manager Market Launch Sales (f/m/d)

We are the brand for forward-thinkers. We celebrate challenging conventions and shaping the future of electric mobility. We focus on the essentials to bring perfection to customers. We make urban life more enjoyable and entertain our customers with new impulses.

Ever since smart exists, we rewrite the automotive industry’s rulebook. In the 1990s, we undermined the predominant philosophy of ‘bigger is better’ and designed a revolutionary car. Since 2020 we are the first car enterprise that switched to 100% electric! We aim to transform into a leading player in urban premium, electric & connected mobility provider.

Are you a forward thinker too? Then join us now!

About the role

The Market Launch Manager Sales will support the Head of Retail Network in opening up and operationalizing new markets with external partners (e.g. importers / general distributors), including but not limited to: steering the internal launch project across all involved functions, translating market entry requirements into concrete work packages and delivery commitments per department, coordinating the interfaces to IT, After Sales, Logistics, Legal, Finance, Marketing, and Training, tracking milestones, gates and open points, managing risks and escalations, and preparing the readiness assessment and management reporting up to go-live. This role shall also ensure a structured handover to the responsible Market Manager after launch and continuously develop the standardized market launch playbook applied to all following market entries.

Your responsibilities

Cross-departmental launch management (interface function)

• Set up and maintain the internal launch project plan: work packages, responsibilities (RACI), milestones, gates and dependencies, in coordination with the leading departments Network & Sales MM
• Prepare, moderate and document the interdisciplinary core team meetings and jour fixes; maintain the open-topics list and follow up on deliverables with clear owners and due dates
• Break market requirements down into concrete requirement packages per department, coordinate scope, effort and delivery dates with the respective specialist teams and document the agreed commitments, i.e:
  • IT / Digital: track system onboarding and readiness (ordering, invoicing, CRM, MCS, parts and warranty systems, etc.), master data setup, interfaces, localisation …
  • Customer Services: track service coverage, initial parts package and logistics, Sales & Service trainings, tools and diagnostics, warranty and goodwill process release
  • Logistics, Homologation, Legal, Finance, Marketing, Training: capture, sequence and monitor their launch-critical deliverables within the same plan
• Steer the collection of department feedback on GD's questions
• Identify dependencies, gaps and conflicts between departments at an early stage; propose solutions and prepare prioritisation decisions for the project lead
• Maintain risk and issue management on an operational level: risk register, status of mitigation measures, timely escalation along the defined path
• Act as central point of contact for status information within the launch project, ensuring one consistent set of dates and one common status picture across all functions
• Maintain the project governance framework in daily operations: meeting cadence, documentation standards, change request log, decision log
• Coordinate meeting content and exchanges with the internal departments and GDs

Launch execution & go-live

• Maintain the launch readiness checklist: readiness criteria per department, current status, evidence and open points
• Prepare and support gate reviews; collect and document the formal readiness confirmations from the responsible departments
• Monitor the critical path in the final phase — status control, bottleneck identification, preparation of escalations and re-planning proposals where milestones are at risk
• Coordinate the operational go-live sequence across functions (system activation, first allocation and launch stock, pricing release, communication start, training completion)
• Be the main PoC towards the Investors/GD, gather local requisites and transfer them as requirements within smart EU
• Support the hypercare phase: central intake of issues from the market, triage and assignment to the responsible internal function, tracking to resolution within defined response times
• Prepare the structured handover to the responsible Market Manager and line functions, including documented open points, responsibilities and follow-up plan

Steering, performance & continuous improvement

• Prepare transparent management reporting: launch status, milestone and gate achievement, risks, decision requirements — including the documents for steering committee and management updates
• Track project KPIs (milestone adherence, readiness status per function) and flag deviations with proposed countermeasures
• Monitor post-launch business performance against the agreed business plan (volume, market share, order intake, stock, network KPIs), prepare analyses and derive recommendations for the responsible manager
• Organise and document structured lessons-learned reviews with all involved departments and consolidate the results
• Develop and maintain the market launch playbook and toolkit (process model, gate criteria, templates, checklists, standards library) to make each following launch faster and more predictable
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of internal launch processes, governance and project management standards

What you bring along

Education

• Bachelor's degree or above in business, marketing, economics or a comparable degree

Professional Experience

• 5+ years of experience in the automotive (luxury/premium) industry, preferably in network development, sales, management consulting or similar field
• Experience in a joint venture context would be beneficial
  
  

Knowledge / Functional Expertise

• Experience in market entry strategy and international distribution models (importer/general distributor, NSC, hybrid setups)
• Knowledge of importer and dealer operations incl. Sales, After Sales and network standards
• Experience in steering cross-functional projects and coordinating specialist departments (e.g. IT, After Sales, Logistics, Legal, Finance) without disciplinary authority
• Experience in project management incl. milestone and gate models, risk and stakeholder management, and readiness assessment
• Experience in management reporting, KPI tracking and preparation of decision papers for steering committees
• Experience in global/European market management and working in intercultural, multi-market environments

Key Competencies / Soft Skills

• Experience in leading and inspiring cross functional and international teams
• Excellent analytical, organizational and numerical skills, with a results-oriented personality
• Confident and effective negotiator - able to consistently reach positive outcomes while building strong internal and external relationships
• Business-fluent written and oral communication skills in English; fluency in German or another European language is a plus

We're building a workplace where amazing people like you can do their best work. Together with us, you enjoy the agile working atmosphere with cross-European responsibilities
 
We're creating a culture where personal and professional growth are as important as business growth. Together with us, you will build a diverse and inclusive environment where you feel you belong to.
 
We empower you to have ownership over work!