Description
As a Contract Outside Sales Representative, you will own ZeroKey's growth across the Detroit, Auburn Hills, and Dearborn automotive corridor, with an explicit focus on automotive OEMs and their Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. You will play an integral role in the full front end of the sale, from opening plant doors and running discovery to coordinating demos and pilots with our Calgary team. This is a field role for a hunter: buyers are in manufacturing engineering, quality, industrial engineering, and plant leadership, and the conversations focus on error-proofing, cycle time, torque verification, and throughput—outcomes you can speak to credibly. You are a self-directed operator with an active network inside the region's plants and a track record of landing new logos in long-cycle industrial sales.
Location, Work Model, and Engagement
This is a field-based independent contractor opportunity serving the Detroit, Auburn Hills, and Dearborn areas, with annual on-target earnings (OTE) of $150,000 USD. You will work from your home office and from customer plants, with periodic travel to our Calgary headquarters for onboarding, product training, and sales alignment.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and develop the Southeast Michigan automotive territory, including OEM plants, technical centers, and the Tier 1 and Tier 2 supply base.
- Prospect and open new accounts through your network, cold outreach, plant visits, and regional industry events.
- Run discovery and qualification: map plant pain points like error-proofing, quality escapes, tool and asset tracking, AGV/AMR navigation, and line-side logistics to ZeroKey use cases.
- Coordinate technical demos, evaluations, and pilot deployments with ZeroKey's sales leadership and solutions engineering team.
- Build and advance a qualified pipeline, maintaining it in our CRM with accurate stages, next steps, and forecasts.
- Represent ZeroKey at regional trade shows and automotive manufacturing events.
- Collaborate with ZeroKey's channel and integration partners active in the territory when a deal calls for it.
- Feed voice-of-customer intelligence (use cases, objections, competitive activity) back to sales leadership and product.
- Document account plans, contact maps, and opportunity history so wins are repeatable.
- Stay current on automotive manufacturing technology trends, such as Industry 4.0, quality systems, and plant digitalization, to keep the conversation ahead of the market.
Experience and Requirements
- Minimum of 5 years of outside sales experience selling technical or capital solutions into automotive manufacturing (e.g., automation, machine vision, quality systems, industrial software, IIoT, or RTLS).
- An active network across OEM, Tier 1, and Tier 2 plants and technical centers in Southeast Michigan.
- Based in the Detroit Metro area, with the ability to be in plants across Detroit, Auburn Hills, and Dearborn often.
- A verifiable track record of new-logo acquisition in long-cycle, multi-stakeholder industrial sales.
- Comfort selling a technical product: able to run a credible first meeting and product story solo after training, and know when to bring in engineering.
- Experience with RTLS, positioning, machine vision, or plant-floor digitization solutions is a strong asset.
- Existing relationships with automotive quality or manufacturing engineering organizations are a strong asset.
- Eligible to operate as an independent contractor in the United States.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.
- Strong communication skills to effectively convey complex concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.