Inside Sales Representative

Organizational Overview 

AEM, headquartered in San Diego, California, is a portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners (IGP), a private equity firm focused exclusively on middle-market industrial manufacturing and niche services businesses. Through its industry leading brands, AEM, Renaissance Electronics, and Central Semiconductor, AEM serves niche applications across a diverse array of attractive markets including satellite, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, EV/Battery, and telecom. 

Position Summary 

The Inside Sales Representative protects and grows repeat business for a named portfolio of long-standing customers, primarily within Aerospace & Defense. This role owns the end-to-end quote-to-order workflow and ensures strong customer experience through timely issue resolution and closed-loop support. The ISR also supports strategic growth initiatives through prospecting, lead generation, and lead management, and is expected to run strong discovery in every customer interaction to uncover cross-sell and new program opportunities.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Own and manage a named portfolio of repeat-business customers; drive retention and growth through proactive phone/email engagement.
• Conduct RFQ discovery and qualification to confirm requirements, timeline, stakeholders, and buying process.
• Use consistent discovery and cross-sell questions in every customer interaction to identify new programs/products and generate qualified opportunities for Territory Account Manager handoff.
• Prepare and deliver accurate, timely quotes; manage revisions and re-quotes as needed by coordinating with internal teams to remove technical, pricing, or lead-time blockers.
• Execute consistent quote follow-up to progress opportunities and secure purchase orders.
• Maintain disciplined CRM opportunity management in Salesforce (stages, value, close dates, next steps, activity).
• Run structured outreach and follow-up using Salesloft to ensure execution and visibility.
• Own order booking and order entry activities, including order changes, and provide proactive customer communication on status, risks, and resolution through fulfillment.
• Resolve routine customer issues (order status, delivery, documentation, returns/RMAs/credits) and escalate appropriately through closure.
• Support lead response and qualification and assist with prospecting/lead management aligned to growth initiatives.

Benefits of working with our team: 

• Full-time, non-exempt position
• Competitive pay based on knowledge, skills, and relevant experience
• Bonus eligible 
• Benefits for eligible employees include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and 401(k) with company match   

AEM is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 2+ years of relevant experience in inside sales, account management, or business development.
• Strong communication, organization, and attention to detail.
• Experience managing RFQs/quoting workflows and using a CRM (Salesforce/Salesloft).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in electronic components, semiconductors, or a related technical B2B industry.
• Familiarity supporting Aerospace & Defense customers and/or DoD programs (government contracting exposure a plus).
• Proficiency with sales tech tools such as Salesforce, Salesloft, and ZoomInfo (or comparable platforms).
• Experience working with distribution and manufacturer rep channels.

Skills & Attributes:

• Customer-first ownership: Drives responsiveness, follow-through, and strong customer experience from quote through fulfillment.
• Opportunity-minded: Asks strong discovery questions, identifies whitespace, and converts customer conversations/touchpoints into sales-qualified leads (SQLs).
• Operational excellence: Manages multiple priorities (RFQs, quoting, follow-up, order execution) with speed and accuracy.
• Process + data discipline: Maintains clean CRM records and uses data/insights to prioritize and communicate effectively. Collaborative execution: Coordinates effectively across internal teams and external partners to remove blockers and close the loop.