SMS Business Development Manager

ZEISS is technology and innovation. Founded in Germany, in 1846, ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries across 50 countries.

As a company wholly owned by a foundation, ZEISS is committed to responsibility in all its activities. As a pioneer in scientific optics, it's employees across the globe continue to push the boundaries of what is possible. With a strong focus on quality and innovation, ZEISS creates value for its customers and helps shape new ways of seeing the world.

We’re looking for a SMS Business Development Manager to join us in Seoul & Yongin, Korea.

ZEISS Korea has played a key role in the Korean market for the past 40 years. For ZEISS, the Korean Market is One of the Top 5 Global Sales Markets, providing products and services from business areas to Korean customers:

• Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
• Industrial Quality & Research
• Medical Technology
• Vision Care (Consumer Markets)

*More Information: www.자이스채용.com

Your Role

The SMS Business Development Manager serves as the primary interface between semiconductor customers and ZEISS SMT, translating customer needs, market opportunities, technology trends, and competitive insights into strategic business actions. The role drives customer-facing business development activities and supports the successful introduction of new products and solutions to enhance customer value and regional execution.

The role of SMS Business Development Manager  will involve:

1. Customer engagement and business development

• Maintains the daily customer interface for the corresponding SSC and conducts regular technology exchange with relevant customer teams.

• Develops customer-specific business opportunities and supports regional growth initiatives for the assigned SBU (incl. joint development projects) in alignment with the SSC Head, Sales, Strategic Marketing and FoBs.

• Identifies customer pain points, value drivers and boundary conditions and translates them into specific opportunity / insertion points for ZEISS SMT products, solutions and possible customer collaborations (e.g. Joint development programs)

2.  Market and competitive intelligence

• Consolidates region-specific customer process knowledge, technology trends, competitor field intelligence and conference insights relevant to the SBU portfolio.

• Consolidates product-level competitive analyses and customer feedback into structured input for Strategic Marketing, FoBs and other headquarters stakeholders.

3. Solution development and new product introductions

• Leads customer-facing solution development activities by connecting regional customer requirements with local application expertise, engineering capabilities and SBU priorities.

• Leads the execution for new product introductions with dedicated local application experts and consolidates customer feedback, prioritization input and operational learnings during evaluations and ramp-up phases.

• Supports NPI (new product introduction)

4.  Regional counterpart to Strategic Marketing and other headquarters functions

• Serves as the SSC counterpart to Strategic Marketing for the assigned SBU and ensures an effective transfer of field insights into strategic planning and execution.

• Provides regional input to customer reviews, TRMs, cross-functional planning formats, roadmaps & go-to-market decisions and aligns customer observations with the relevant headquarters stakeholders.

5. Field execution within SSC

• Supports the implementation and continuous development of the Business Development & Field Marketing role within the SSC

• Facilitates the regional transfer of new tools, technologies and solution concepts into customer-facing activities in alignment with SBU Strategic Marketing and FoBs and supports customer-value-focused execution in the field

6.      Organisational Development & Leadership

• Establishes a new “Business Development & Field Marketing” department, including its structure, relevant roles and way of working

• Functional leadership and further development / qualification of employees in Business Development & Field Marketing

• Definition of effectiveness KPIs and monitoring the impact of field marketing measures on product strategy and customer satisfaction in alignment with strategic marketing

Your Experience

1. Education

• Excellent university degree in engineering or natural sciences (e.g. mechanical engineering, optics, physics, material sciences, other STEM disciplines)

2. Experience

• 10+ years of experience in technical roles in mask shop ecosystem (incl. industry contacts for their segment) with direct exposure to at least one of the following:

• • photomask manufacturing, metrology and repair

• • Wafer inspection/metrology

• • front-end integration & yield engineering

• Strong experience in gathering and structuring customer process insights, market intelligence and competitive intelligence for cross-functional stakeholders.

• Demonstrated extensive experience in developing products together with customers / in strategic partnerships with customers

• Demonstrated extensive experience in introducing new products to customers

• Worked in cross-functional and intercultural teams spread across different countries and locations

3. Knowledge / Skills / Other characteristics

• In-depth market knowledge of key players, innovation cycles and the regulatory framework within the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industry

• Strong technical understanding of semiconductor equipment, applications, solution concepts and related customer requirements.

• Ability to analyze customer pain points, value drivers, technology trends and competitive developments and translate them into structured recommendations for business and product decisions.

• Extensive technical knowledge of optical systems, materials, metrology and semiconductor processes

• Comprehensive understanding of processes in the mask shop (e.g. mask registration, metrology and repair).

• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills with the ability to build trust-based customer relationships and work effectively across Sales, Service, Application, Strategic Marketing, Product Management and R&D interfaces.

• Broad customer relationships and industry contacts in their previous segment (e.g. mask shop, wafer fab)

• Strong customer focus, enabling them to understand customer issues and identify implications for SMS technologies and products

• Ability to communicate complex technical and business content clearly to customers as well as to internal technical and management stakeholders.

• Strong ability to think across disciplines, acting as a bridge between technology, business and the customer

• C1/C2 language skills in Korean

• Business fluent in English

It would be desirable if you had:

• a PhD and/or additional business qualification (e.g. MBA)

Your Benefits

If you join ZEISS, you will have access to a range of benefits, including:

• Financial & Lifestyle: Annual flexible welfare points and family support allowances

• Health & Mental Well-being: Comprehensive group medical insurance, executive health screenings at general hospitals, and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for stress management

• Family & Life Milestones: Tuition assistance for college-aged children as well as compassionate/congratulatory paid leave and financial gifts for major family occasions

• Long-term Growth & Community: Tenure-based long-service awards and retirement benefits, alongside company sponsorship for internal club activities

Role Details

• Division: Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology

• Role/Reporting Line: Team Manager / Reporting to Head of SMT
• Location: Seoul & Yongin (Domestic & International Travel as required)

• Contract: Regular

Apply now to take the next step in joining ZEISS, where you can push technological boundaries, shape markets and contribute to the advancement of society.

Your ZEISS Recruiting Team:

ShinBi Park （박신비）, SooHyun Kim （김수현）