Service Solutions Manager, Africa

*** This role can be Middle East, North Africa, or South Africa based!

John Crane, a business of Smiths Group, is a global leader in mission-critical flow control solutions for energy and process industries that enable efficient and sustainable operations. Our products include mechanical seals and systems, couplings, bearings, filtration systems, and predictive digital monitoring technologies.

We have a global network of more than 200 sites in over 50 countries and employ more than 6,000 people worldwide. We partner with our customers to help them keep their operations safe, reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and meet the latest environmental standards.

John Crane is part of Smiths Group. For over 170 years, Smiths has been pioneering progress by engineering for a better future. We serve millions of people every year, helping to create a safer, more efficient, productive, and better-connected world across four global markets: energy, security & defence, space & aerospace, and general industrial. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths employs approximately 16,000 colleagues in over 50 countries.

Purpose :

To drive and participate in the ongoing analysis of the business environment and through this analysis, in collaboration with the relevant branch/area Managers, plan and execute National strategies and initiatives designed to deliver annual and medium-term organisational and operational objectives.

Key Responsibilities :

• Provider of strategic intelligence and a key enabler, interacting with Sales personnel, central resources in support of the development and delivery of the annual Full Potential Plan and business plan objectives. Define Target Markets and identify competitor strongholds, and target accordingly.
• Target competitors’ strongholds and develop an effective plan, with targets to penetrate the specific industry/customer and, in turn, grow John Crane’s current market share
• Develop an effective key-account strategy, along with the focus group on key target customers or industry and implement this in line with the African business objectives.
• Keep close contact with the market to assess new developments/requirements for the long-term growth of sales
• To ensure that regular review of the company’s competitive environment is made, and appropriate measures are taken to increase the market share and ensure that the company retains its market position as the world’s largest designer, manufacturer and supplier of engineering sealing systems, solutions and associated products in the country
• To establish specific competitor product/service information and plans (Product life cycle, S-curve, etc).
• Assist in developing African medium- and Long-term plans.
• Ensure that John Crane customer-account management and after-sales service is meeting and beating the products and service offerings of its competitors
• Strategic development, focus and supply of core products into new markets
• Prepare and do customer presentations on all products and services
• Assists in new product launches/development and sales plans
• Keeping abreast of new developments in the marketplace
• Ensuring that administration is kept to a high standard and that laid down procedures are strictly adhered to

• 8 – 10 years of industry experience in a managerial role, including business development.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills.
• Creative problem-solving abilities with strong planning and time management skills.
• Results-driven team player with ability to work independently.
• Experience working in African countries
• BTECH or equivalent (MBA advantageous)
• Strong understanding of commercial agreements and contracts
• Ability to develop and implement growth plans for new products and markets
• Fluency in English is a must, French, Arabic, Africans is an advantage.

With colleagues stretching across the globe, we are proud of our diversity. To foster inclusivity, we run employee resource groups (ERGs) to provide a safe space for employees to connect and support each other. Our cross-business ERGs include Veterans, Pride Network, Black Employee Network, Women@Work Network, and Neurodiversity.

Across our company, we recognize excellence, culminating in the Smiths Excellence Awards, our annual celebration of the most extraordinary activities, people, and projects that best showcase our strengths and help drive our business forward. We announce these on our annual Smiths Day, a global celebration of Smiths around our network.

Join us for a great career with competitive compensation and benefits, while helping engineer a better future.

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will Smiths Group, nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website (Careers – Smiths Group plc)