At Viking EMEA, we encourage an entrepreneurial spirit within our teams, recognizing that the best fire protection solutions are born from collective intelligence. We are always eager to collaborate, brainstorm, and refine our ideas with our colleagues. Will you join us and bring your expertise to our team?

The Local Operations Manager (LOM) is a “working Manager” in charge of building a performing team to ensure an outstanding service to our customers (from quotation to payment collection) and participating actively in the development of our activity in the Middle East region. He/she will drive a customer centric organization, implement improvements and competency development to guarantee fast and accurate response to the customer queries and to ensure optimized turnover, margin and cash flow for our company.

In this challenging role you will be the local representative of the EMEA operations team and as such you will take an active role in the execution of the Operations strategy contributing to the achievement of the Viking general objectives and more specifically to the profitability growth in this area. Together with the Local Sales Manager (LSM), you will be responsible and accountable for the performance of the region.

Responsibilities:

• Ensure and manage excellent end-to-end Customer Service (quotes, technical queries coordination, order processing, order fulfillment, Logistic, payment term monitoring, Invoicing, claims)
• Supervise and develop the direct reports (5 peoples) ensuring customers are receiving the best-in class service and maximizing the business. Structure the team’s competencies to optimize results (optimal mix of admin, commercial, technical skills)
• Develop, together with the local sales & technical team, a competency transfer plan to ensure full autonomy with the operations team for quote management including upselling
• Follow up proactively the legislation changes in the region and coordinate the required business changes to comply
• Ensure strong monitoring and coordination of the payment methods with the credit control & sales team to mitigate the risks for Viking (Cash in advance, Letter of Credit)
• Act as a pivot role in the region, having holistic view on the levers to grow the business and ensure customer satisfaction (commercial, technical, forecast, supply, logistic, credit)
• Support the strategy and business model to optimize the service and costs and mitigate risks
• Be the business partner of the local sales team, visit customers to understand service needs and build up tailored service solutions (with distributors for example)
• Assess and improve internal processes to optimize the resources
• Coordinate with Sales/product management on market needs, analyze and validate the quote pipelines and transform them into a realistic supply plan (probability, quantity & timing) to drive factory material & capacity plans
• Act as a proactive interface between Viking EMEA management and local staff according to policy goals and objectives
• Check daily Open order/activity/productivity/performance report and take necessary actions to maximize revenue & profits
• Coordinate handling of claims with the Quality Manager
• Set and control operational budget (SG&A) and manage all types of location issues (building, cleaning, safety, etc). Establish good relationship with Jafza

 Qualifications and experience:

• You have a significant experience (minimum 10 years) in managing a Customer Service & operations in EMEA region in the industrial sector
• Knowledge of Import/export management specificities (incoterm, payment term, customs procedures, certificates, etc.) is mandatory for this role
• You have a deep knowledge of the business rules, legislations and how to handle the cultural differences in the region
• You have a deep understanding of the order-to-cash processes in a distribution company running modern ERP (quote, orders, deliveries, pricing, interfaces)
• You know how to deal with demanding customers in the region
• You have been involved with technical products and have knowledge in manufacturing & logistic (Mechanical products is a plus)
• You have a Bachelor’s degree/level in a relevant field (e.g. Business Administration, Commercial, Supply Chain)
• Fluency in English is mandatory for the role, other European or regional languages will be a plus
• Excellent administrative & IT (ERP, Microsoft package) skills, knowledge of SAP is a plus

 Personal characteristics:

• Ability to drive organizational change and deliver positive results in customer service
• Proven strong Team management & Leadership skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Flexibility and ability to adjust immediately to changing circumstances
• Thinking in terms of solutions.  Result oriented, pragmatic and continuous improvement minded
• High level of independence
• Influencing skills and ability to liaise at all levels in the organization

Our offer:

We provide you with an interesting and challenging position in an international environment, within a growing business unit. Viking offers a competitive package with a bonus/incentive plan.

Contact information:

If you are interested in this position, please send your Curriculum Vitae and cover letter in English via this website. For more information, please visit our website: www.viking-emea.com