Technical Manager Construction Products at Watershed Consulting

Duties:

Setting up the Technical Department

• Be directly involved in establishing an Academy in South Africa, this will take the form of a mobile Smart Van that is taken to customers and sites instead of them coming to the office

Sales support

• Deliver both on site and/or online technical & practical training seminars relating on Wall & Floor, General Construction, Waterproofing and Consumer products at the Academy or at external venues as required.

Trade shows

• Deliver product training for customers at tradeshows ensuring clear application and usage guidance

Customer support

• External support: Plan, attend and support distributors by means of trade mornings, staff training seminars and sales meetings,

Customer complaints

• Provide technical support to the Consumer & Construction teams when customer complaints are received

Internal support

• Attend internal meetings, provide product support and deliver demonstrations of products and systems to both Consumer & Construction teams

Lab support

• Where required, provide competitor products to be tested and bench marked,
• Lead frequent benchmark tests of competing products (and facilitate the sales teams to manage that locally)

Technical staff incl. Helpline

• Onboard, educate, control, motivate and/or facilitate the local technical advisor’s as far as applicable.

Wall & Floor Steering unit support

• Working within the technical support team, attend and participate in industry committee meetings online and/or in person

Marketing support

• Work closely with Marketing to establish an Academy/Smart Van
• Based on extensive desk and field research provide technical advice towards the Marketing Department related to the creation of new product ranges and marketing materials.
• Together with the Brand Managers making sure that the products are in compliance with regulations, compatibility of packaging, markings and testing.

New Product Development 

• Liaison with Technical and R&D teams to evaluate products during the product development phases and make recommendations

Training support              

• Compose technical and commercial PMC based training modules

Corporate support          

• Provide technical advice related to potential outsourcing, tolling and/or M&A activities.

Global support 

• Act as a liaison officer between the steering units and other corporate departments on one side and the local business organization on the other side, whereby you prepare/monitor the execution of among others product introductions and innovations as well as product compliance projects.

Marketing support          

• Take initiative and efforts to develop constructive and effective solutions to any product or promotional affairs related issues that slow down or hamper the local business activities.

Corporate support          

• Frequently report on key business (and organizational) performance indicators related to the job position.

Budgets               

• Ensure that all activities are carried out within the agreed budgets, the given time scales and fully compliant to Arkema’s/Bostik’s guidelines and directives.

Safety   

• Undertake all possible and necessary actions to ensure a 100% safe working environment for your team, yourself as well as for third parties.

Expenses             

• Monitor expenses against budget

Admin  

• Maintain and control all administrative tasks related to the job position.

Qualifications, Experience and skills

• Degree in Civil Engineering (or comparable engineering degree)
• Have at least 7 years’ experience in a similar role within the construction chemicals field
• Keep the business running efficiently while providing much-needed support both internally and to e.g. consultants, contractors and retailers.
• Be proficient in various types of Construction Chemicals (flooring, roofing, waterproofing, admixtures, structural bonding, grouting, etc)
• Liaise with the sales team to specify the proper product to clients,
• Train new and existing employees on the entire product line
• Control the technical department’s budget