Summary
The Area Manager is responsible for a defined area or specific customers in SA. He/She will oversee Key Accounts with the support of the country manager and will be responsible for holding the business and business development. He/She will present, initiate, and perform trials on site to new and existing customers and Project Manage installations throughout South Africa when they occur.

The Area Manager will be responsible for all product lines. That means he/she will take care of trials follow up (performance results, quality) and business follow up (purchase order process) related to refractory, wire, and laser products. He/She will also be the contact person between customer and our other divisions. That means he/she will have to detect the request of improvement of the customer, support the customer and to fix possible issues and to achieve regular maintenance of the laser systems.

In the same role he/she will be responsible for all activities related to EHS in the area as for example, employees training, PPE purchasing, risk analysis, certification, standards deployment, etc.

Main Duty and Responsibilities:

1. Ensure alignment with regional strategies; develop and execute plans and target account strategies to achieve profitable sales of the company’s products and systems.
2. Build key customer relationships based on trust and value at senior and middle management levels to achieve deeper customer penetration. At the same time, show strong leadership to the SMS team as direct reports.
3. Understand and represent fairly the company’s operational and technical capabilities to the marketplace to make balanced decisions considering risk/reward. Communicate market/customer requirements to R&D and Manufacturing so that the company is in a good position to satisfy customer requirements.
4. Has good electrical/mechanical and technical knowledge to initiate TPM activities on site to keep all equipment in good condition at reasonable costs.
5. Stay abreast of trends in the marketplace and related technology. Maintain marketing information database detailing:

• Customer information: customers capacity, equipment, key contacts, competitive product purchases and pricing.
• Competitor information: comprehensive data on competitors active in the region.

1. As the EHS responsible person, he/she will:

• Oversee documentation management (procedure, instruction) and annual review of documents.
• Participate and organize internal audit on the field, internal audit system, workplace inspection (management).
• Participate in risk analysis, accident/incident investigation.
• Be responsible in defining PPE needs and to choose appropriate supplier.
• Complete follow ups with entity manager on the safety annual plan.
• Ensure the appropriate training of the employees, including mandatory medical visits.
• Ensure waste destruction in accordance with the environmental legislation.
• Insure the mandatory control of equipment (lifting, pressure tank and electricity cabinet).

Position Demands

1. Knowledge

• Knowledge and experience in selling to the steel industry.
• Millwright or Electrician is a must have due to the equipment that is to be maintained.
• Strong business acumen including understanding impact of commercial activities on income statement and balance sheet.
• Able to understand the value drivers of steel producers and able to communicate and justify the value of our systems.
• Knowledge of steel and refractory process.
• Knowledge of safety approach in heavy industry such as steel industry, mining etc.

1. Skills and abilities

• Able to quickly learn the company’s business formula value selling, systems approach, focus on research and development.
• Aggressively identify and pursue market opportunities.
• Strong organization, planning and problem-solving skills.
• Able to initiate new customer contacts. Also, can communicate effectively with all levels of mill managers and employees.
• Demonstrate the ability to build and manage a high-performance service team.
• Able to define a book of duty or a specification of PPE.
• Able to analyze and negotiate with suppliers.

1. General

• Will travel as needed for Project work within South Africa and potentially abroad. Open to future opportunities outside of the region.
• Microsoft Office competency (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).