Job Details

The Manager, Commercial Operations is accountable for the development, implementation and alignment of all commercial processes for various OEM programs or Service regions. The position is responsible for establishing site or global sales & customer service policies and operating procedures for managing the Aftermarket Sales business administration processes.

This is a commercial position with the primary requirement to lead and execute all sales support and customer service functions for OEM Aftermarket sales and service channels into the market. This position is considered to be a key contributor to developing winning product, service and/or customer capture strategies in collaboration with Sales, Marketing, and Engineering.

• Plan and orchestrate strategic sales administration requirements for all Aftermarket, OEM and/or Service market channels.
• Lead, and develop the proposal process for OEM or service.
• Specific responsibilities include leading cross-functional deal teams (Sales, Commercial Operations, Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Operations, Service), assembling and producing (authoring as necessary) winning sales proposals, and ensuring strict adherence to the PLC process and associated deliverables for effective gate reviews.
• Lead the Sales, Inventory, & Operations (SIOP) and BTO/Demand Planning processes through gathering and presentation of product forecasts including OEM, aftermarket, and interplant demand streams.
• Support the Customer Account Managers to analyze demand for product and services to support the entire customer base, measure demands with the organization's goals, and support Global/Sales/Regional Account Managers with successful execution of BTO customer engagement goals and objectives.
• Ensure correct price setting towards the customer by providing regional guidelines on optimized profitability by combining and aligning all cost and sales price boundary conditions.
• Rigorously monitor the warranty status of the entire installed base and ensure adequate commercial behavior towards our customers accordingly.
• Control all warranty-related costs.
• Lead Customer Account/Support Representatives in the administration of customer orders and related customer service functions including customer call administration, order entry, quotation support, customer approvals, export license coordination, invoicing, and receivables management. Establish, and improve as necessary, standardized work instructions and policies to ensure consistency, efficiency, and superior customer service delivery.
• Maintain and monitor the profit plan and sales forecast data and provide performance results (i.e., actuals vs. plan/forecast, site/product/business segment level detail, etc.) for the area of responsibility.
• Direct and mentor Customer Account Managers to generate detailed product mix forecast, for communicating requirements with the organizations.
• Accountable for planning and execution of the Service Repair Process.
• Establish process metrics (KPI's) and apply Lean/Six Sigma principles for all core processes to develop a continuous improvement culture within the Commercial Operations function.
• Responsible for staffing, performance management, development and succession planning of the commercial operations membership.

• Determine the sales processes required to maintain data for the team. Including standardization of product codes in all locations, standardization of MAC codes in all locations, standardization of fields used in WISE, global terms and conditions (regional customization where applicable), global customer polices, global price parameters and global business documentation processes.
• IT Process Owner for the critical business segments of Account Management, Sales Analysis & Reporting, Financial Analysis, and Service & Customer Support.
• Responsible for review, approval and prioritization of the IT development project requests for e-Business Customer Care, WISE Sales Modules, WISE Order Entry Modules, Customer EDI, Business Objects and SMS.
• Manage the budget for Commercial Operations including full-time, contract, and temporary personnel expenses and all discretionary expense items.

• Strong knowledge of the external sales function and associated processes including developing effective customer and product capture strategies, customer relationship management, customer decision-making processes, government contracting & compliance, and general supplier administration practices of Woodward customer base.
• Strong knowledge of the PLC process and related responsibilities and deliverables of the Sales and Commercial Operations functions.
• Strong knowledge of the Woodward BTO/Lean process with particular emphasis on the demand planning/forecasting and customer engagement processes.
• Strong financial knowledge on the commercial principles of new proposal business modeling, contract review, cost, pricing, volume discounts, payment and/or collections.
• Extensive knowledge of the customers and products for OEM and aftermarket market segments.
• Ability to lead without direct supervision while setting the direction and priorities for the Commercial Operations team.
• Considerable knowledge of the Business Operating system (WISE), SMS or SalesForce.com.
• Solid leadership skills
• Customer focused
• Exceptional communication including ability to influence.
• Ability to plan, organize and manage sizable workload for entire global sales network.
• Ability to resolve complex issues without detailed instructions or procedural guidelines

• BS/BA in Technical Field or Business Administration (Master preferred).
• Formal training in Miller-Heiman strategic selling and account management processes, CRM systems and processes preferred.
• Lean/Six Sigma.

• Minimum of 10+ years experience in a Sales and/or Customer Service function including specific experience leading complex campaigns and developing winning OEM sales or Aftermarket proposals
• 5+ years experience in a leadership role