Sales Engineer Account Manager (Fiber Optics)

Responsible for the sale and promotion of the company optical fiber products and services, to potential and existing customers and end-users in the territory, to differentiate the company in the market place and secure new or extend existing selling opportunities. The role will be responsible for providing technical support to customers of the company’s optical fiber products in Africa (EMEA). Must be willing to travel to Africa (Nigeria)

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the sale and promotion of the company optical fiber products and services, to potential and existing customers and end-users in the territory, to differentiate the company in the market place and secure new or extend existing selling opportunities.
• Manage all aspects of the commercial relationships with customers in the territory, including negotiation of supply contracts, pricing and supply/demand forecasting and management, to deliver budgeted sales and profitability

• Serves as an advocate for both the company and the customer by creating value for both parties and balancing the needs and constraints of both.
• Stays informed of customer requirements and key buying factors, and uses this knowledge to pursue profitable selling opportunities for current or next generation products and to modify account plans, as needed.
• Coordinates cross-functional account services (with Applications Engineering, Customer Service, Systems Engineering, Technical Management) to lead the account and serve the customer with one, unified voice and to provide seamless support.
• Collects market, customer, and competitor intelligence and insights and shares this knowledge with others, as appropriate, to inform sales, marketing, and technical strategies as well as the demand forecast and sales planning processes.
• Collects sales information within the account to inform short-term and long-term sales forecasting (i.e., sales budget and 5-year plan) at the account and division level and inform inventory management efforts.
• Customizes presentation / marketing collateral to fit the customer’s technical needs.
• Investigating and resolving technical problems or concerns reported by customers when processing or deploying optical fiber, including site visits as required.
• Providing a technical information service to customers. This includes writing reports for specific customers on particular aspects of interest or concern, and identifying and distributing previously written materials as appropriate.
• Representing the “voice of the customer” for projects to develop new products and implement product changes
• Support existing customers in the territory with issues related to logistics, qualification, and/or a variety of fiber supply and fiber usage issues.
• Making customer presentations to support and promote the company’s Optical Fiber products and product initiatives to educate customers and keep them up-to-date on product changes and new products.
• Use technical and industry knowledge to help in customer technical response negotiations.
• Leverages the capability of the organization in providing solutions to difficult technical issues associated with specific projects to external customers.

Skills & experience:

• Degree or equivalent in Communications, Electronics, Engineering, Maths or Physical Sciences.
• Minimum of five years in a customer facing sales role.
• Experience of working for a global company.
• Track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Communication with culturally diverse teams, most of which will be virtual
• Organizational skills and good attention to detail
• Customer focused
• Ability to manage multiple projects and relationships simultaneously
• Excellent listening, negotiation and presentation skills
• Able to travel extensively in Africa and to UK and USA
• Cross cultural communication, most of which will be remote

Travel will be approx. 50% to African countries including Nigeria