Senior Commercial & Business Development Manager - English West Africa at GE - General Electric

Job Function: Sales
Business Segment: Transportation Headquarters

Role Summary

• GE is an equal opportunity employer, offering a great work environment, challenging career opportunities, professional training and competitive compensation.The Senior Commercial & Business Development Manager-English West Africa will identify, develop and close equipment, services and digital opportunities across English speaking countries in West Africa.
• This role will serve all GE Transportation P&Ls and will be primarily focused on developing and converting West Africa Rail opportunities.

Essential Responsibilities
The portfolio includes:

• Identification and development of deal strategies, development of a pipeline of convertible sales opportunities, coordination of proposal generation, preparation of slides and analysis for top management to support decision taking, Post Mortem calls, maintenance of SFDC opportunities, and deal closure to meet quarterly and annual financial metrics. Sub regional coverage will be based in Nigeria with coverage for surrounding English speaking countries.
• The role requires strong leadership skills, strong knowledge of commercial processes, market economics, competitive issues, contractual expertise, technology, and projects as well as the ability to collaborate with and influence key decision makers.

Specific Responsibilities include:

• Define, Identify and own commercial opportunities across the Transportation portfolio including development of deal strategies, timely and customer responsive proposals, market pricing strategy, risk mitigation strategies and customer engagement to meet orders, margin, convertibility, and cash objectives
• Rapidly understand the challenges and opportunities facing GETS and constructively add to the dialogue and debate on the deal/project team
• Define and lead GETS engagement strategy and approach to the English-speaking West African markets recommending and executing on initiatives and transactions to grow overall market presence
• Supports prioritization of regional market segment requirements, performs gap analysis to business unit portfolio, and defines strategic and tactical steps to best position P&L’s for accelerated growth
• Own a coordinated ‘one face to the customer’ across the products, and develop and own their account plans
• Lead deal strategy development and reviews as necessary with Sales and Commercial Operations Team, Customer Service Leaders, Customer Fulfillment Managers, Global Operations, Finance, Comm Ops, and other functional groups as required
• Drive orders, sales, cash and contribution margin (CM) growth
• Provide leadership through the formulation and execution of proposal strategies that capitalize on GE's competitive strengths to serve the customer's needs while meeting GE’s business goals
• Integrate the technical support team, including segment leaders, finance, product support, engineering, and others in the implementation of customer strategies

Qualifications/Requirements

• MBA, ECLP or other Master’s degree or equivalent knowledge or experience
• Minimum of seven years of relevant commercial operations, Sales, commercial finance, and market development expertise
• Strong process skills and understanding of business finance and terms and conditions
• Highly collaborative with effective teaming and problem-solving abilities
• Proven ability to clearly communicate with technical and non-technical audiences in a complex org.
• Negotiation and sales skills and/or proven sales experience in closing large and complex contracts
• Demonstrated aptitude for both managing and prioritizing multiple projects and initiatives
• Team leadership and facilitation skills in a matrix organization and interacting with senior executives
• Strong problem solving skills
• Clear thinking: Some experience simplifying strategy into specific actions with clear accountability, making decisions with speed and accuracy based on best available information, and communicating priorities clearly and concisely
• Integrity: Accepting and adhering to high ethical, moral, and personal values in decisions, communications, actions, and when dealing with others
• Adaptable/Flexible: Open to change in response to new information, different or unexpected circumstances, and/or to work in ambiguous situations
• A valid NYSC discharge or exemption certificate will be required (please indicate clearly on your resume)
• Must have valid authorization to work full-time without any restriction in Nigeria

Desired Characteristics
The ideal candidate brings a combination of:

• Intellectual rigor and strong analytical skills
• African region experience and expertise
• Project management expertise
• Strong interpersonal skills in order to build relationships and work with a variety of constituencies within GE
• Possess strong oral and written presentation skills
• External focus: Understanding customer needs, marketplace dynamics, industry trends, and the competitive landscape in the industry/function and considering the external impact of business activities and decisions on the external environment