Training and Partner Manager at Siemens

Responsible for overseeing the following functions:

• < > Managing the Siemens Nigeria Power Academy and Sitrain training concepts.  Managing department budget, with full responsibility for the P&L of the function.  Strong focus on excellent delivery of a high quality training product, both to internal and external customers.  Must have the ability to sell training courses and programs, and to achieve growth of the department through increased customer demand.  Must also have a strong commitment to personal professional development of training partners, and process and delivery improvement through improved course content, highly skilled training partner personnel, and enhanced innovative use of technology.

  Partner Management: Developing and leading business strategies that enable the partners to achieve their agreed revenue and profitability targets.  Also responsible for business development of indirect channel (recruiting, screening/selection, and on boarding) of new distribution partners to address coverage needs. Planning, executing, and providing marketing and sales support to partners including organizing and driving promotions, running campaigns and launching new products through partners. This role is responsible for business results of indirect sales channels, new business development, and process/tool support (including Business Partner Compliance, Contracting, and Supervision). 

What are my responsibilities?

Responsibilities for Training are as follows:

• Day-to-day supervision of the trainers, training partners, training plan and budget
• Providing reports on department performance on a regular basis
• Ensuring a balanced training schedule which meets the needs of the general market and Local Authorities
• Ensuring the availability of adequate resources in terms of training staff, materials & equipment.
• Overseeing the tendering process to ensure incoming enquiries are dealt with efficiently, providing prices and resources schedules.
• Ensure up-to-date certification and licensing from approved Technical Societies and Certification Bodies in alignment with quality objectives
• Take day-to-day responsibility for the general upkeep of the department
• Oversee trainers and training partner development and certification
• Establish apprenticeship schemes, training curricula and development programs
• Monitor performance and oversee training requirements and all department targets
• Enhance performance of the department utilizing modern training and management techniques.

Responsibilities under Partner Management are as follows:

• Business Management: Develop, monitor, and document annual partner business targets including both financial (PTA) and non-financial KPIs (Scorecard covering topics such as coverage expansion, win rate, customer satisfaction, etc).  Conduct regular business reviews and funnel management activities to ensure predictable forecasting and forecast achievement.  Develop long term growth plan for select partners aligned with the local strategy for the assigned product segment.  Ensure comprehensive performance management for all partners including termination if necessary.
• Partner Sales and Marketing Support: Support indirect channel sales with tools and insights, new product training, competitive information and positioning of solutions. Develop and get approval for annual price lists as well as any promotional pricing activities.  Act as primary escalation path for partners for all marketing, training, and pricing topics within Siemens.  While not responsible to be a product expert across POC, must develop strong internal relationships and process know-how in order to ensure timely and adequate response to partner requests for support of all types.
• Process Alignment and Tool Usage:  Ensure overall professional CRM is applied to assigned partners depending on scope / size of business.  Ensure compliance to all Siemens Partner Management process requirements. Drive contract process for new partners (with legal as primary support) and ensure timely contract update/ renewal.  Work with responsible process owners to tailor local CRM tools (pricing configurators, etc) to partner needs and implement as per local strategy.
• Indirect Channel Business Development: Drive development of indirect channel growth strategy in the countries.  Actively seek opportunities for additional sales in new and/or uncovered markets by recruiting new partners or expanding coverage of existing partners. Conduct thorough market research as well as partner recruiting, screening and selection in order to expand coverage and ensure best possible portfolio of partners for Siemens.
• Relationship Management: Act as primary contact for cross-border partners for all operational and sales topics.  Develop relationships across partner organizations. Ensure top partners have access to internal Sales/ Management team and are integrated into sales meetings / trainings where logical. Raise profile of Siemens among distributors by actively participating in appropriate industry events and promoting Siemens attractiveness as an OEM vendor to potential distributors.

What experience and capabilities do I need to apply for the role?

• Relevant experience managing, supervising and overseeing partners, trainers and other related business relationships.
• Proven experience working within cross functional teams/processes to achieve goals.
• Work experience within an education and/or engineering background
• Strong evidence of ability to build consensus across multiple stakeholders with varying requirements.
• Understanding of how to match various business offerings across the broad Siemens portfolio with the varied needs of relatively smaller business organizations (partners and clients).

• Ability to produce internal reports, tender documents, partner assessment reports and training documentation in an accurate and timely fashion
• Ability to establish and maintain high quality of training and training environment
• Ability to develop new opportunities in related sectors
• Ability to work under pressure and according to tight timescales
• Ability to work independently
• Occasional travel within and outside of Nigeria for meetings, trainings, etc.

What knowledge and skills do I need to apply for the role?

• Bachelors degree in Engineering/ Business related course. Masters in Business/ Finance an advantage
• Minimum of 5 years related work experience
• Project management skills to organize and manage partner business and process support.
• Strong negotiation skills. Confidence to set targets independently and hold external companies accountable for results.
• Excellent communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills for supervision and interaction with partners, training clients and internal stakeholders
• Good time management skills
• Excellent personal problem solving skills
• Excellent presentation and writing skills
• Excellent analytical skills for improving the scope and efficiency of the department whilst keeping company financial objectives & strategies firmly in mind.
• Proficient in Microsoft Windows tools and applications esp. Word & Excel.