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Job Purpose and Impact

This Technical Service Manager will provide technical advice and support to B2B customers during and after product sales. You will have deep and recent practical technical service experience in Japan and considered a subject matter expert in at least one sub category within bakery and chocolate confectionery. You will be the lead technical lead for customers working alongside sales and marketing peers bringing with you significant industry knowledge and contacts. You will stay ahead of technology and business practices through workshops, research and professional meetings. You will translate customer issues/needs into projects and steer our organization. Moreover this role will proactively use technical skills and entrepreneurial mindset to collaborate with internal stakeholders to convert consumer insights into solutions that will help customers win.

Key Accountabilities

• Bring and build strong customer relationships from a technical perspective in conjunction with other peer connections with customers (sales, marketing, supply chain).
• Use deep bakery and chocolate confectionery insights and proactively translate them into differentiated concepts for customers working alongside internal stakeholders e.g. sales, category and marketing.
• Provide customer solutions and technical support materials to customers in response to their expressed needs.
• Strong internal link and coordination of R&D resources (PPD, applications etc) to support customers, including use local lab facilities for customer needs.
• Utilize solid expertise on manufacturing and domain ingredient knowledge to provide on-site support, trouble shooting and enhance applications know how.
• Work with internal partner to perform complex research for product / solution development to understand product properties and systems operations.
• Coordinate prototyping and co-development capability working with regional R&D teams (PPD, application, sensory)
• Organize project data and conclusions for internal and customer presentations, assist with product demonstrations and service as subject matter guide during meetings with prospective customers.
• Independently deliver technical customer presentations and contribute to strategic account planning.
• Co-write project briefs alongside customers and keep current.
• Independently handle complex issues with minimal supervision, while escalating only the most complex issues to appropriate staff.
• Interface between internal (i.e. regional external innovation team and business) and external collaborators to communicate needs and manage expectations for specific Japan & South Korea application projects.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years of related work experience in Bakery or Chocolate Confectionary Category in B2B (food manufacturing) in JK market

• Business level English

• Other minimum qualifications may apply

Preferred Qualifications

• Passion for understanding, creating, and communicating value and solutions to team members and customers.

• Public speaking experience