Field Services Manager - Belfast, United Kingdom - Thales

Description

Location: Belfast, United Kingdom

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across five major industries; Aerospace, Defence, Ground Transportation, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that's why we offer you the flexibility to do what's important to you; whether that's part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Purpose of the role:

The jobholder is responsible for the leadership and development of a small team of Technical Support staff, whose primary responsibility is the development, implementation and delivery of Technical Support and Training activities to our customers.

Responsabilities:

• Support to Customer Support Services packages in excess of £1m
• Customer contact at all levels of seniority
• Development and delivery of Technical Support and Training Work Packages

Principal Accountabilities:

1. Leadership and development of a small team of Technical Support and Training specialists, who could be based remotely from yourself

2. Managing the forward resource load for all projects requiring Field Support, ensuring the correct resources are available to serve the Business needs.

3. Be the focal point between Field Support, Project and the customer, ensuring a smooth delivery of information between all parties

4. Provision of support to the Head of Service Delivery in the development of Customer Services in accordance with recognised military standards.

5. Responsible for developing Technical Support & Training materials - the latter in collaboration with UK Services Technical Training team - solutions and programmes that meet both the Customer and Thales business requirements.

6. Provides support to Customers as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) input into Technical Support and Training activities.

7. The job holder shall support the Technical Support & Training function in providing:

7.1 The definition and development of the human factors solution for both prime equipment and trainers.

7.2 The provision of the SME input to ensure both the prime equipment and trainers meet customer tactical requirements.

7.3 The development and validation of Weapon System Operator, Instructor and Maintainer Training courses.

7.4 The authorship of reusable training packages for training courses and management , in collaboration with UK Services Technical Training team, and delivery of all Weapon System Training Courses. This includes the development and provision field support and training plans and reports as required by Thales processes and by the customer.

7. 5 The development and delivery of field support and training services and ensuring that programme objectives are achieved are managed effectively. Where necessary this includes the specification and development of training facilities.

8. Acts as a key customer interface for Technical Support & Training for ensuring that customer requirements are clearly understood and that customer satisfaction is obtained.

About the role:

• The Field Services Manager - Technical & Training is accountable to the Head of Field Services and Head of Service Delivery for co-ordinating the provision of Technical Support & Training to Thales Customers.
• The jobholder will function as part of the Customer Services Team. The main function of Customer Support Services is to manage all customer related activities post product/service ISD and specific pre ISD activities.
• The focus of the job is on developing Technical Support & Training that meet the needs of individual customers, UK and overseas, within the constraints of their budgets and on delivering high quality Customer Services. In doing so the jobholder will work in a highly integrated way with the customer organisation to ensure the services provided meet the customer requirements.
• The jobholder must be a good communicator and presenter and capable of Instructing and delivering technical information to Customers to a high level of quality.
• Elements of the Technical Support and Training may be provided overseas. This involves liaison with many levels of staff within the Overseas Support infrastructure, in addition to Overseas and UK Government and British forces staff. It also may require that the jobholder develops an understanding of local customs and relationships and works in an autonomous manner for substantial periods overseas.

Challenges:

• The jobholder will co-ordinate and support the development and delivery of training strategies and courses. This requires the jobholder to be fully conversant with the products that the Company has responsibility for. It also requires that the jobholder influence the customer to ensure the selection of the most cost effective training and technical support solution.
• The environment in which overseas training, technical services and range support are delivered is often uncertain. The jobholder needs to be flexible and able to adapt in order to manage and deliver high quality services.
• The jobholder will face complex situations and problems and will be required to develop a clear understanding of the position before selecting a course of action. In doing so the jobholder will rely on accumulated knowledge and experience.

Planning:

• The jobholder shall support the Head of Service Delivery and UK Services Technical Training team in developing Technical Support and Training plans within defined budgets. These plans include timescale, resource requirements and milestone achievements.
• They can range from detailed short-term plans to medium term plans (3 years).
• The monitoring and control of these plans is of fundamental importance to ensure early realignment of any projected variances. This is of particular importance when dealing with the often uncertain schedule requirements of some of our customers.
• Planning and control is assisted by the use of applicable computer based management tools. The jobholder will be required to be proficient in the use of these tools.

Direction Received:

• The jobholder will report directly to the Head of Field Services and Head of Service Delivery.. Formal contact, for the reporting of project progress will be on a weekly basis with more frequent and informal contact occurring on an as required basis
• The jobholder will support the development of the Technical Support & Training and wider Customer Services objectives to be achieved, primarily derived from higher level plans or from the Operating and Strategic plans.
• The jobholder will work closely with Programme Managers as required in order to formulate support policies and activities peculiar to the relevant Customer.

Working Contacts:

• The jobholder is in contact with all functional departments within Thales and with Department Heads to obtain information on company products and policies and also to feedback vital information from customers.
• The jobholder will support specific work packages or elements of work packages on behalf of a Programme and will liaise with the relevant Programme Manager on a regular basis.
• Under the guidance of the Head of Service Delivery, the jobholder will act as a customer interface on Technical Support & Training and wider Customer Services issues. He/She will be expected to support Customer Support Services activities, including Training and Concept and Doctrine Working groups.
• Overseas and within the UK the jobholder will be required to deal on a formal basis with a wide range of military personnel, through to high ranking officers. Frequently, visits by government officials and senior officers from allied services require the jobholder to support and give presentations and participate in discussions.

Knowledge and Experience:

It is essential that the job-holder has:

• Demonstrable and extensive experience of managing technical teams, preferably teams working in remote locations Excellent communication skills, and demonstrable experience of communicating at all levels of business Knowledge and experience of products within Air Defence and the Force Protection sector.
• Experience in the design, delivery and validation of operator and maintainer training with formal qualifications in an engineering or technical discipline. (Min HNC or equivalent)..
• Experience in the development of training needs and requirements to recognised military standards.
• Technical experience, including significant direct interface with customer personnel and end users across the customer organisation.
• A recognised qualification in the provision of operator and maintainer training.

It is desirable that the job-holder:

• Is fully competent, when developing, planning and delivering field support and training solutions, at interfacing effectively with a wide variety UK and overseas customers. This includes senior military and civil service personnel.
• Has a detailed practical knowledge of a range of THALES products and sufficient experience to conduct practical training on system operation, equipment maintenance, detailed testing, troubleshooting and setting to work procedures. Practical experience gained during training exercises on a firing range will be an essential.
• Has the ability to adapt the training and instruction approach and methods when confronted with changing circumstances overseas, e.g. varying technical competence of trainees, language difficulties, poor training facilities, etc.

Behaviours and Values:

• The jobholder must display good motivational qualities to achieve results from teams of people over whom he has no direct authority.
• The jobholder is required to be assertive but approachable with good interpersonal, presentation and communication skills.
• The jobholder is required to have a good degree of organisation ability.

Additional Information:

• The jobholder is in constant contact with the customer and must be capable of engaging in discussions and contributing to decision making without compromising the position of the company or jeopardising sales.
• The position involves periods of extensive travel overseas.
• The position requires the ability to influence the customer perception of the company products and services and deal with customer problems in an autonomous manner.

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In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment,if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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