Product Manager - Supply Solutions

About RS Group

Across the industrial design, manufacturing and maintenance worlds, we're the digital destination for product and service solutions to help our customers with the maintenance, repair and operation of their businesses. We provide global access to an unrivalled range of over 750,000 stocked industrial products. Each day our team of experts deliver solutions to resolve our customer's challenges across design, procurement, inventory and maintenance. We consistently strive to deliver the best possible service to all of our customers and challenge ourselves to provide a seamless procurement experience.

We are one team. We deliver brilliantly. We do the right thing. We make every day better. These are our values. They unite our c.9,000 global colleagues and differentiate us from our competition. They are a mix of how we work today and how we must step up for the future. Most importantly, it is one set of values shaped by our people, for our people.

Together, we can make great things happen. Aim for amazing and beyond.

About the Role

Role Purpose

The role is accountable for leading the development and execution of the Americas Supply Solutions strategy and is a key enabler to achieving our business growth objectives and driving upwards of 25% of our Americas business revenue through Value Added Solutions. Our Digital Procurement solutions represent a significant, and important part of our existing Solutions revenue, and are an imperative part of our holistic group strategy. Although RS has established capabilities in our global solutions portfolio, some of our Procurement & Inventory Solutions do not currently exist in the Americas.

The role holder will be highly skilled at, and accountable for working collaboratively with cross functional and commercial market peers across the Americas region to develop a deep understanding of market dynamics and drive a product roadmap that meets customer and business needs. Given the digital nature of the product(s), the role holder will need to establish very strong collaborative relationships with our Americas Digital & Technology teams, as well as being close to our wider group stakeholders.

Our capabilities in the Americas are evolving and developing rapidly as we continue to enhance our technology infrastructure and build on our already exceptional web experience. We have an opportunity to enhance our current product offer, bring existing group products into the Americas region, and create and execute against a future product roadmap to create differentiation in our market. Therefore, the person in this role will need to have experience of building and scaling new capabilities, as well as driving continuous product development and improvement projects to ensure existing capabilities are optimized. They will be adept at managing change in an international context and ensure that the roadmap is developed and delivered with extensive input from cross functional departments and colleagues.

The role holder will also be responsible supporting the establishment and providing matrix leadership to the Americas Supply Solutions delivery function, creating a team of onboarding and fulfilment colleagues that support the deployment and ongoing management of all solutions implemented in both our US & Canada, and Latin American markets.

The role holder will ensure that solutions are highly productized, and in conjunction with the Customer Success and Business Development teams, will ensure that markets are provided with the right training and ongoing functional expertise to effectively go to market, create change, and execute growth plans. They will possess and develop a strong commercial understanding of customer needs, digital product methodologies, competitor environment and overall commercial landscape. Leveraging this understanding, they will craft and implement a strategic roadmap, complete with execution plans, to achieve sustainable and profitable growth throughout the region.

Success will come from:

• Driving the product- and business-planning processes for cross-functional teams
• Analyzing customer needs, current market trends, and ROI on planned and deployed solutions
• Understanding and evaluating current competitor offerings and seeking opportunities for differentiation
• Development and deployment of comprehensive go-to-market programs and scalable business process
• Appraisal of new product ideas to inform longer term strategies

Responsibilities

• Drive the execution of all processes in the product lifecycle, including product and market research, competitor analysis, planning, positioning, requirements, commercial business rules, operating processes, and product launch (go-to-market)
• Create and deploy and end-end Sales into Service process that delivers a consistent customer experience and drives long term success
• Create product strategy documents that describe business cases, high-level use cases, technical requirements, revenue, and ROI
• Analyze market data and competitor/lateral business propositions to inform sales & marketing strategies
• Drive structured go-to-market activities, ensuring sign off from key stakeholders through critical path stages
• Collaborate closely with technology, digital, supply chain, marketing, and sales teams in the development and release of products, creating virtual teams designed to holistic business success
• In conjunction with the Digital and Technology functions, be aware of and strategize around the use of existing and emerging technologies to ensure RS remains both relevant in the market, and offers a differentiated proposition
• In conjunction with marketing, develop product positioning and proposition content that differentiates RS across primary market segments
• Collaborate and work cross functionally to build comprehensive reporting capabilities for both RS and our customers
• Be recognised internally as a subject matter expert and go to person in relation to Procurement Solutions
• Support the business in building scalable processes that follow a consistent approach to new installations, from customer discovery to customer go-live, through ongoing service.
• While it is not anticipated for this role to have direct reports, there will be a very strong requirement for cross-functional (matrix) leadership across multiple functions and commercial markets.

Candidate Requirements

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven senior leadership expertise, demonstrating a successful track record in enhancing and expanding both new and existing service solutions. Achieved through the development and implementation of product roadmaps and strategic execution plans spanning multiple geographic regions
• Experience in working with a specialized team dealing with the setup, implementation, and support of eBusiness solutions such as PunchOut, Hosted Catalogs, EDI, API's and integration with Business Spend Management Platforms
• Background in industrial distribution or similar B2B services environment, such as capital equipment aftermarket, logistics, or business services
• Seasoned leader in driving transformative change for business growth. Proficient in supporting organizations in scaling service business models, covering both go-to-market strategies and ongoing operational delivery
• Extensive experience in establishing commercial, operational, and support processes related to service business models
• Demonstrated success in enhancing customer experience and journey through ownership and management of significant Continuous Improvement (CI) projects
• Effective coach, collaborator, and communicator, capable of influencing senior stakeholders and leaders across direct and virtual teams
• Motivated, flexible, and organized individual with the ability to prioritize and deliver strategic growth initiatives, showcasing bottom-line impact
• Collaborative work with sales, marketing, and digital teams at all levels to drive change and exploit commercial opportunities for services
• Builds positive relationships across all organizational levels, striving for high performance, and focusing on personal development and that of their team
• Strong and proven track record in the development and execution of strategic initiatives

• Desirable
• Internationally recognized qualifications in Product Management, Project Management, and Lean/Six Sigma
• Leadership experience in managing large matrix teams to achieve business objectives
• Experience in building and managing a specialized team dealing with the setup, implementation, and support of eBusiness solutions such as PunchOut, Hosted Catalogs, EDI, API's and integration with Business Spend Management Platforms
• Knowledge and experience of Vendor Managed Inventory solutions
• Bilingual proficiency in English, and either Spanish or Portuguese

Equal Employment Opportunity

RS Americas is an equal opportunity employer and maintains policies and practices that are designed to prevent and prohibit unlawful discrimination against any qualified employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, military/veteran status, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other unlawful classification to the extent protected by law. This policy of non-discrimination applies to all employment practices, including hiring, compensation, benefits, promotion, training and termination. Employees who engage in unlawful discrimination will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

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