Customer Team Head at Nokia

MISSION

To lead and manage the Customer Team (CT) Airtel for Africa, to deliver Nokia products and services to the customer Airtel, manage customer satisfaction as well as achievement of Nokia’s key performance indicators.
As a senior sales professional, you will be responsible for the end to end and management of the CT including Sales, operations, stakeholder relationship management, internal processes including alignment with the CT team in India.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITY AREA

• Develop and sustain strong relationships with customer, including CxO level across the sub-region (beyond the CTO) to enable successful positioning and sales of Nokia products and services
• Be responsible for the business strategy as well as the coordination of Nokia contacts with the customer.
• Develop and articulate the overall sales strategy and lead account planning focused on key market segments and for the customer
• To maintain effective internal communications and networks with appropriate stakeholders and to galvanize support, maximize Nokia’s effectiveness and meet customer expectations
• Accountable for business execution, operations, post sales and managing the account including all internal processes (e.g. strategy, demand planning, project execution, sales and resource management
• Provides goals and strong leadership for the team of sales professionals working in the CT and ensures that they have the appropriate skills, training and knowledge to position and value sell Nokia’s products/services/solutions to our customer and that the CT works efficiently.
• Proactively provides CT cash collection and credit control
• Ensures compliance with Nokia risk management, SOX/policies, procedures and reporting for the account
• Controls OPEX, inventory and receivables of the CT

KEY COMPETENCIES

• The role requires senior sales leadership skills, solid experience in handling an account/customer of comparable size and complexity.
• Deep understanding of Nokia’s product & solution and overall telecommunications market, trends and related regulations
• Strong Leadership skills to be able to lead the Account, Delivery & Sales Development teams
• Strong negotiation, communication and good interpersonal skills
• Experience with a multi-country operator, handling headquarter and opcos
• Ideally previous experience in working with Bharti India or Airtel Africa
• Manage a large P&L and Multi BG Sales and delivery teams.
• Ability to have a good understanding of the customer’s business/competitive situation/strategy and an understanding of the drivers of customer profitability to drive Nokia business targets for the CT
• Ability to build strong relationships with influential stakeholders in the market
• Develop/execute strategies addressing all stakeholders
• Influence buying decisions at the customer centrally on market-wide deals
• Ability to provide leadership and guidance during critical deal making process and collaboration with BGs
• Financial and risk management skills to support forecasting and the qualification of opportunities
• Experience with contract management, financial terms and conditions
• Good understanding of project management

INTERFACES AND REPORTING

Works closely with

• GCBT/CBT
• Pre-sales in BGs
• CO HoS across BGs
• Delivery in BGs
• Head of Technologies
• Strategy & Sales Ops
• Pricing Manager
• Legal
• F&C
• Customer CxO
• Customer procurement

Reports to

• Market Unit Head (Solid Line)
• Global CBT Head (Dotted line)

Qualifications

• At least 10+ years relevant experience
• Telecoms or IT background is a must
• Proven track record in business development
• Relevant university degree in telecommunications, technical, business or similar qualification.
• Strong leadership profile with presence and credibility in the market
• Systematic thinker and a winning mindset
• Having worked with the customer before and having a good network within the Indian market will be a huge advantage.