Vacancy Ref: VA-10049-11-623


PURPOSE OF POST:

As the company’s Maritime Product Manager, you will actively manage the maritime product and service family, its competitiveness, quality, business fit and lifecycle from new introductions to withdrawal. With the support of your team and a wider team within the Company, your activities will maintain and drive the company’s leadership of the global maritime satellite communications market.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES:

Strategic
Own the maritime product and service set:
• understand each component’s features, competitiveness and positioning both within the Company portfolio itself as well as against competitor offerings
• provide leadership through use of market intelligence as well as internal and external relationships
• highlight risks and opportunities proactively and reactively

Working in tandem with the marketing and engineering teams and other teams where relevant:
• identify new product or service opportunities or enhancements that meet corporate and business objectives, sharply respond to market opportunities, meet customer needs and drive the competitive excellence of the Company’s maritime portfolio
• develop strategies for customer migration and service closure
• author business cases, represent these at a senior level and if agreed, drive these towards tangible deliverables

Represent the maritime product management function at major events as required.


Delivery
• Driven by well thought out business cases, formulate and author, either individually or jointly, proposition definitions and specifications for new products or services or enhancements.
• Working closely with your own team, expert contractors as required as well as relevant functions across the business e.g. operations, engineering, customer services, legal, regulatory and safety teams, procurement, spectrum management, channel management and marketing; formulate project plans, manage and deliver enhancements or new products in a timely manner, with sharp focus on the original aims and tenacious monitoring of quality.
• Work with manufacturers and other suppliers who are key to delivery of your projects and support them and the teams they work with to ensure success.
• Working closely with the wider product management team, manage appropriate areas of commercial service introduction ensuring products or services are beta tested and fit for purpose at launch, enabling fast adoption in the market.
• Where required, deliver supporting documentation for product and service launch.



Operations and maintenance
• Work with your team and the company’s internal teams, particularly customer support, to manage products and services in life. This includes for example, management of software updates, answering third line support questions or directing inquiries to appropriate owners.
• Support your own team in their professional development and project delivery, managing resources as required and highlighting shortfalls.


KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

Essential knowledge and skills:
• a first degree level educational standard in an engineering or science discipline
• at least 5 years relevant experience
• business acumen and drive to increase efficiency of maritime products and services, by containing costs and maximising revenues
• knowledge of Company operations
• detailed understanding and knowledge of satellite communications products and services for the maritime market and a keen interest in the specialist maritime sector
• combine excellent team management and complex project management skills with the ability to prioritise and focus effort across several projects at once
• excellent communication and influencing skills to support the coordination of activities of a cross- functional team over which, in some cases, they have no direct formal authority
• fluent written and oral command of English language at a business level. Additionally, the candidate will be able to communicate effectively with senior management and possess excellent presentation skills
• the ability to prepare and present business cases, produce well-written reports and presentations to gain stakeholder buy-in, in line with company strategy
• international travel is required. The candidate will possess the necessary interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to gain high regard in an international environment. They will set priorities for their own workload and possess the ability to work unsupervised and occasionally alone in any part of the world.

Desirable knowledge & skills:
• A wider knowledge of the mobile satellite communications industry over and above the maritime communications market
• Contracts management or previous experience of external contractor or third party selection would be advantageous
• A specialist knowledge of alternative maritime satellite technologies, such as Ku band or the iridium system would be advantageous


Which qualities are fundamentally important to this job?
• Communication & Influence – you are expected to work with senior key stakeholders across the business and across the partnership, to shape the forward development of maritime products and services. Interpersonal, communications and negotiation skills are critical to this role, as is tenacity.
• Solution & Customer Focus – to look for different possibilities, spotting and capitalizing on opportunities, thinking positively, and offering solutions through creativity and innovation.
• Enterprise Spirit – the ability to initiate agreed projects and oversee them with little supervision throughout their life-cycle.


SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

The position's activities need to be integrated and co-ordinated with a wide range of other activities, across all departments within the Company. The role will also require the candidate to represent the Company at all levels to both internal and external parties and become a known presence in the wider maritime community.