Customer Implementation Manager

Position Purpose:
Taking our new customers on a transformation journey. Engage at strategic
levels. Focus on benefit realization.
Lead new customer implementations at a high complexity level, extensive
geographical scope, large business scale and impact, bridging the sales and
operational activities, to ensure smooth transition of new or additional
business into the Maersk organization.
Ensure that customer's needs and expectations are met throughout the
implementation phase and start of service.
Act as a facilitator for the review of existing accounts and operational
processes in order to identify & recommend opportunities for improvement and
business optimization.
Engage pro-actively in the sales process for commercial opportunities to act
both as a sales differentiator and a safe-guard on operational viability of
the solutions sold.
Key Responsibilities
Project Management:
* Prepare and drive the overall implementation project plan across all geographies and functions, including operations, IT, HR and finance.
* Provide clear visibility of project status to internal and external stakeholders by establishing project milestones, go/no-go stage gates, and operational readiness criteria. Track the progress against these and escalate issues and delays in a timely manner.
* Set expectations and confirm agreements with internal and external stakeholders.
* Manage risks rigorously from sales opportunity to stable operation to ensure sustainable profitability and preventing of "cure" situations.
* Remove road blocks and impediments to meet timelines and customer requirements.
* Proactively manage delivery of other involved parties (IT, operational suppliers, etc).
* Establish and evaluate the success criteria for the project and adjust solutions and timelines as needed throughout the implementation.
* Successfully "close" implementations based on mutually defined criteria between Maersk and the client (external) and Implementation and operations (internal).
Client Relationship Management:
* Establish, maintain and develop strong relationships with Regional and Global key clients at strategic and operational levels.
* Lead the client through the on-boarding process and act as the clients' center of gravity on implementations and issue resolution.
* Strictly manage scope with clients and ensure solution implemented stays in line with the solution sold.
* Hold regular client meetings to discuss progress, issues, mitigations to risks, and introduce development opportunities.
Operational Engagement:
* Participate in the solution design process and develop creative solutions to operational challenges.
* Ensure infrastructure for new client solutions is in place including:
* Recruitment and training of staff.
* Detailed process flows, SOPs and IOPs.
* IT & EDI integration.
* Client and vendor training and introduction.
* KPI reporting and performance management routines.
* Ensure initial SOP/IOP compliance across all origin and destination offices.
* Ensure operations are optimized and products are delivered under the highest service quality possible.
Commercial Engagement:
* Review the commercial pipeline to identify potential upcoming client implementations.
* Review operational viability of complex opportunities as part of the OMEB and TEB evaluation boards.
* Contribute to securing new business wins by actively engaging in the sales process and presenting the implementation methodology, a tailored project approach and demonstrating our competency of smooth on-boarding.
Implementation Community:
* Capture and share learnings and best practices across the implementation community.
* Assist in creating, reviewing and improving the implementation methodology including, but not limited to project planning, stakeholder management and project execution.
Who we are looking for
* Minimum ‎7 years' experience in logistics including international supply chain management and forwarding services.
* Proven experience in project management on implementations.
* Willingness to travel and work on-site on a project basis for (~‎50-‎100 days / year). Expectation is to work on-site on a project for a minimum of ‎2-‎4 weeks.
* Prior experience in dealing with new supply chain solutions.
* Prior commercial experience in engaging with strategic clients.
* Advanced proficiency in project management tools including MS Project, Excel, and PowerPoint.
* Strong IT and EDI understanding and capabilities.
* Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
* Strong communication and negotiation skills.
* Consistent ability to meet and adhere to deadlines.
* Passion, initiative and drive to continuously develop and work with creativity and innovation.
* Solid operational background including supply chain operations, ocean, air and local origin services (trucking, customs, and milestone visibility).
* Strong problem solving skills and customer service skills.
* Ambitious and result oriented self-starter with initiative and strong drive.