Krones FBL (France, Belgium, Luxembourg) is a subsidiary of the Krones Group (www.krones.com), founded in Germany and now a leading international player in the production, sales and servicing of machinery and even complete factories for the beverage & liquid food industry worldwide.
The Group is a global employer of more than 20,000 employees. In Krones FBL today there are about 160 employees who handle Krones’ activities in mainly France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Krones Group is the global market leader in its industrial sector and is expected to grow even further, with a clear focus on sustainable, eco-friendly solutions. At Krones, we are working on a better tomorrow and helping to save our planet for future generations.
For reinforcing the Services Department, Krones FBL (Louvain-la-Neuve), is looking for a (f/m/x)
Field Service Manager.
Mission / Scope:
As a Field Service Manager, you play a pivotal role in the success of Krones FBL by overseeing, coordinating and managing the operations and personnel involved in providing on-site services to customers. You act as a liaison between customers, field service engineers, and other internal departments to ensure smooth service delivery and resolve any issues that arise during the process. As Field Service Manager you will be wearing multiple hats to ensure the highest level of efficiency and customer satisfaction.
General activities of the Field Service Manager (your different hats):
* Development & Coaching of the Field Service Engineers:
As Field Service Manager, you closely follow up, evaluate and coach the Field Service Engineers, in close collaboration with the Tech Leads, who are mentoring 10-12 Field Service Engineers in their-to day activities. By investing in training & development of the Field Service Engineers, in both soft and hard skills, Krones will enhance the capabilities of the Field Service Engineers, lower turn over, improve service quality and hence, also indirectly customer satisfaction.
* People Management:
As Field Service Manager you are highly involved in the recruitment and onboarding of the Field Service Engineers (on payroll), assisted by the input from the Tech Leads who coach and monitor groups of Field Service Engineers closely. You support the definition of KPI’s to monitor employee performance levels and, when and where required, you take action. You will set up a monitoring and support programme tailored to the development needs of new and experienced technicians. You are attentive to the transmission and application of company values. In addition, the Field Service Manager plays also a key role in the selection of external technical service providers and remains responsible for monitoring the quality and service delivery of third party providers. This includes ensuring that external partners meet agreed standards and expectations, without exercising direct hierarchical control, in line with applicable legal and compliance frameworks.
* Customer Satisfaction:
As Field Service Manager you will indirectly contribute to an optimal customer service throughout the entire service delivery process. In close collaboration with the RFS Manager you manage customer expectations, address concerns or complaints, ensure that customers feel satisfied with the 1 services provided and have your responsibility in building excellent customer service, in collaboration with multiple internal and external stakeholders.
* Optimization:
As Field Service Manager, you continuously evaluate and improve internal processes, tools, and resources to increase efficiency and effectiveness of our Field Services Engineers Team. • Reporting & Analytics: Based upon existing and to be defined KPI’s, you provide regular reporting to management and identify and communicate on areas for improvement.
Your responsibilities as Field Service Manager:
• You actively support the recruitment process of technicians, in close collaboration with HR and technical interviewers, ensuring the selection of qualified and motivated candidates.
• You support continuous improvement of the onboarding process and support plans for technicians and subcontractors, including mentoring programs (Tech Leads, Buddy (god father).
• You assess and monitor the technicians' skills matrix, ensuring regular updates and individual follow up of development files.
• You conduct regular site visits to observe technicians in action, provide feedback, and ensure alignment with company standards.
• You are responsible for selecting, overseeing, and evaluating external contractors, ensuring alignment with operational standards, performance expectations, and compliance requirements.
• You visit occasionally our headquarters in Germany (KAG) to maintain strong relationships and gather feedback from peers.
• You coordinate annual evaluations, professional interviews, and career assessments to support technician development and engagement from our service technicians (through the tech leads & Buddy teams).
• You build a strong relationship with the Tech Lead team.
• You provide leadership, training, and development to the field service engineer population in France and Belgium;
• You closely collaborate with the planning team to ensure that the right Field Service Engineer, with the right skills, is assigned to the missions where they can deliver the highest added value.
• In collaboration with the planning team, you are responsible for managing the engagement and coordination of freelance and third-party engineers, ensuring their effective integration into operations without direct leadership or motivational responsibilities.
• You develop and implement service policies and procedures and / or propose to adapt existing ones if for the better for all parties;
• You ensure compliance with safety and quality standards at all times;
• In collaboration with the Tech Leads, you train and mentor new staff members;
• You monitor team performance and provide coaching when necessary;
• You continually analyse field service data to evaluate and improve field service processes to increase efficiency and customer expectations.
• You always make decisions in the company's best interests.
Your profile as Field Service Manager:
* You have a technical background and at least a bachelor degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Electromechanical Engineering;
* You have at least 5 to 10 years proven technical experience in an international environment;
* You have a proven experience in leading and motivating operational teams active in Field Service (Must!)
* You either have or you are willing to have a deep understanding of the company’s products and services;
* Following the larger international context in which Krones FBL acts, you speak fluently English, next to French as well as Dutch. Knowledge of German is a big plus for accessing internal stakeholders at Krones’ headquarters;
* You have excellent leadership skills, with a demonstrated ability to manage and scale teams; you can look back upon several years in a similar environment;
* Strong communication skills with different business levels and with stakeholders within Krones as well as on client side;
* Able to manage significant cultural differences with the team;
* Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to come up with customer-centric solutions;
* Able to anticipate challenges and when confronted with unexpected issues and crises, you excel in pro-active problem solving and swift resolution whilst you lead others;
* You are transparent and know how to deal with ambiguity;
* Stakeholder management, thinking along with customers, maximizing the customer satisfaction, negotiating and out-of-the box thinking, give you wings;
* You will travel intensively, mainly in Belgium, France, Luxembourg and regularly in Germany for training & networking reason;
* The position will be based in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). You are able to be present in the office at least two days a week, for the contact with the internal stakeholders;
We are looking forward to welcoming you in a dynamic and challenging company with a strong market position and lots of international ties.