Regional Manager – Australia

The operation

An international mineral processing technology business moving out of successful trials and into commercial deployment. Its equipment is now going into Australian operations, and the local customer base is growing fast enough that the business wants its own presence here rather than running it from overseas.

The role

This is the first seat the business has based in Australia, and it becomes the technical, customer and commercial face of the company in the region. It is Perth based, reports to the VP Business Development, and works alongside the engineering, technical services and operations teams offshore.

The priorities are sequenced rather than piled on at once. The first twelve to eighteen months are customer success: installation, commissioning, startup and early operation of the systems going into Australian plants. From there it widens into the installed base and aftermarket, and then into new equipment sales and regional growth.

It is not a sales role with a technical veneer. It suits a metallurgist or process engineer who has already moved into customer facing work and wants to carry a technology into a market rather than sell an established product line. The career path is not drawn yet, and the business expects whoever takes it to help draw it.

Key duties

1. Lead local coordination of installation, commissioning, startup and early operation on Australian sites
2. Hold the customer interface across operations, metallurgy, engineering, maintenance and management teams
3. Lead local technical follow up: troubleshooting, operating improvements, training and performance optimisation
4. Keep communication clear between Australian customers and the overseas engineering, technical and commercial teams
5. Manage the commercial relationship as equipment moves from commissioning into ongoing operation
6. Build the spare parts, wear components and aftermarket business, from customer requirements through to quotations and supply
7. Identify opportunities to improve equipment performance, expand applications, add capacity and upgrade existing installations
8. Run customer engagement across meetings, site visits, technical discussions, presentations and flowsheet reviews
9. Coordinate customer testing programs, proposals and the technical and commercial follow up that carries them to a sale
10. Build a pipeline across the Australian mining and mineral processing industry

What you will need

• Bachelor’s degree in mineral processing, metallurgical, chemical, mechanical or mining engineering, or a related discipline
• Seven years or more in mineral processing, applications engineering, technical services, commissioning or an OEM environment
• Strong customer facing capability, with the technical credibility to hold a room of site metallurgists and engineers
• Practical understanding of mineral processing plants and equipment
• Comfortable working directly with mine site personnel, engineers, metallurgists and customer management
• Self motivated and effective without day to day supervision
• Willing to travel regularly to customer sites across Australia
• Based in Perth, or willing to relocate there
• Full Australian working rights. No visa sponsorship is available for this position