The future incumbent will be an executive ideally with project business background and with strong commercial leadership experience. The role will be based in Shanghai. He/she will be responsible for a P&L of approximately €200m and about 500 staff with 2 Factories. The majority of the business is in China although a growing export market is expected to be developed with the Broader regional business

What we offer:

The MD China is responsible for sales, solution development, project execution management, installation, commissioning and customer service to drive growth and operational excellence. Other functions, such as HR, Marketing, Finance, Legal and Engineering report on a dotted line basis, but are an integral part of the regional team.

Developing and maintaining sound commercial relationships with existing and future customers is also a key responsibility

Developing the China team as an integrated part of a regional and global team, contributing to regional performance is key.

In more detail, the main goals and accountabilities are:

• Drive growth (revenue, margin, order intake) through developing a strong sales leadership, enabling the sales organization to develop customers, leverage relationships and have a consistent approach.
• Oversee the region’s budget and resources allocating both strategically to support long-term profitability, growth and Free Cash Flow.
• Partner with key internal stakeholders to enable project execution excellence per contract terms without net non-conformance costs (NCCs), while lowering project costs.
• Build the Customer Service organization to improve the customer experience and grow the service business.
• Build capability, talent and a strong performance-based culture with an emphasis on compliance, safety, and excellence.
• Lead with passion, establishing a positive, high-energy “culture of curiosity” while creating a high level of employee trust and engagement.

Tasks and Qualifications:

The successful candidate will bring:

• Prior experience of running a multi-country P&L of commensurate scale
• Experience of working in an engineering focused B2B industrial automation solutions business with project character
• Intralogistics experience is useful, but not essential. Software experience would be highly beneficial.
• Inspirational and visionary leadership to hire and develop a high performing team
• Holistic and strategic thinking, establishing and driving end-to-end strategies and initiatives encompassing multiple functions for short, medium and long term.
• Outstanding commercial acumen, able to develop value propositions and world-class sales processes. A track record of delivering growth.
• Exceptional negotiation skills in a complex global environment
• Gravitas and excellent communication skills

In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, we would highlight the following:

Setting Strategy

• The ability to create and articulate an inspiring direction for the organization.
• The inclination to seek and analyze data from a variety of sources to support decisions and to align others with the organization's overall strategy.
• An entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will stretch the organization and push the boundaries within the industry.
• The ability to effectively balance the desire/need for broad change with an understanding of how much change the organization is capable of handling, to create realistic goals and implementation plans that are achievable and successful.

Executing for Results

• The ability to set clear and challenging goals while committing the organization to improved performance, tenacious and accountable in driving results.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty; the ability to adapt nimbly and lead others through complex situations.
• A risk-taker who seeks data and input from others to foresee possible threats or unintended circumstances from decisions; someone who takes smart risks.
• A leader who is viewed by others as having a high degree of integrity and forethought in his/her approach to making decisions; the ability to act in a transparent and consistent manner while always taking into account what is best for the organization.

Leading Teams

• The ability to attract and recruit top talent, motivate the team, delegate effectively, celebrate diversity within the team, and manage performance; widely viewed as a strong developer of others.
• The ability to persevere in the face of challenges and exhibit a steadfast resolve and relentless commitment to higher standards, which commands respect from followers.
• A leader who is self-reflective and aware of his/her own limitations; leads by example and drives the organization's performance with an attitude of continuous improvement by being open to feedback and self-improvement.
• Unquestioned integrity with assertiveness, presence, and confidence.
• Competence in making timely, effective, principles-based decisions.
• High degree of operational business acumen

Relationships and Influence

• Naturally connects and builds strong relationships with others, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively.
• An ability to inspire trust and followership in others through compelling influence, powerful charisma, passion in his/her beliefs, and active drive.
• Encourages others to share the spotlight and visibly celebrates and supports the success of the team.
• Creates a sense of purpose/meaning for the team that generates followership beyond his/her own personality and engages others to the greater purpose for the organization as a whole.
• High personal impact and excellent communication skills
• Ability to navigate, influence and operate in a strongly matrixed global organization
• Demonstrated experience in driving initiatives, while holding teams accountable for results and ensuring continuous improvement.
• Exceptional customer focus and demonstrated ability to deliver results
• Proven leadership and coaching skills