Business Unit Manager

Business Unit Manager

This position will play an integral role in establishing the company’s strategic direction and will be instrumental in driving future expansion of the business. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing strategic leadership for the global activities of our Variable Area (VA) business. They will ensure the VA business meets or exceeds annual revenue and profitability goals, as well as provide leadership aimed at preparing the business to achieve longer term growth objectives. The VA business unit is focused on designing, manufacturing, selling, and servicing metal and glass flow meters. There are dedicated marketing, customer service, and engineering resources assigned to this business along with a shared internal sales organization and sales distribution channel. The BU Manager must weigh the needs and opportunities within the various businesses when setting priorities and making decisions about resource allocation and investment. They must work collaboratively with the functional leaders and their respective teams to set manufacturing strategies and align resources to achieve shared objectives. They must also utilize continuous improvement toolbox and principles to introduce organizational initiatives aimed at promoting process simplification and targeted business focus.

Essential Functions / Key Focus Areas

• Plan, develop and implement innovative business plans, organization policies, and goals that drive short term profitability and long-term growth by providing value-added product differentiation and customer service.
• Generate and manage the budget and take responsibility for the full P & L performance.
• Develop and maintain a strong rapport with key customers and distributors to understand customer needs, ensure satisfaction with products and support, and provide feedback to the worldwide organization.
• Direct and coordinate the promotion of VA products to increase market share, and obtain competitive market position through thinking strategically, demonstrating entrepreneurialism, experimenting, and dealing effectively with a changing business climate.
• Keep abreast of trends in the various markets served and competitive activity to understand and enhance the business unit’s position in the market.
• Establish a results-oriented management style that measures and evaluates individual performance against clearly defined accountable competencies, responsibilities and objectives.
• Attract, develop, and retain talent within the business unit to ensure the competency level of all employees is sufficient to be fully effective in their roles.
• Coordinate with global colleagues to ensure cross functional and cross geographic cooperation.
• Determine the operational strategy to include identification of where and how products are produced, sold, shipped, and serviced.
• Actively participate in creating a safe and positive work environment for all employees by ensuring employees are properly trained, safety requirements are effectively communicated, and safety hazards are identified and corrected.
• Support company continual improvement initiatives.

Business Pursuit

• Support front end business development activities including planning, customer visits, presentations and proposal development.
• Collaborate extensively with external customers and distributors, and internally across the company to grow the Variable Area business.
• Develop customer intimacy, understanding their needs, and communicate at the appropriate level of the varying degrees of technical knowledge.
• Serve as a counselor and catalyst for the business in identifying areas for improvement and revenue generation to achieve increased operational efficiencies and productivity.

Competitive Analysis

• Maintain an overview of competitor programs to ensure we are effectively positioned to compete and win in the marketplace.
• Create data driven presentations that illustrate our differentiators.
• Understand market and business trends impacting the Variable Area business.
• Network with counterparts at other ITW businesses to understand best practices and integrate this knowledge gained into work practices.
• Anticipate and react to major changes to ensure market competitiveness.

Cultural Influence

• Foster an environment that values creatively solving problems and delivering results.
• Instill a sense of urgency to ensure that all activities are completed on schedule and budget.
• Act as a disruptive stimulator to the rest of the business by questioning the status quo and providing strategic foresight to fuel the company's competitive edge going forward.
• Act with a high sense of trust and integrity.

Qualifications

Ideal Experience

• Professional Experience – Minimum of 5 years of business experience of which at least 3 years have been in progressively responsible leadership roles. Experience working in Global 500 companies and / or organizations with an entrepreneurial culture is desirable.
• Functional Experience – Business leader with a track record of building high performing teams, streamlining business processes (front-to-back), leading cross-functional groups, and successfully interfacing with a direct and indirect sales force. Familiarity with the ITW 80/20 concepts preferred.
• Industry Experience – Experience working for an industrial manufacturing business is required. Some level of exposure to flow & pressure measurement & control desirable. Further, experience working in or supporting industrial customers in fields such as: Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Medical Devices, Analytical Instruments, and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC), is strongly preferred.
• Education: A bachelor’s degree in a business and / or technical field required. A master’s degree in business or a technical discipline preferred.

Critical Competencies for Success

• Constructive Team Leader – Leads by example and makes those around him/her better. Attributes include being inclusive, hands-on, strategic, articulate, energetic, accountable, decisive, and hard working. A positive motivator who encourages and persuades, and an excellent team builder who knows how to attract talent, remove obstacles without alienating others, train, manage, reward, recognize, and retain a world class team.
• Entrepreneurial – Able to work without substantial infrastructure. Must have the ability to “zoom-in and out,” to dive in to the trenches at one moment and tackle strategy the next.
• Excellent Communication Skills – Maintains an open flow of two-way communication, exhibiting strong verbal, written and presentation skills, stating expectations clearly and being visible to all stakeholders. Exhibits executive presence in front of both internal and external audiences. Being a good listener is a critical success factor.
• Impeccable Integrity – Embodies and practices unquestioned personal and business integrity. Recognized as a highly credible business leader. Creates an environment of trust by acting with fairness and consistency, keeping commitments, and providing rationale for decisions.
• Team Player with Maturity – An aggressive, results-oriented individual who, at the same time, is the consummate team player who can effectively negotiate with others to achieve win-win outcomes. He/She will be well respected by senior management, peers, and subordinates, and will be secure in his or her technical and managerial abilities.
• Open Minded – A resilient and committed executive with a flexible and open operating style; non-political and non-bureaucratic; someone with a natural and effective consultative approach who will gain the trust and respect of individuals at all levels.

Our employees enjoy competitive, merit-based salary plus excellent benefits including:

• Health and dental insurance
• Company Paid Life Insurance / Short and Long Term Disability
• 401K plan with generous company match
• Vacation, personal days and holidays
• Continuing education reimbursement program
• Flexible spending accounts

The opportunity to join a well-established (77 + years in business) yet dynamically changing organization that works together as a team to meet the challenges of satisfying customers’ needs and managing rapid growth to better compete in a global marketplace.