About this role
Service Manager
Portfolio Scope:
- Commercial security and enterprise access-control solutions, with particular focus on Lenel and the broader SAS portfolio.
- Hospitality access and locking solutions, with particular focus on Onity and relevant connected guest and property security applications.
- Video surveillance, intrusion detection, perimeter protection, and complementary security devices, software and integrations.
- Integrated security platforms, lifecycle services, modernization and connected-building use cases that expand SAS penetration across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Key Responsibilities
- Growth & demand creation
- Own SAS growth across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, delivering annual revenue, gross-margin, pipeline and forecast objectives while increasing market share in commercial security, Lenel and Onity.
- Build senior relationships with consultants, specifiers and end users; create demand, influence specifications early and translate customer security and operational needs into qualified SAS opportunities.
- Lead country, account and vertical plans, whitespace analysis, installed-base conversion, cross-sell, upgrades and competitive displacement programs with the explicit objective of gaining SAS market share.
- Develop opportunity strategies for major pursuits, including stakeholder mapping, value propositions, win themes, commercial positioning, and close plans.
Channel & strategic account management:
- Strengthen and expand the partner network across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, acting as the primary business contact for priority integrators, distributors and selected strategic accounts.
- Develop joint annual business plans with priority partners covering market coverage, Lenel and Onity capability, enablement, certifications, demand generation, pipeline creation and quarterly business reviews.
- Increase partner productivity and geographic coverage through recruitment where needed, pipeline reviews, training, demonstrations, joint consultant and end-user engagement, and targeted market-development campaigns.
- Use market intelligence and partner performance data to identify coverage gaps and recommend partner expansion, rationalization or capability investment by country and vertical.
Solution selling & customer influence:
- Develop sustained relationships with security leaders, facility and IT stakeholders, consultants, engineers, developers, hotel operators, procurement teams and major end users across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Influence consultant specifications and end-user solution architectures at an early stage, positioning integrated SAS solutions and driving preference for Lenel, Onity and the wider commercial security portfolio.
- Coordinate technical discovery, demonstrations, proof-of-concept activity, solution design, proposal development, and executive presentations.
- Negotiate pricing and contractual terms within company policy, protecting value, profitability, compliance, and execution quality.
Operating rhythm & cross-functional leadership:
- Maintain accurate CRM account plans, opportunities, activities, close dates, risks, and next actions; lead routine pipeline and forecast reviews.
- Provide a detailed demand signal to supply-chain and demand-planning teams, highlighting large projects, schedule changes, and exceptional demand.
- Bring structured Voice of Customer and competitive intelligence to offering management and engineering, including integration needs, product feedback, and prioritized NPI requests.
- Coordinate with marketing, presales, customer success, service, legal, finance, and operations to remove obstacles and deliver a consistent customer experience.
- Represent the SAS business at customer events, industry associations, trade shows, partner meetings, and training sessions.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree, or equivalent relevant commercial and industry experience.
- Minimum five years of sales, account management, business development, or channel-management experience in security, building technologies, or a related technical industry.
- Demonstrated record of achieving revenue and profitability targets through complex, multi-stakeholder solution sales.
- Working proficiency with CRM, forecasting, presentation, spreadsheet, and standard productivity tools.
- Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel up to 50%, domestically and internationally, as business needs require.
Preferred Experience & Capabilities:
- Strong commercial-security experience, ideally including enterprise access control and hospitality locking solutions; familiarity with Lenel and Onity is highly valued.
- Understanding of enterprise security architectures, system integration, networking fundamentals, cybersecurity considerations, and open protocols or APIs.
- Demonstrated ability to build influential relationships with consultants, specifiers, end users, system integrators, distributors, contractors and technology partners across diverse African markets.
- Ability to create value-based proposals, business cases, executive presentations, and clear technical-commercial narratives.
- Strong negotiation, communication, and stakeholder-management skills across cultures and organizational levels.
- Ability to lead through influence in a matrixed environment and maintain accountability across long, complex sales cycles.
- Knowledge of relevant codes, standards, data-privacy expectations, and future industry mandates within the assigned market.
Leadership Behaviors:
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Customer-first: begins with the customer’s security, operational, and business outcomes.
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Growth-minded: seeks whitespace, challenges assumptions, and converts insight into action.
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Commercially disciplined: balances growth, margin, risk, forecast integrity, and execution quality.
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Collaborative: aligns partners and internal teams around a clear pursuit and account strategy.
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Accountable: follows through on commitments, escalates early, and communicates with transparency.
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