We have an opportunity to join our team in a technical sales role which includes elements of consultancy, business analysis, project engineering, and marketing.

Benefits

• Competitive remuneration package 
• Full use vehicle, phone, laptop
• Significant autonomy and flexibility
• Work with world leading technology and a small number of customers

Who are we?
Jacks supplies, installs, and services a range of machinery in the timber and wood products industry. We’re a long established kiwi business with a mature customer base and product range, and we value looking after our people. Our mission is to excel at lifting the productivity of our customers.

The Opportunity
We have an opportunity to join our project sales team in a technical sales role which includes elements of consultancy, project engineering, and account management to the timber processing industry. Within the larger business, Projects is a small team focused on our largest customers and most sophisticated equipment.

Location
We’re somewhat flexible on your location. Our main office is in Auckland, but the customers you will serve - while spread around the country - are concentrated around the Central North Island. If you live outside Auckland, you’ll need to spend time in the office periodically, more so in the early days as you come up to speed. As a role that requires travel, we expect some flexibility of hours and location from you, and this goes both ways – you’ll be allowed a lot of autonomy in managing your time.

Market Presence
Jacks has a strong market presence, and this role looks after the larger timber processing customers, all of whom know us, and we know them. So this role is less about finding new customers and more about managing existing relationships to maintain Jacks as the most trusted go-to machinery supply and service partner in NZ.

Your Key Attributes
The ideal candidate is an all-rounder with a mix of technical timber industry knowledge, sales and communication skills, who enjoys getting out and interacting with customers and understands their businesses.

It’s unlikely someone fills all the requirements (but if you do, please apply!), so this role might also suit someone who has technical or manufacturing experience and has the communication and people skills to be mentored into a sales role. This could be a nice way to transition out of a manufacturing management role for the right person.
 
Your customers are mostly secondary processors of timber products, so knowledge of specific technologies such as moulding, scanning/optimising, fingerjointing and laminating will be helpful, although we expect to provide significant internal training. Existing industry knowledge and contacts will be extremely advantageous. 
 
The right candidate will be someone who can quickly learn and understand how various machinery operates and then delve into the details with customers. You will sell off your product knowledge (once you have learnt it) and effectively communicate how these products will improve outcomes for your customers. 
 
You will need office computing skills (Word, Excel, a bit of CRM), as preparing detailed project costings and quotes is a part of the role.
 
As we’re dealing in capital equipment, the sales process generally takes a long time, so you need to be happy with this and take a long term relationship building perspective. On the other hand, there isn’t a strong ‘closing’ emphasis or pressure placed on you here. We want to build relationships, take ownership of providing technical solutions, and become our customers’ trusted advisors.
 
Your Team
You’ll be well supported as you get started in this role, with the incumbent happy for a long handover period where you’ll work together. You’ll slowly take over the role as you establish relationships with clients and get comfortable with the technology. You’ll report to the Head of Projects who will assist you with advice and commercial support. On the service side of the business, you will regularly work with specialised team of coordinators and technicians who mostly look after your specific customers. You will also regularly liaise with machinery suppliers too.
 
Travel
You will be out and about on customer sites to build and maintain relationships. So, you do need to be open to travelling a frequent basis domestically, and this will vary based on workload at the time (and where you live), but might average about a week a month. Occasionally you’ll need to travel internationally (usually Europe) for visiting suppliers, reference sites, training, or a trade show. This might be around one trip a year. 
 
Applications 
To express your interest or if you have any inquiries, contact employment@jacks.co.nz  – we’re happy to provide more information to promising candidates. Applications close July 30.