Associate Industry Technical Consultant

Ecolab, is seeking an Industry Technical Consultant for our Food & Beverage division to lead our efforts to develop, deploy, and optimize process chemical applications and digital technologies in the food and beverage industry.

The role of the Industry Technical Consultant is to provide sales and service support on a technical advisory level to our sales force as they work to grow and maintain customers in the food and beverage industries. In addition to supporting sales growth utilizing existing products and programs, the ITC also plays a major role in the development and implementation of new technologies. Working closely with Sales, Research, and Marketing, the ITC helps create, develop, and evaluate innovative new programs and services that provide value to our customers in refining operations.

• What You Will Do:

Sales Support

As part of a global division, this role will entail on-site support for Ecolab’s largest customers.

ITC support in the sales process consists of strong technical support in the following areas:

Target Account Development

• Working with the local sales engineer and regionally based technical support personnel to audit and assess customer operations to determine where Ecolab chemical and digital technology can help improve operational efficiency, reduce total cost, maximize productivity, and improve finished product quality.

In-Plant Technical Trials

• Help develop detailed trial plans by assessing historical operational data and determining the best approach to help meet customer KPIs. This includes the development of the following:
• Criteria for success
• Real-time data acquisition
• Establishing key performance indicators and pertinent operational data requirements
• Trial Support – work with Technical and Operations staff during plant test to advise on recommended changes/adjustments help optimize the performance of the applications.
• Post-Trial Support – assist with data analysis, conclusions, and recommendations.

Service Support

• Assist with optimization and troubleshooting of Ecolab technologies as the need arises in customer operations.
• Time will be supporting a diverse portfolio of Ecolab’s largest global customers in multiple market segments.
• Identifying and developing TCO opportunities to support the global TCO process.
• Driving TCO and program standardization
• Supporting the global TCO process for value documentation
• Participate in and support monthly and quarterly corporate customer review meetings.
• Lead technical and innovation exchange sessions.

Innovation

• The ITCs play an important role in the Innovation process by working closely with our Marketing team to identify and evaluate current customer needs and opportunities. They also work closely with the R&D team throughout the technology development process, including lab testing and plant trials. The ITC also helps to assess the full value of the new technology as part of the commercialization process.
• Industry facing expert interaction
• Training: as a process expert, ITC will lead internal training for Sales personnel as well as customer facing training as requested.
• Internal technical networks participation including experience exchange, white paper writing, etc.

• Position Details

• This position is based in Johannesburg, Gauteng.
• 50% or more overnight travel required

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• 10+ years of successful technical implementation, production management, process engineering, technical sales, or field sales support experience
• 50% or more overnight travel required
• Must have a valid Driver's License and acceptable Motor Vehicle Record
• No immigration sponsorship offered for this role

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Chemical, Mechanical, Industrial), or Life Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, etc.)
• Ability to lead teams and develop and motivate team members
• Demonstrate executive presence as this role may require interaction with senior levels at customers organization.
• Experience with process instrumentation and industrial automation systems
• Other languages proficiency