LIFT_VOC – AGRICULTURE LAPAM
VOICE OF CUSTOMER (PRODUCT EXPERTISE) – AGRICULTURE
LAPAM
JOB DESCRIPTION
VISION AND KEY STAKES:
LAPAM (Latin America, Asia Pacific & Middle East – Africa) region within Manitou Group aims at improving working conditions, safety and performance across the whole region, while protecting people and their environment.
The primary purpose of this role is to serve as the intellectual bridge and Customer Champion between the agricultural landscape across LAPAM and global product development. By transforming raw data—from field observations, dealer feedback, and competitor movements—into high-velocity strategic insights, this role ensures the company invests in the right technologies at the right time and creates market-leading products that drive profitable growth.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Anchor the group’s leadership in the diverse LAPAM agricultural sector by identifying specialized farming needs and ensuring our product roadmap delivers maximum productivity for farmers
1. Data Collection and Synthesis
● Structured Market Research: Design and execute studies, including quantitative surveys (satisfaction, preferences) and qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, on-site visits) Voice of the Dealer Network: Partner with regional teams and dealers to gather feedback on customer needs, competitor activity, and challenges.
● Competitor Intelligence: Monitor rivals’ product launches, technology, marketing, and customer feedback for benchmarking and strategy.
● Digital and Social Listening: Use digital tools to track unfiltered, real-time customer sentiment across social media and forums.
● Customer Complaints and Feedback Analysis: Analyze warranty claims, service records, and complaints with after-sales/service to identify product quality and recurring issues.
2. Analysis and Insight Generation
● Segmentation Analysis: Grouping customers by application, location, and size to understand unique needs.
● Needs-Gap Analysis: Identifying discrepancies between customer needs and current product offerings to prioritize R&D investments.
● Trend Forecasting: Monitoring macro trends (technology, regulation, economics) that could impact future customer needs.
● Persona Development: Creating detailed customer and user profiles to humanize the target audience for R&D and product teams.
3. Strategic Recommendations and Influence
● R&D Prioritization: Provides evidence-based recommendations on where R&D should focus (features, new machines, next-gen tech).
● Product Roadmap: Works with product managers to align roadmaps with validated customer needs and market opportunities.
● Marketing Strategy: Gives the “why” behind purchases to help marketing craft effective messaging and campaigns.
● Executive Reporting: Translates complex data into clear reports for senior leadership to inform high-level strategic decisions.
4. Collaboration and Cross-Functional Integration
● Internal Stakeholder Management: Bridges the customer voice to internal teams (R&D, product, sales, marketing, engineering), ensuring it influences organizational decisions.
● Workshops and Ideation Sessions: Facilitates cross-functional workshops to translate customer insights into concrete product and solution ideas.
● Customer Advisory Boards: Manages a key customer advisory board for strategic feedback and new concept validation.
EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES :
● Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical, Production, or Agricultural machinery Engineering is required.
● An MBA or advanced degree in Marketing is preferred.
● A minimum of 10+ years of progressive experience in a large-scale manufacturing and agricultural machinery environment
● Experience in complex production environments (automotive, machinery, capital goods preferred).
● Market Research Expertise: Proven ability to manage complex research studies and synthesize unfiltered feedback into strategic insights.
● Technical/Industry Acumen: Deep understanding of Industry vertical across LAPAM sectors.
● Strategic Influence: Ability to translate complex data into concise reporting for executive and leadership level decision-making.
● Analytical Thinking: Skills in segmentation and needs-gap analysis to prioritize R&D based on market demand signals.
● Drive results and accountability – Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with enthusiasm, challenging self & others positively to achieve results.
● Team and collaboration – To achieve optimal results in this role, a steadfast Focus on ‘team work’ and strong collaboration is paramount.
The ideal candidate will be adept at:
➔ Building and maintaining strong working relationships with colleagues across various departments (e.g., Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Product Management).
➔ Proactively sharing information and insights to ensure all relevant stakeholders are aligned on project goals, customer feedback, and strategic direction.
➔ Participating actively in team discussions, offering constructive input, and showing a willingness to support team members to achieve shared objectives.
➔ Resolving conflicts constructively and promoting a positive, supportive atmosphere that values diverse perspectives and contributions.
Success in the ‘Voice of Customer’ function, as defined by this LIFT role, is intrinsically linked to the ability to synthesize input and drive consensus across disparate groups, making exceptional collaboration skills a foundational requirement.
LOCALISATION AND TRAVEL EXPECTED:
● This position is located within the LAPAM area
● Travel up to 70%-80%
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