Regional Trading Manager

Thales Avionics Operations (TAO) is in the business of supplying used/recertified parts to the Aerospace Aftermarket. TAO is specifically organized to answer all the customers’ needs concerning Thales or non-Thales USED Serviceable Materials (USM).

The organization is split into Acquisition/Sales and Asset Management.

This position of Regional Trading Manager will be based in China and reports to the Head of Sales APAC.

He/She is in charge of the Trading commercial activity with the Airlines, Leasing Companies, OEMS, MRO organizations and the brokers of China. He/She is to manage the commercial actions (prospect, promote, propose and negotiate) in order to:

• Ensure spares sale in for Thales and non-Thales parts
• Realize the Order Intake, Sales & Margin Objectives of the Worldwide Trading
• Be the privileged Customer, Supplier, Prospects and Partners

This position has the accountability and the responsibility for the following:

• Ensure AGS representation to the customers/suppliers in the region
• Being the mediator between internal stakeholders and the suppliers/customers in order to satisfy customer’s needs while taking into consideration the internal constraints and capacity.
• Coordinate the USM activity of the China region in order to:

a. Pilot as accurately as possible the commercial objectives

b. Identify new sources of revenue

c. Contribute to the global enhancement/improvement of processes

• Update his/her hierarchy via activity and performance reports
• Evolve in the international aeronautics market where competition is hard in the domain of Used Serviceable Material (USM) sales.

Roles & Responsibilities

1) In charge of answering the Request for Quote (RFQs) sent from Chinese customers for USM:

• For the customers in his/her Portfolio, he/she proposes and negotiates with his/her customers the selling price as close as possible to the Fair Market Value (FMV) of the product in order to maximize the margin while aiming to obtain the customer Purchase Order.
• In the case where the proposed part is not available in the AGS worldwide stock (order pending in backlog), he/she purchases the part from the second market by negotiating with the identified/certified/approved suppliers the purchasing price as lower as possible to the market price in order to achieve the margin objective.
• He/She contributes to the customer satisfaction by making sure that all the customers RFQs for certified used spare parts is answered within 1hr.
• He/She creates complex bids and bring his/her expertise in terms of pricing and technical standard.

2) Builds and maintains a specific network of customers and suppliers associated to this activity:

• He/She shall build and maintains the customers and suppliers relationship in order to detect new opportunities for sale and/or purchase in his/her perimeter.
• He/She represents Thales Trading by participating to the regional events & conference associated to this activity.

3) Constantly manage the actions of lobbying, marketing and prospecting necessary to the activity development, not limited to:

• Penetrating the China market
• Increasing TAO’s footprint in China
• Establishing direct contacts with Chinese Airlines

4) Coordinate his/her activity with Internal Stakeholders:

• The legacy activities of Thales Avionics (Retrofit, Repairs, etc…)
• The Account Management Team (AM, RSM, CSM) of AGS in charge of the business relationship with the customers
• The entire Trading team
• The Operations & Supply Chain team (both TAO & Thales Repair Shops)
• The Technical department of AGS (Product and systems support engineers, Technical Support Managers)
• The AOG department
• The Programs (in Service Program Managers)
• The Export Control Manager
• The Trader Compliance Officer

5) Defines and follows commercial action plans for the APAC region. He/She is in charge of reaching the order intake and sale objectives on a monthly basis.

6) Regularly keep abreast of the technical evolution of the products and inform his/her collaborator in the Trading team for “Product Knowledge Management”.

7) Regularly provides activity performance reports regarding his/her perimeter

8) Provides and follows a customer/supplier visit plan for marketing and prospecting mission necessary to the activity

9) Supports the Head of Sales APAC and Worldwide Trading GM by strongly contributing to the following:

• Markets analysis
• Certified Used parts selling and purchasing strategies development
• Market growth strategies
• Sales and provisioning needs forecast for short and mid terms
• Process optimization

10) Work closely with the Operational Supply Chain Team and Finance Team on:

• Management of customers’ spare parts orders delivery, not limited to gathering the Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) towards customers and update the dates in Quantum Control
• Management of suppliers’ orders delivery, not limited to obtaining up-to-date Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) from suppliers and update the dates in Quantum Control.
• Serves as escalation point for Operations Team on Suppliers/Customers issues.
• Follow up with Customers on overdue Accounts Receivable.

Requirements and Qualifications

Key Success Factors:

• Revenue Attainment
• Achieve Inventory and Turns goals
• Gross Margin Attainment
• Growth Attainment
• Customer Satisfaction

Attributes/ Skills Required:

• Effectively work in an international matrix organization structure
• Develop and foster strong supplier and customer relationships
• Good communication

Basic/Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Engineering or related field
• 6 - 10 years of Aerospace, customer fronting experience

Broad business background:

• With good analytical & business acumen
• Strong customer interaction, supply chain, procurement, and pricing experience
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to make effective presentations
• Aerospace product, industry, manufacturing, supply chain, distribution/ channel sales, marketing knowledge and experience