The Organisation:

Our client has a strong legacy in the wind industry in providing independent energy assessments for the pre-construction phase of projects. The same position has been developed recently for solar resource assessment. They are currently looking for a Business Lead to join the North Europe, Middle East and Africa (NEMEA) team in the UK, to help further build on this legacy.

The Role:

The focus of the role will be on Business Development, by interacting with customers and industry groups, and by coordinating the team’s efforts in creating and developing leads, as well as being responsible for applying foresight and innovation in how the service evolves over time, based on the changing needs of our customers and/or the changing technical landscape. The Business Lead should be spending time with customers to understand their challenges and needs, aligning our service organisation to meet these needs and also continually critiquing and exploring opportunities (perhaps through R&D) to make the service more efficient or of higher-value potential.

Face to face client contact, travel to site visits, meetings, conferences and other off-site events are a normal part of this role.

The Business Lead will work closely with their Head of Department to ensure ongoing availability of competent resources to deliver the service(s) within their remit. They will also work closely with colleagues to explore opportunities for creating new high value services through combination of their service with those in other departments.

A secondary part of the role remains that of an individual contributor, undertaking consulting or advisory work at a higher level of competence and experience.

The Business Lead will report directly to the Head of Department (HoD) of the Data Analytics team. This is a team of 40 people undertaking pre- and post-construction wind and solar energy analysis and short-term forecasting work for the NEMEA region. The team is located in Bristol, Glasgow, London and Dublin, with support to colleagues in other offices such as Arnhem, Dubai, Casablanca and Cape-Town.

Key Accountabilities:

• Identify, drive and facilitate sales and market led opportunities in own area of competence e.g. generate leads, quality proposals and close deals (i.e. make the sale).
• Analyse new business opportunities, gather market intelligence and ensure distribution of knowledge amongst relevant people
• Maintain an overview of the major market threats
• Decide the market approach for strategic and tactical projects in own area of competence together with market area manager and KVP leader respectively
• Lead and co-ordinate the sales-orientated staff (virtual sales force) in the same service area around the Region
• Lead the bid/no bid decision for own area of competence.
• Act as a Project Sponsor on some projects
• Being close to the market and customers, monitor and anticipate market developments in own competence area, providing information to the HoD to enable strong resource planning and competency development of staff
• Cooperate and work closely with the Key Value Proposition-Leaders on larger multi-discipline projects when required
• Participate in global service line development with the relevant Service Line Lead as required
• Encourage and ensure that lessons learnt, and latest developments are shared across the team
• Act as an escalation point for work enquires raised by customers for own competence area and work with market area managers who are ultimately accountable for the customer ownership
• Provide support to the HoD in the promotion and presentation of the department strategy and plans on market intelligence where appropriate
• Contribute to the development of the Annual Operating plan for the area of competence
• Manage multiple projects to ensure they are completed within timescale and budget within own area of competency
• Ensure high-quality proposals are delivered to customer in own area of competency

Person Specification:

• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant market and future prospects/trends
• Experience of building long-term client relationships
• Demonstrates specialist knowledge and expertise in wind resource assessment.
• Good understanding of the commercial basis for projects
• Demonstrates a professional approach to their work and is a good role model for junior engineers.
• Strong competence in proposal & report writing, ensuring clear and accurate reports are produced in English.
• Strong interpersonal, relationship and stakeholder management skills.  Ability to handle the complex (technical) problems and be able to guide individuals through the associated issues.
• Ability to juggle and manage conflicting work priorities to ensure deadlines are met.  Good prioritisation skills.
• Strong communication and organisational skills (both verbal and written), able to work effectively within a consultancy environment.

Desirable qualifications include:

• Experience of contributing to industry working groups and related networking activity.
• Experience of presenting at major industry events.

Competency Requirements:

• Networking – builds a useful network of contacts and relationships and utilizes it to achieve objectives. Has a client focus and the ability to engage and interact with clients.
• Analysis & Judgement – quickly understands and analyses complex issues and problems; comes up with sound and rational judgements.
• Self-development – is aware of own strengths and limitations and pursues learning and career development opportunities.
• Effective communication – communicates in a clear, precise and structured way; speaks with authority and conviction; presents effectively.
• Innovation – produces fresh and imaginative ideas and solutions; breaks away from tradition; promotes change and novelty.
• Business development – contributes to identifying and seizing commercial opportunities; has a strong positive impact on business growth and profitability.
• Execution – adheres to company rules and procedures; executes plans with commitment and determination; achieves high quality results.