About the position
Our client Gqeberha based client is looking for a Service manager to handle the following:
- Daily control of technicians, call allocation, productivity, work quality, repeat calls, vehicle usage, overtime and regional coverage.
- Service Controllers and Dispatch
- Ensure calls are logged, prioritised, dispatched and escalated correctly. Work closely with controllers to reduce wasted travel and improve response times.
What the service manager will lead:
Field technical services:
- Daily control of technicians, call allocation, productivity, work quality, repeat calls, vehicle usage, overtime and regional coverage.
- Service Controllers and Dispatch
- Ensure calls are logged, prioritised, dispatched and escalated correctly. Work closely with controllers to reduce wasted travel and improve response times.
MPS and office automation support:
- Support the full company installed base, including OSG/OPB devices, MPS contracts, universities, municipalities, corporate clients and other key accounts.
Production print / PSG support:
- Ensure production print calls are allocated to the correct technical skill level, escalated timeously and monitored closely due to the higher client impact and longer call durations.
Remote support and incident management:
- Drive first-line resolution where possible, reduce unnecessary technician callouts and ensure proper technical escalation.
Service profitability and business intelligence:
- Use service reports, Power BI / BI reporting, call data, cost analysis and technician productivity metrics to improve gross profit and service performance.
Transformation and continuous improvement:
- Improve processes, implement automation where practical, develop modern service skills and build a more efficient regional service structure.
Key responsibilities:
Service leadership and regional control:
- Set and drive the Eastern Cape service operations plan across all regions and major client sites.
- Ensure consistent service standards across East London, Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha, Mthatha and outlying areas.
- Provide clear leadership to technicians, controllers and support staff.
- Work with branch and divisional managers to resolve regional service risks quickly.
Technician productivity and performance management:
- Monitor technician productivity daily, including calls completed, travel time, repeat calls and unresolved calls.
- Drive the required calls-per-technician-per-day target by region and skill level.
- Identify underperforming technicians and implement corrective action, coaching or redeployment recommendations.
- Manage leave, standby, overtime, attendance, conduct and field professionalism.
- Ensure technicians are allocated according to skill level, geography, urgency and machine type.
Call management, SLA and escalation control:
- Oversee call logging, dispatch, prioritisation, escalation and closure discipline.
- Reduce calls older than agreed SLA thresholds and investigate root causes.
- Drive MTTR improvement, first-time-fix improvement and reduction of repeat failures.
- Own service recovery for at-risk clients, major complaints and critical production print accounts.
- Ensure proper escalation to ADS, the company or suppliers where required.
Financial performance and cost control:
- Own service operational performance against monthly gross profit and cost targets.
- Monitor parts cost, material cost, fuel, vehicle usage, overtime and excessive travel.
- Identify loss-making devices, contracts and clients and implement remediation plans.
- Recommend cost-saving, headcount, redeployment, courier, remote support or structural changes where justified by data.
- Support annual budgeting, monthly forecasting and operational cost reviews.
Customer experience and account support:
- Build strong relationships with key service clients across education, municipalities, healthcare, corporate and production print environments.
- Support sales and account management with service-related contract reviews, renewals and escalations.
- Drive CSAT / client satisfaction improvement and reduce preventable complaints.
- Provide clear monthly service feedback for major accounts where required.
Reporting and governance:
- Produce weekly service reporting covering open calls, ageing calls, repeat calls, technician productivity, escalations, parts delays and regional risks.
- Produce monthly service reporting covering service GP, cost drivers, technician productivity, regional performance, client risk and recommended actions.
- Use BI reports and service system data to make data-led decisions.
- Maintain operational risk management, business continuity and escalation processes.
People development and skills planning:
- Assess technical skills by region and machine type.
- Build a practical training and succession plan for OSG, OPB, MPS and PSG skills.
- Develop team leaders or senior technicians where required.
- Drive accountability, discipline and a high-performance service culture.
Who the company is looking for:
Education:
- Matric / National Senior Certificate (essential)
- Relevant qualifications in Business Management, Operations, Engineering, IT or a related field (preferred)
- Postgraduate qualification in business or operations management (advantageous)
Professional certifications:
- ITIL Foundation or practical service management experience (advantageous)
- Project management qualification or proven project delivery experience (advantageous)
- Power BI / reporting capability (advantageous)
Experience:
- 8+ years in service operations, managed services, office automation or technical field services
- 5+ years in a service leadership role managing field technicians or multi-disciplinary service teams
- Managed Print Services, Office Automation, Production Print or technical equipment environment strongly preferred
- Proven experience managing service cost, productivity, SLA performance and client escalations
Technical knowledge:
- MPS / device monitoring platforms such as the companies Device Manager, Printanista, PaperCut MF or similar
- Service management systems, dispatch processes and incident management
- Power BI, Excel, SharePoint and Teams
- SLA / CSAT / client satisfaction frameworks
- Understanding of parts, technical stock, fleet, fuel and field service cost drivers
Licenses and travel:
- Valid South African driver's license (essential)
- Willingness and ability to travel across the Eastern Cape regularly
- Availability for critical after-hours escalations when required
Competencies and personal attributes:
Commercial acumen:
- Understands service GP, cost control, productivity and profitability.
Customer focus:
- Handles escalations professionally and protects key client relationships.
Operational discipline:
- Controls calls, technicians, regions, SLAs and daily service execution.
Analytical thinking:
- Uses service data, reports and trends to make practical decisions.
People leadership:
- Firm but fair manager who can coach, correct and hold people accountable.
Communication and influence:
- Communicates clearly with technicians, controllers, clients, sales and senior management.
Success measures:
- Improved calls-per-technician-per-day by region and skill level.
- Reduction in ageing calls, repeat calls and unnecessary travel.
- Improved monthly service gross profit and cost control.
- Improved client satisfaction and fewer MD-level escalations.
- Clear skills plan for OSG, OPB, MPS and PSG support.
- Consistent weekly and monthly service reporting with practical action plans.
Desired Skills:
- MPS and office automation
- Production print / PSG support
- incident management
- business intelligence
- continuous improvement
