Solutions Development Manager

This posting is for hourly paid logistics employees to apply through.

Ocado Group is an equal opportunities employer and as such makes every effort to ensure that all potential employees are treated fairly and equally, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, or disability or union membership status. 

About Us

Ocado Solutions is responsible for our corporate international  partnerships, offering the proprietary Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) as a service to retailers around the world. OSP comprises access to Ocado’s physical automation, allowing highly efficient preparation of orders, together with the full end-to-end software applications required to operate a world class online grocery business, bringing the best possible operational economics, consumer experience and service to our partners. Since 2017 we have signed agreements to provide our unique e-commerce solution to a number of the world’s largest grocers, including Groupe Casino (France), Sobeys (Canada), ICA (Sweden), Kroger (USA), Coles (Australia), AEON (Japan), Alcampo (Spain), Lotte (South Korea) joining our UK partner Morrisons and the Ocado/M&S joint venture.

About the role

The Solutions Development Manager works cross functionally with prospective clients, existing partners and stakeholders across Ocado Group, and is responsible for representing OSP through the end to end pre-sales process, selling the value, benefits and USPs of the solution.

From clarifying retailer requirements, costing potential solutions, through to supporting the negotiation of key legal terms, you will be the key point of contact for all hardware related applications across the platform, gaining an understanding of the client, their business and their business requirements to support the successful sales of future OSP deals.

I will be accountable for:

• Leading client engagement activities including presentations, UK site tours, and visiting Partner sites around the world to assist in delivering the end to end pre-sales process
• Delivery of the full pre-sales methodology, taking partners & prospects from the first point of contact to signing a contract
• Writing, updating and negotiating key legal contractual documents for specific deals
• Lead discussions with partners & prospects to help them understand the benefits of the OSP Solution; acting as the subject matter expert in the room
• Work collaboratively with Technology & Marketing on the development and pricing of new concepts, including associated contractual documents and generic client engagement materials
• Build and share knowledge on our competitors and our position within the market, helping ensure we have a compelling proposition to offer prospective partners
• Creating clear and compelling content for senior internal stakeholders to obtain sign-off for projects and key business decisions
• Actively gather and clarify prospect requirements; representing any capability gaps between their needs and the current OSP Solution to internal Technology stakeholders to drive prioritisation
• Thorough understanding of client-specific business or operational metrics and their impact on choosing the right OSP solution
• Use, develop & improve models/tools for costing, CFC sizing considerations and content to support the sales process
• Leading on continuous improvement projects to further improve departmental processes and ensuring the actioning of lessons learnt

About you (experience we seek)

• Loves to be client facing, enjoys challenging conversations and resolving conflicting agendas
• Genuine interest in the products we are selling and the retailers we are selling them to, our role is to understand their challenges and identify how our products can help
• Excellent interpersonal skills - ability to build strong relationships both internally and externally and be viewed as a trusted advisor to our prospects and internal customers
• Strong presentation skills - ability to describe a complex solution and its benefits at the level appropriate to the audience
• Adept at facilitating meetings to achieve specific outcomes, including Discovery, Assessment, Milestones and Stage Gates
• Able to quickly understand and explain technical complex subjects and technologies to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Able to converse with retailers at all levels, from C-suite down
• Excellent problem solving and strong analytical skills
• Ability to travel globally for short periods, often at short notice, according to client requirements
• Knowledge and experience of Retail (preferably Grocery) an advantage
• Experience working for technology companies - managing clients needs and strategic objectives an advantage

What we offer you

Our employee benefits are designed for you, we care about people and we’ve ensured we have a wealth of benefits that focus on your well-being. We regularly review our benefits to ensure we are supporting our employees appropriately.

• Hybrid working and flexible working patterns
• Private healthcare
• Car salary sacrifice and Cycle to Work schemes
• Free Shares and Life Assurance
• 15% off your Ocado.com shopping & company shop offering discounts of up to 70%
• Exclusive travel, retail and leisure discounts nationwide
• Free shuttle bus from and to Hatfield Station
• 22 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks paid paternity leave
• Enhanced Pension scheme, matching employee contributions up to 7% of salary
• Employee Assistance Programme