Product Development Manager at Lafarge Africa Plc

Lafarge Africa Plc is a member of the LafargeHolcim Group – the biggest building and concrete solutions company in the world. It is a publicly quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and serves Nigeria with a wide range of building and construction solutions designed to meet housing and construction needs from small projects like individual home buildings to major construction and infrastructure projects.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Product Development Manager

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary

• The Product Development Manager contributes to LafargeHolcim's Accelerating Green Growth objective by assisting the Head of Product, Innovation & New Solutions in managing the local products & services portfolio.
• The Product Development Manager is key in  delivering superior value for our end-users / customers and to capture the highest possible value for the  business.
• Demonstrates visible leadership and role modeling in Health & Safety (H&S) and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I).
• More specifically, promoting H&S and D&I actions/behaviors within the function will be key, as well as fostering their integration in all programs, activities and documents developed by the department.

Main Activities / Responsibilities
The Product Development Manager is responsible for Product Range Development & Management of the LafargeHolcim global brands (ECOPlanet, ECOPact & Dynamax) and other Value Added Products (VAPs) across Cement, Concrete and Mortar is primarily responsible for:

• Creating and maintaining product and service culture in the Organization;
• Tracking and identifying opportunities of launching new products and services;
• Defining the roadmap of new products and services for a 2 to 3 years horizon;
• Tracking of the commercial / technical performance of the product and service portfolio towards  competitions and next best alternatives;
• Detecting the early signs (based on KPIs / external events) to renew / reposition existing  products & services;
• Deploying and maintaining the 5-Step Procedures and all related processes to manage the product & service portfolio;
• Challenging constructively the sales, marketing and logistics/industrial teams on product  and service topics;
• Proposing all initiatives or change management opportunities which could lead to better top line performance;
• Meeting Quality parameters/expectations of market/users and Research/ Development of construction solutions for Nigeria;
• Liaising with Government, Universities, technical institutions, associations, Standards Bureaus and other stakeholders on adoption, testing and development of Standards for Products & Applications, manuals and specifications to further cement/concrete applications;
• Developing new applications of cement & cement based products to grow the market in Road (rigid pavements/ paving blocks/ soil stabilization), Building & Industrial Sectors; and other specialty cements – Low Heat, Sulphate Resistant, Oil Well etc;
• Setting the agenda and organizing the Product Development Committee, ensuring involvement of all local and group stakeholders;
• Supporting the Mortar team in developing housing products & 3D solutions;
• Sorking with the quality team to manage the Construction Development Laboratory to support our customers and lead the Research & Development in the industry;

Job Dimensions
List of Direct Reports:

• Product Engineers

Key interfaces, stakeholders and relationships:

• Internal stakeholders: Colleagues in Marketing, Sales, Industrial, Concrete and other functions (finance, logistics, etc.)
• Group Innovation Centre
• External Stakeholders: Policy makers in Government (e.g. Ministries of Works, Housing, Energy, Finance, Industry, etc.) Regulatory bodies, Academic/ Research & other autonomous institutions. 
• Specifiers, Consultants, contractors and end users.

Profile Required
Education/ Qualifications:

• Postgraduate Degree in Technical discipline (Civil Engineering or Manufacturing Process related).

Specific Work experience:

• 5-8 years experience in production-quality and/or application of cement products.
• Experience in developing/ modifying product & service portfolios, interfacing with end-users and the industrial team.
• Sound knowledge of cement / concrete product composition, quality & performance parameters.

Knowledge & Skills:
Technical / Functional Skills:

• Knowledge of local and international building standards/ specifications and construction practices.
• Knowledge of product development & evaluation processes.
• Good analytical skills to analyze product quality and performance data and apply them to modify/ adapt to customer needs.

Behavioral Competence:

• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work cross functionally and influence diverse stakeholders.

Leadership and managerial abilities:

• Ability to communicate effectively internally & externally.
• Positive attitude with appetite for change and innovation.
• Ability to manage cross functional teams.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.