Service Manager, Middle East

Role Overview

Service Manager, Middle East at Smiths Group. This is a key strategic and operational leadership role based in the Middle East region, accountable for the successful delivery of contracted services, customer satisfaction, commercial performance, and strategic account growth within the Middle East market.

Company Overview

Smiths Detection, part of Smiths Group, is a global leader in the development, manufacture and management of security and detection solutions. The company operates across 21 global offices, seven manufacturing sites and five R&D centres, with a global network of 3,000 dedicated colleagues. The organization has over 40 years of expertise in threat detection and security screening solutions for aviation, ports and borders, defence, and urban security markets.

Role Purpose

The Service Manager leads operational delivery and strategic account management across the Middle East market. The role ensures the organization consistently delivers contracted services and value while strengthening long-term customer partnerships, driving revenue retention and growth, and delivering service innovation that enhances operational efficiency and competitive advantage.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial & Strategy

• Develop proactive understanding of market and business drivers and provide strategic inputs, both qualitative and quantitative, to the Middle East Market team.
• Develop and execute account service strategies that support customer growth, operational excellence, and long-term partnership objectives.
• Identify opportunities for service expansion, optimisation, and cross-functional collaboration to maximise contract value and customer outcomes.
• Support revenue retention and growth through strong service performance, renewals management, and identification of upsell opportunities.
• Provide commercial oversight of service delivery, ensuring costs, resource utilisation, and profitability targets are achieved.
• Strategically lead and develop an operational management team to enhance performance by setting clear accountable performance measures.
• Analyse service performance trends and business data to inform strategic decisions, investment priorities, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with sales, programmes, and leadership teams to contribute to account planning, business development, and customer retention strategies.
• Drive transformational initiatives and service innovation opportunities that enhance operational efficiency and strengthen competitive advantage.
• Manage Profit Centre and Cost Centre budgets with accountability.
• Define, negotiate and agree effective utilisation of resource in line with service specifications, working with or being responsible for strategic resource planning in conjunction with business objectives and service level agreements.
• Continually develop improvements and embed a culture of continuous improvement and Six Sigma and Kaizen to drive successful change projects.
• Drive quality and consistency across service delivery.

Customer Relationship Management

• Act as the primary point of contact for key customer stakeholders, building trusted relationships and serving as a strategic advisor.
• Create a Customer Engagement Plan and lead regular customer governance meetings, executive reviews, and service performance discussions to ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Drive customer satisfaction initiatives through proactive communication, issue resolution, and continual service improvement plans.
• Understand customer business strategies, challenges, and priorities to ensure services evolve in line with organisational needs.
• Manage escalations effectively, coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver timely resolutions and minimise business impact.
• Promote a customer-centric culture by ensuring service teams remain focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences.

Service Contract Management

• Own and collaborate with Aftermarket Sales to govern the end-to-end service contract lifecycle, ensuring contractual obligations, service levels, and deliverables are consistently achieved.
• Monitor performance against SLAs, KPIs, and contractual commitments, driving corrective actions where required to maintain compliance.
• Conduct regular service reviews to assess contractual performance, identify risks, and implement continuous service improvements.
• Contribute to contract renewals, amendments, and scope changes in collaboration with customers, sales teams, and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure service delivery aligns with contractual governance frameworks, regulatory and legal requirements, and organisational policies.
• Identify and mitigate service delivery risks that may impact contractual performance, customer satisfaction, or commercial outcomes.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, recruit, train, coach and mentor staff to achieve company goals while facilitating their professional and personal growth.
• Develop a high performing team by encouraging and motivating and ensuring open and honest communications.
• Provide leadership to the Middle East service organization.
• Identify and provide feedback through 1:1s, effective use of personal development plans and provision of coaching and development opportunities.
• Demonstrate ability to motivate and communicate with others at all levels.

Operations & Governance

• Understand the Middle East market country specific legal requirements of working in the Middle East Region.
• Create processes which achieve the business goals and objectives with regards to customer service.
• Provide leadership on complex projects, bids and tenders, involving multiple technical and administrative disciplines.
• Work effectively with all peers and stakeholders from Sales and Finance, Marketing, Programs, Operations, Technology, HR, to negotiate and influence customer improvements and engagement opportunities.
• Be an active member of the Middle East management team.

Qualifications & Experience

• Proven management and relationship management experience at a senior, strategic level.
• Established track record of exceeding targets, KPIs, and SLAs in a quality-led, legislative compliant environment.
• Deep practical engineering knowledge.
• Proven track record for timely delivery, management, cost control and customer satisfaction.
• History of strong leadership.

Skills & Competencies

• Ability to interpret and develop service strategy and make commercial recommendations.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Able to influence key stakeholders and decision makers and use these relationships to deliver service improvements.
• Able to adapt and succeed in a changing environment.
• Evidence of well-developed leadership skills.
• Ability and motivation to persistently pursue and achieve effective results which drive the business forward.
• Understanding and recognition of the organization's commercial environment and positioning themselves, their role and their actions in order to support the organization's commercial success.
• Ability to build an effective network of relationships both internally and externally, understanding customers' needs.
• Willing and able to identify and support change and continuous improvement in own and wider business environment.
• Excellent organisational, administrative and interpersonal skills.
• Able to work across functions and within a customer facing environment.
• Able to work with minimal supervision to agreed timescales and prioritise own workload as well as other team members.
• Arabic speaking is preferred.
• English and Arabic (preferred).

Additional Information

Work Pattern & Travel

• Leadership and management activities: 60% of time.
• Commercial and customer activities: 30% of time.
• Middle East Leadership Team activities: 10% of time.
• Travel: Up to 40%.

Reporting & Relationships

• Reports to the Global Service Delivery Director.
• Daily contact with Middle East Service Management team.
• Regular contact with Middle East Market Head and cross-functional management team.
• Liaise with customers, suppliers and contractors.

Benefits

• Excellent training and opportunities for career growth across the business, both locally and globally.
• Inclusive environment with strong leadership and focus on safety and wellbeing.
• Flexible range of benefits to suit individual lifestyle, offering health and wellbeing, financial and lifestyle support for employees and their families.