Head Customer Excellence

Alfa Laval Middle East and Africa is looking for a Head Customer Excellence – Middle East and Africa 
 

At Alfa Laval, we always go that extra mile to overcome the toughest challenges. Our driving force is to pioneer positive impact. You can only achieve that by having dedicated people with a curious mind. Curiosity is the spark behind great ideas. And great ideas drive progress.

As a member of our team, you thrive in a truly diverse and inclusive workplace based on care and empowerment. You are here to make a difference. Constantly building bridges to the future with sustainable solutions that have an impact on our planet's most urgent problems. Making the world a better place. Every day.

Alfa Laval is a leading global provider of first-rate products in the areas of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling. we have been present in the Middle East and Africa for over 50 years. The Cluster is being formed by 43 countries, where off, Alfa Laval has presence in UAE, KSA, Qatar, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa.

We are now looking for an Inspirational leader to spearheading Customer Excellence Function for Middle East and Africa Region based at Pune, partnering closely with the business divisions and general managers.

Role Description

You will be a member of AL MEA Management team, directly reporting to Cluster President, as well as the key representative for MEA region. Moreover, you will be responsible for leading, developing and securing a high performing team in line with the Alfa Laval culture.

At Alfa Laval, our mission is to accelerate success for our customers, people, and the planet. To achieve this, it is essential that both Alfa Laval and our customers minimize unplanned downtime and continuously improve their operations.

To help Alfa Laval uphold its promises and foster a thriving service culture, we are seeking a dynamic leader for the role of Head Customer Excellence to join our skilled, dedicated, and passionate team.

The ideal candidate will have proven experience in driving Customer Excellence and lead teams within a fast-paced environment. Success in this role hinges on delivering profitable growth and developing a high-performing team.

We offer a unique opportunity for you to play a crucial role in transforming our team, preparing us for a digital future, and positioning service as a key differentiator for Alfa Laval.

Key Responsibilities:

• Direct the Customer Support team across standard, complex, and project order streams, architecting specialized roles and streamlined processes to build scalable excellence.

• Spearhead process standardization and optimization to deliver fast, accurate order fulfillment, while elevating customer experience to Alfalaval's strategic benchmark.

• Spearheading a team of professionals across Order Handling and Claims Management, driving operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and seamless end-to-end process execution.

• Establish escalation frameworks and govern resolution strategies to protect customer trust and ensure consistent delivery under pressure.

• Define and embed key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure order handling, delivery accuracy, turnaround times, and customer satisfaction; track trends and adjust strategies proactively.

• Lead transformation initiatives identifying systemic inefficiencies, redesigning processes, and implementing technology or system interventions to enhance speed, quality, and capacity.

• Forge strong alliances across Sales, Operations, Project Management, and other functions to align order complexity, demand, and expectations, ensuring frictionless handovers and unified planning.

• Champion change management by driving role specialization, new operating models, and ways of working; ensuring people adapt with clarity and ownership.

• Architect and deploy appropriate technologies and digital workflows (order management systems, automation, analytics) to future-proof order handling.

• Develop and nurture high‑performance teams: coaching, mentoring, performance feedback, skill‑building, especially across virtual or distributed settings.

• Act as the voice of the customer with all stakeholders: proactively communicate performance, challenges, improvements; manage expectations; embed a customer-centric culture across all touchpoints.

Key Skills required

• Leadership & Track Record — Demonstrated success in leading customer service or support operations, driving results and operational excellence.

• Experience & Educational Foundation — 12‑15 years in relevant role with education background in engineering

• Cross‑Functional Collaboration — Ability to partner with sales and other teams to deliver business outcomes and transformation.

• Commercial & Results Mindset — Focused on continuous improvement and achieving business‑imperative goals.

• Process Optimization / Change Management — Experience in standardizing processes in matrix environments and driving change.

• Digital / Data Proficiency — Comfortable using digital tools, analyzing data, setting KPIs, and converting insight into action.

• People Management & Team Building — Strong at leading, coaching and motivating remote or distributed teams.

• Communication Skills & Stakeholder Engagement — Excellent interpersonal skills, able to communicate clearly with different stakeholders.

• Safety & Customer Centricity — Deep commitment to safety standards and always keeping the customer's perspective central.

Reporting Relationship:

This role reports to Cluster president Alfa Laval MEA

Location: Pune

"We care about diversity, inclusion and equity in our recruitment processes. We also believe behavioral traits can provide important insights into a candidate's fit to a role. To help us achieve this we apply Pymetrics assessments, and upon application you will be invited to play the assessment games."