Field Service Manager

PRAB•Kalamazoo, MI

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Field Service Manager leads all aspects of after-shipment field service and technical support. This position manages field service personnel, service operations, customer issue resolution, warranty administration, and continuous improvement to ensure safe, timely, high-quality, and profitable service delivery. The manager builds strong customer relationships and collaborates across Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, Parts, and other support functions to improve customer satisfaction and product performance.

Requirements

Dedication to excellent customer care, employee safety, and quality results.
Bachelor's degree in business administration, engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
Proven leadership experience in field service, technical service, industrial equipment, or a related environment.
Strong mechanical, electrical, and controls troubleshooting knowledge, with the ability to guide complex problem resolution.
Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, develop, and hold team members accountable.
Ability to remain calm, organized, and decisive during urgent or high-pressure customer situations.
Skilled in negotiation, conflict resolution, and professional customer communication.
Working knowledge of service management systems, CRM tools, reporting, and data analysis.
Ability to manage priorities, schedules, budgets, and resources across multiple service activities.
Ability and willingness to travel as needed to support customers and field personnel.

Responsibilities

Recruit, hire, onboard, and retain qualified field service technicians.
Develop, coach, and mentor technicians through training plans, field support, skills development, and regular feedback.
Foster a positive, safe, accountable, and productive work environment for the field service team.
Conduct regular performance reviews, establish clear expectations, and provide constructive feedback.
Address personnel issues promptly and consistently in partnership with Human Resources.
Review and approve timecards, expense reports, travel, and other required employee documentation.
Develop and maintain efficient scheduling, dispatching, escalation, and after-hours support processes.
Prioritize and allocate service resources to support customer urgency, travel efficiency, technician capability, and business needs.
Ensure service calls, service reports, customer communications, and follow-up actions are completed accurately and on time.
Manage the Service Desk to ensure timely response, assignment, escalation, and closure of service tickets.
Lead the weekly review of open and aging service cases, with documented owners and action plans for resolution.
Manage the creation and maintenance of Zoho knowledge articles, troubleshooting guides, service procedures, and lessons learned.
Establish, monitor, and report key performance indicators (KPIs), including response time, resolution time, backlog, first-time fix performance, utilization, customer satisfaction, warranty cost, and service profitability.
Implement improvements that increase safety, responsiveness, productivity, quality, and profitability.
Oversee the maintenance, calibration, availability, and inventory control of service tools, test equipment, vehicles, and other assigned assets.
Ensure timely, professional, and high-quality service delivery that meets customer expectations and company commitments.
Maintain proactive communication with customers regarding service status, risks, schedules, and next steps.
Investigate, document, and resolve customer complaints and recurring service issues efficiently and effectively.
Provide management-level support for critical customer issues and coordinate cross-functional response plans.
Collaborate with Sales and Marketing to identify service agreements, training, parts, upgrades, and other customer support opportunities.
Promote and enforce company safety policies, customer-site requirements, and applicable work practices.
Ensure technicians are properly trained, qualified, and equipped for assigned work.
Review field incidents, near misses, quality issues, and repeat failures; implement corrective actions and communicate lessons learned.
Ensure service documentation is complete, accurate, and maintained in accordance with company requirements.
Manage departmental labor, travel, tools, and other service expenses in alignment with budgets and business objectives.
Review service estimates, quotations, invoicing support, and job costs to improve accuracy and profitability.
Determine warranty coverage in accordance with company policy and maintain effective warranty cost control.
Identify trends in warranty claims and field failures, and coordinate corrective actions with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and suppliers.
Leverage field service management, CRM, ERP, and reporting tools to manage workflow, maintain visibility, and track performance.
Analyze service data to identify trends, recurring failures, training needs, capacity constraints, and improvement opportunities.
Evaluate and recommend technologies that improve remote support, technician effectiveness, customer communication, and service documentation.
Work with Engineering to communicate field findings and implement product, documentation, and serviceability improvements.
Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Parts, Purchasing, and Sales to resolve service issues and prevent recurrence.
Develop, maintain, and enforce service procedures, policies, standards, and escalation paths.
Lead departmental meetings and participate in interdepartmental meetings as required.
Promote operational excellence, continuous improvement, and consistent execution throughout the department.
Perform other duties as assigned to support customers and business objectives