Technical Service Director

Sherwin-Williams•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Technical Services Director is a strategic leadership role responsible for leading, developing, and advancing the Technical Service organization across the United States and Canada within the General Industrial (GI) Division. As a member of the USCA GI Leadership Team, the Director partners with customers and cross-functional stakeholders to provide technical expertise, drive innovation, strengthen customer relationships, and support profitable business growth. The Director leads the Technical Service function in alignment with the division’s strategic objectives, financial targets, and customer commitments. The role develops the technical service value proposition, builds organizational capability, optimizes resources, leads training and certification programs, and fosters partnerships with industry organizations and key stakeholders. It also includes talent development, succession planning, organizational effectiveness, departmental budgeting, and resource planning. The Director may collaborate with General Industrial teams and leaders across global regions to share best practices and support enterprise-wide initiatives.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED equivalent.
Five years of technical or commercial manager experience.

Nice To Haves

Associate or trade degree in engineering or field technician areas.
Bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, or metallurgical fields.
Experience in Applications Engineering, metal substrate pretreatment, or coatings application.
Demonstrated success in previous change management efforts.

Responsibilities

Work with Sales to quantify the value customers receive from the technical service organization and develop case studies for potential inclusion in the sales toolkit.
Work with Sales to improve the technical service toolkit, including value surveys, to support better data collection for value proposition development.
Lead continuous improvement and annual cost-saving efforts with Sales, focused on delivering the lowest total applied cost to customers.
Work with HR to create and implement a Technical Service Leadership Development Program.
Work with HR to develop and implement a Technical Service organizational structure that supports career path and specialty development.
Develop and implement key metrics to measure Technical Service success.
Work with regional Sales leadership to recruit, hire, train, and evaluate technical service management performance, and initiate promotions, transfers, and performance management as needed.
Collaborate with the research and development laboratory to ensure product development is effectively translated into customer application success.
Work with IT to develop productivity tools, including AI, that maximize Technical Service Representatives’ time spent on customer-related activities.
Work with Sales Excellence to develop and implement training and certification curricula and processes that support skill and capability growth across experience levels.
Work with PCG to develop and optimize the GI Tech Service Academy in the Learn platform.
Partner with Design Engineering and key equipment, integration, and system-design industry partners to understand the state of the art in application equipment and translate equipment and software products into value-added customer solutions.
Develop commercial relationships with industry partners to share leads and prospects.
Oversee Technical Service departmental budgeting and resource planning.