Job Reference: PH/TSM/DEC22
Salary: £45-50k
Working hours: Full-time (37.5 hours per week)
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: Pharos Architectural Controls offices, Chiswick, London W4. (The post holder may be required to work at other locations, at the discretion of their line manager). This role includes the expectation of occasional international travel.
Pharos is seeking a Technical Support Manager with experience of architectural or entertainment lighting control systems to be based in London. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK — Pharos is not able to provide sponsorship.
About Us
Pharos Architectural Controls is an award-winning British manufacturer of dynamic lighting control solutions for the architectural and themed entertainment industries. Our products are highly flexible, versatile and powerful, and trusted to run day and night illuminating iconic installations around the world — from international landmarks and historic architecture to theme parks, airports, stadiums, bridges, shopping malls, art installations, and more.
Pharos strives to keep in step with the ever-changing lighting industry and adapt to the needs of our customers and their projects; our business is expanding and evolving with opportunities in new markets and new technologies in lighting. The Pharos brand is known for its high-quality lighting control, flexible integration and responsive technical support. The Pharos team are passionate about providing customers and projects with just the right control system to meet (and often exceed) their needs.
Job Summary
The Technical Support Manager will lead our global technical support team, overseeing its development and expansion as new Pharos products are rolled out to customers. The majority of the team are based in our offices in Chiswick, West London, with some personnel working remotely in other parts of the world to cover all time zones.
The team work to respond quickly and effectively to support requests from our customers worldwide, including manufacturer partners, dealers and end-users. We use Zendesk to track every support request and YouTrack to track features in development — the Technical Support Manager will be expected to manage our use of both, recommending improvements to processes and workflows and being alert to opportunities to adopt new technologies.
The successful candidate will collaborate closely with the Pharos sales team and will be expected to gain an awareness of the paths to market for Pharos products to help ensure Pharos provides the best possible support.
The Technical Support Manager will have input into the development of our customer training programme and will be comfortable presenting Pharos products at customer events and tradeshows. The successful candidate will often be required to assist with complex system designs and to advise on the programming of projects. The support team contribute to online support resources, such as FAQs and user tips, and the Technical Support Manager will manage these activities.
Key Responsibilities
Lead the Pharos technical support team, managing team members wherever they are based.
Oversee product returns and repairs.
Manage the use of software and processes within Pharos to deliver effective technical support.
Be proactive in recommending improvements to processes and adopting new technologies to improve the quality of our support.
Ensure the support team can deliver continuity of support out of hours, participating in the on call rota along with the rest of the team.
Assist customers with complex system designs, configuration, and programming for specific projects.
Manage the contributions of the support team to online support resources and strive to continuously improve the breadth & relevance of information available.
Assist with in-house training for clients and end-users.
Demonstrate Pharos products to potential customers, and occasionally act in a technical sales capacity to support our sales team as required.
Trial & evaluate new products & features prior to release, providing feedback to the development team.
Essential Skills and Qualifications
At least 5 years' experience in a customer-facing sales or support role.
Experience managing technical teams.
Lighting programming experience on architectural or entertainment lighting projects.
Experience with programming or scripting languages, e.g. C, JavaScript or Lua.
Practical experience or understanding of integrating systems over Ethernet.
Experience drawing technical one-line riser diagrams for illustrating system architecture.
An ability to apply existing knowledge to unfamiliar problems, suggest possible solutions, and comment on the relative merits of different solutions.
An ability to work independently, sometimes in remote locations.
Proficiency with IT (Windows, macOS, Office) and in configuring collaboration software tools.
Good knowledge of electrical safety.
Excellent communication skills in both written and verbal English.
Excellent time management, including the ability to prioritise conflicting tasks appropriately.
Desirable Extras
Experience writing project specifications for inclusion into bid packages.
A working knowledge of CAD or other drawing applications.
Apply here
