Sailor Support Specialist

Hydrovane International Marine; West Vancouver; On-site; CAD 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Sailor Support Specialist who is passionate about sailing and has a mechanical mindset. This exciting role involves providing exceptional support to sailors worldwide, assisting with technical inquiries, and helping customers with the installation and operation of Hydrovane self-steering systems. You will leverage your sailing experience and technical skills to ensure customer satisfaction while engaging with a loyal community of sailing enthusiasts. Join a family business with over 50 years of expertise in crafting robust marine products and enjoy a dynamic work environment that values your contributions.

Qualifications

• Must be a sailor with offshore experience, ideally familiar with Hydrovane systems.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to read technical drawings required.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support to customers regarding Hydrovane systems.
• Assist with parts orders, troubleshooting, and customer inquiries.

Skills

Sailing experience

Mechanical understanding

Technical writing

Problem-solving

Customer service

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Outlook

Excel

UPS and FedEx online tools

Job description

Calling local sailors who love talking about boat projects and gear! We are looking for a friendly and mechanically minded person who shares our passion for sailing and has put a few miles under the keel.

HYDROVANE International Marine is a family business with an office in Dundarave village in West Vancouver. We manufacture the Hydrovane self steering windvane in England, and market and sell worldwide to sailors who are embarking on grand adventures. Hydrovane has been in business for over 50 years, and has developed a loyal customer base and reputation for a robust product and excellent service.

As the Sailor Support Specialist, you will provide this high level of service to our intrepid customers, sailors from all over the world. You will understand our mechanical system intimately and become the go-to person in the office for technical enquiries from existing customers. You will be primarily involved in after sale Hydrovane support: answering questions as our customers tackle the installation, providing feedback and troubleshooting for the operation of the system, processing parts orders, and problem solving any issues that arise.

Responsibilities

• Corresponds with Hydrovane customers to answer technical questions including those related to the installation, operation, troubleshooting, and refurbishment of Hydrovane self steering windvanes.
• Determines parts requirements based on a Hydrovane’s vintage and wear. Prepares quotes.
• Works closely with the Director of Sales to best advise customers on installation options.
• Provides guidance on sailing practices for optimal performance.
• Identifies and packages parts for shipping from our office (although most orders ship from our manufacturing facility in England). Maintains a small parts inventory in our office.
• Assists with sales and customer service for our other cruising products: Echo Tec watermaker, Watt&Sea hydrogenator, and the Parasailor.
• Assists with order fulfillment as needed, including administrative tasks such as managing and updating invoices, processing new orders, and generating shipping labels.
• Assists with other tasks as needed in a variety of areas: organization, marketing, production, packaging, etc.
• Takes on projects, with involvement in design, sourcing, and production.
• Joins the team at boat shows to assist with sales and customer service. Enjoys speaking with other sailors and making connections. We exhibit at three boat shows per year: Seattle (USA), Southampton (UK), and Annapolis (USA).

Requirements

• Must be a sailor, ideally with offshore sailing experience. Even better if you have used a Hydrovane (or other self steering system) on a long passage.
• Mechanically minded with a technical understanding of sailboat projects. Hydrovane training will be provided, but you should have hands on experience with boat projects and be able to talk the talk i.e., you know your way around a toolkit and have crawled into tight spaces on boats.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Ability to read and understand technical drawings.
• Can easily work with Outlook, Excel, PDFs, and other online tools including UPS and FedEx.
• Can-do attitude, easy-going personality, with friendly communication style.

Please review our website - www.hydrovane.com - and express your interest by email to: [e-mail]

Seniority level

• Entry level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Management and Manufacturing

Industries

• Manufacturing