Technical Service Director

The Sherwin-Williams Company; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

The Sherwin-Williams Company is seeking a Technical Services Director to lead the Technical Service organization across the United States and Canada within the General Industrial division. This senior role collaborates with customers, sales, marketing, operations, and R&D to deliver technical expertise and drive profitable growth.

The Director ensures alignment with strategic goals, manages budgeting, and leads talent development and succession planning to build a high-performing technical team

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in technical or commercial management.
• Proven ability to develop and implement technical service strategies.
• Track record of cross-functional collaboration and change management.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of the technical service value proposition.
• Build organizational capability and optimize resource use across the GI division.
• Oversee training, certification programs, and leadership development.
• Partner with customers, sales, R&D, and operations to drive growth.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Technical service leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Talent development

Education

High School diploma or GED

Associate or Trade degree in Engineering or Field Technician areas

Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering or Metallurgical fields

Job description

The Technical Services Directoris 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. This position serves as a key member of the USCA GI Leadership Team and partners closely with customers, sales, marketing, operations, R&D, and other cross-functional stakeholders to deliver technical expertise, drive innovation, strengthen customer relationships, and support profitable business growth.

The Director provides overall leadership for the Technical Service function, ensuring alignment with the division's strategic objectives, financial targets, and customer commitments. Key responsibilities include developing and executing the technical service value proposition, building organizational capability, optimizing resource utilization, leading training and certification programs, and fostering strong partnerships with industry organizations and key stakeholders.

In addition to driving technical excellence and customer-focused solutions, the Director is responsible for talent development, succession planning, organizational effectiveness, and the continued growth of a high-performing technical team. This role also oversees departmental budgeting and resource planning to ensure efficient operations and sustainable growth.

The successful candidate will bring a proven track record of leadership in commercial, technical, or technical management roles, along with the ability to influence across functions, develop strategic initiatives, and lead teams in a dynamic and results-oriented environment. As a senior leader within the organization, this individual may also collaborate with and provide consultation to General Industrial teams and leaders across global regions to share best practices and support enterprise-wide initiatives.

Responsibilities:

Value Proposition Development

• With sales, quantifies why our customers value our technical service organization - to include case studies with an eye toward inclusion in the sales tool kit.
• With sales, enhances the technical service tool kit around value surveys (versus line surveys) to improve the data collection associated with value proposition development by the sales organization.
• With sales, leads Continuous Improvement and annual cost savings efforts with a focus toward delivering the lowest total applied cost to our customers.
• Galvanizes the team on the mantra - "we drive the lowest cost TO paint, not the lowest cost OF paint."

Organizational Development

• With HR, creates and implements a Technical Service Leadership Development Program.
• With HR, develops and implements a Technical Service organizational structure supporting dimensions that include:
• Career path development
• Specialty development (eg. Technology or Application specialties)
• Develops and implements key Technical Service metrics that can be used to measure success (eg. The equivalent of sales and margin in the sales organization).
• Working with regional sales leadership, recruits, hires, trains, and evaluates technical service management performance, and initiates promotions, transfers, and performance management as needed.
• Working with the research and development laboratory, collaborates to ensure effectively translation of product development to customer application success.
• Working with IT, develops productivity tools (eg. AI) allowing Technical Service Representatives to maximize the time they spend on customer related activities.

Training and Certification Process

• With Sales Excellence, develops and implements training / certification curriculum and process that supports key skill and capability growth across the experience levels in the group.
• With PCG, develops and optimizes the GI Tech Service Academy in the Learn platform.

Industry Engagement

• With Design Engineering, partners with key industry partners in the equipment, integration, and system design firms in order to:
• Understand the "state of the art" in application equipment, and how to translate those products along with SW products to value added solutions for our customers.
• Develops commercial relationships as a means to sharing leads and prospects inside the industry.

Minimum Requirements:

• Must have a High School or GED equivalent
• Must have five (5) years of technical or commercial manager experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Have an Associate or Trade degree in Engineering or Field Technician areas
• Have a Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering or Metallurgical fields
• Have experience in one or more of the following areas: Applications Engineering, Metal substrate Pre-Treatment or Coatings Application
• Have demonstrated success in previous "change management" efforts.