What's your job about?

Orica is the global leader in commercial explosives and blasting services to Open Cut and Underground Mining as well as the Quarrying Industry.

As a Territory Manager at Orica, I am responsible for ensuring the safe and efficient delivery of bulk explosives to our customers in the West Metals Region.

Key duties include:

• Contract Execution and Management (including Bid Tender Proposals)
• Site Personnel / Asset Management
• Conducting safety and operational reviews
• Managing the customer interface and relationships
• Profit and Loss accountability

What's your background?

I grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and attended the University of Adelaide where I studied a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (Honours).

I began my employment with Orica 3.5 years ago in Mackay, Queensland as an Operations Graduate.

In my first-year rotation, I was based on-site, where I learnt to drive an MMU (Mobile Manufacturing Unit) and learnt the challenges of our on-site operations firsthand. Eager to gain some engineering experience, for my second rotation I moved to Newcastle, NSW where I was based in the ANE (Ammonium Nitrate Emulsion) Manufacturing plant for the first 6 months followed by a rotation in the Projects and Engineering (P&E) Team, as a project manager, for the following 6 months.

Through my time in the P&E team, I was able to expand my internal network and subsequently was offered a role as an Account Coordinator, leaving the Graduate Program 1 year early*, based in Kalgoorlie, WA. For 8 months I provided commercial and operational support for the Territory Managers and ABM (Area Business Manager) to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of our products and services to the customers in the Goldfield Region. An opportunity arose in which the Goldfields Region was to be merged with another (West, SA, NT) Region. I took over the Account Coordinator Role for Goldfields, West, SA, NT, region in late 2018 where I could again expand my learning.

As an Account Coordinator for this region, I was able to gain exposure to the Territory Manager Role and in July 2019 I was promoted to a Territory Manager in the West Metals Team.

*The graduate program was 3 years in duration when I began

Could someone with a different background do your job?

To become a Territory Manager at Orica it does not matter what background you have. The Orica West Metals Team is a highly diverse team with individuals with backgrounds in business, engineering (various disciplines), operations and individuals who have worked up from operating a truck.

Key sought after characteristics of a Territory Manager include (but not limited to)

• Customer Focus / Strong Relationship Management
• Safety Leadership
• Decision Making (in the absence of complete information)
• Strategic Mindset
• Drives Vision and Purpose

What's the coolest thing about your job?

Recently I had the opportunity to run a bid/tender proposal. Through this process, I was required to understand the customer needs, then engage internal experts, conduct financial and resource modelling to formulate an offer which meets those needs.

Owning this process was highly rewarding because I was required to understand all the technical, operational and commercial aspects. (Plus, there is something exciting about submitting a 200 + page document to a customer)

The most rewarding part of my role would be finding operational improvements on-site / assisting the Team Leaders and Operators in my team to get to their full potential.

I think its important that all our operators have the right tools and knowledge to be set up for success and being an enabler for this is a key part of my role.

What are the limitations of your job?

The Reactive Nature and having difficult conversations. Things just sometimes go wrong. This may not necessarily be my fault or within my circle of control but as the key point of contact for the customer, I must have those difficult conversations and fix the issue. This can be rewarding if you can fix the issue immediately but there are often complex problems which you need to unpack, and a solution can take time.

Pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

• Networking – The opportunities which I had at Orica were all because of Networking. Building strong relationships with co-workers (classmates) at University is key.
• Work Experience – As a Chemical Engineering Student I partook in work experience at Oz Minerals as a Metallurgist as well as this I worked part-time as a Shift Manager at Hungry Jacks and as a barista at Donut King. During graduate job interviews this experience was advantageous over other applicants as I had fantastic examples of ‘dealing with someone difficult’ and ‘challenges’ outside of University.
• Put yourself out there - I applied to over 80 companies for Graduate jobs, 20 of which responded, 4 of which I interviewed for and 3 of which I was offered. Having multiple offers helped me make the right decision and from this, I knew Orica was the right company to work at.
• Be flexible – Moving to all corners of Australia through the graduate program (although was stressful at times) allowed me to gain experiences which I couldn’t gain in a single location and has ensured that I have a large Orica Internal Network.