Senior Manager, Marketing Business Partner, Modernization

KONE is a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry: our job is to make the world’s cities better places to live. At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides elevators, escalators, and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization, which add value to the life cycle of any building.

Commercial & Operations ensures we are the most competitive in each of our businesses, throughout the lifecycle. Commercial and Operations has a crucial role in helping KONE to be faster, nimbler, helping our frontlines to serve our customers better than any other company in the industry.

We are now looking for a

Senior Manager, Marketing Business Partner

focusing on Modernization in Commercial and Operations unit.

The purpose of this role is to drive the achievement of KONE’s strategy and business objectives by acting as a senior strategic partner to the business line. The role translates business strategy into clear marketing direction – shaping priorities, positioning, and go-to-market approaches to accelerate growth. This role is not an operational marketing execution role but a strategic partnership role requiring strong business acumen, customer perspective, and the ability to challenge constructively.

This is a senior-level position reporting to Senior Vice President, Marketing and working closely with and contributing to the business line leadership team as a strategic marketing partner.  The position requires an individual who can drive strategy, manage cross-functional project teams, and deliver results. The ideal candidate will be passionate about the elevator and escalator industry, have a strong customer-centric mindset, and the ability to lead and inspire others while testing and trying new things. Success in this role requires modern, forward-looking thinking, innovation, and the ability to listen deeply to business needs.

The preferred location of the position is main KONE locations in Europe, India or Middle East.

Key responsibilities:

• Contribute to the overall culture and strategy for the marketing function.

• Act as a strategic partner to the business line to develop and implement a marketing strategy that is differentiated and customer-centric, positioning KONE as the industry leader and aligning to the relevant strategic shifts. This includes acting as a true strategic advisor to leadership, not focusing on marketing campaign execution.

• Act as the primary interface between the business line and global marketing, ensuring strong alignment between all marketing activity and the business line strategy.

• Work with area marketing leads to ensure the holistic marketing needs for the business lines are represented.

• Work closely with cross-functional teams to understand market trends, customer needs, and competitive landscape to inform and develop the approach. Leverage market, customer, and performance insights to inform strategic choices and identify growth opportunities. This includes identifying new ways of working and challenging existing thinking constructively.

• Steer and align complex, cross-functional initiatives, ensuring strong linkage to business priorities, including the development and deployment of commercial content and offering-related initiatives, with consistent direction across markets, functions, and channels.

• Shape and guide the overall strategic narrative, positioning, and value proposition for the business line, ensuring differentiation, customer relevance, and alignment with KONE’s strategic priorities

• Take a pragmatic, hands-on approach when needed to unblock progress and ensure delivery of high-impact outcomes.

• Continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives through customer feedback, analytics, and market research, and adjust as necessary.

To succeed in this role, you should have:

• Master’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or related field.

• 10+ years of relevant experience. Proven track record in strategic roles with business-facing responsibilities.

• Strategic thinking with ability to develop and implement innovative marketing strategies that align with business objectives and market trends.

• Strong experience in influencing senior stakeholders and operating in a global matrix organization.

• Strong leadership with the ability to convey complex ideas and strategies clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences. 

• Exceptional collaboration and communication skills with experience working across functions to achieve shared objectives.

• Proven ability to manage relationships with key stakeholders, including but not limited to senior leaders, external partners, and agencies, to achieve strategic alignment and support.

• Strong capabilities in strategic content, messaging, and storytelling, with proven experience shaping positioning, thought leadership, and compelling narratives for diverse stakeholders and channels.

• Experience in project management with strong organizational and influencing skills to coordinate multiple initiatives and manage resources effectively.

• Customer-focused and data-driven, with a strong ability to analyze market trends and customer insights to inform decisions.

• Skilled in content development and thought leadership, creating customer-centric messaging to elevate brand positioning.

• Results-oriented, with a track record of delivering measurable outcomes and continuously refining initiatives based on feedback and data.

• Knowledge of the elevator and escalator or other relevant industry. Experience in service business, aftermarket, or service-centric commercial models is a strong plus.

• Full English professional proficiency.

Want to #joinourflow?

KONE is building up a unique community, aiming to provide the most advanced People Flow® solutions for its customers and lifting the customer experience to the top. At KONE, we are focused on creating an innovative and collaborative working culture where we value the contribution of each individual and where we share actively ideas. Sustainability is an integral part of our culture and a daily practice. KONE is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are proud to offer a range of opportunities that will support you in achieving your career and personal goals. We believe in improving performance through inspiring, engaging and developing our people.

You now have an excellent opportunity to join a group of competent colleagues, work in a truly global environment and be part of the journey in building the leading brand in people flow. At KONE you will be working in a supportive and friendly atmosphere and have flexible working hours to support your work & life balance. We offer comprehensive KONE benefits to our employees.

Do you want to work in an international environment for a major global organization, one of the market leaders in its industry? Are you ready to take the next step in your career?

We´d love to hear from you!

For more information on the position, please contact the Hiring Manager, Senior Vice President, Marketing Petra Hofmann via email: [email protected].

Please submit your application via Careers site including a cover letter already today but no later than June 14th 2026.

#LI-GO

At KONE, we are focused on creating an innovative and collaborative working culture where we value the contribution of each individual. Employee engagement is a key focus area for us and we encourage participation and the sharing of information and ideas. Sustainability is an integral part of our culture and the daily practice. We follow ethical business practices and we seek to develop a culture of working together where co-workers trust and respect each other and good performance is recognized. In being a great place to work, we are proud to offer a range of experiences and opportunities that will help you to achieve your career and personal goals and enable you to live a healthy and balanced life.

Read more on https://careers.kone.com/en/