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Sales Manager Key Accounts

Job Description

Lead Business Development Manager – Key Accounts//Sales Manager

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Location: Akron, OH (Onsite)

Work Schedule: Onsite

Department: Industrial Market Development – Utilities team supporting commercial operations across multiple regions in the U.S. and Canada

This role manages 6 direct reports and oversees billions of dollars in capital annually. The position collaborates with peer managers across North America.

All large natural gas users are assigned a dedicated sales representative. This role will manage those sales representatives and act as the leader of the team.

The position involves both farming and hunting activities — growing existing accounts, acquiring new accounts, managing customer challenges, and understanding the industries served (such as data centers and other large natural gas users). The individual will act as a strategic partner by recommending different energy solutions tailored to customer needs.

Key focus areas include:

  • Attracting new large-scale natural gas users
  • Engaging data centers and other customers with multi-million-dollar utility bills and positioning natural gas as the energy solution
  • Collaborating with agencies to support customer onboarding and project execution
  • Managing the full sales cycle from initial concept through completion
  • Serving as the primary customer contact before transitioning accounts to a sales representative.

Key Responsibilities

  • Provide leadership in market strategy focused on growing Gas Distribution & Storage’s (GDS) Industrial segment in Ohio
  • Collaborate with peer managers across North America
  • Manage 6 direct-report sales representatives assigned to large natural gas customers
  • Drive account growth through farming and hunting strategies
  • Support account management by addressing challenges and identifying growth opportunities
  • Understand customer sectors (data centers, large industrial natural gas users, etc.) and recommend strategic energy solutions
  • Attract new large-scale natural gas users
  • Example: Engage data centers with multi-million-dollar annual utility spend and position natural gas as the optimal solution
  • Work with agencies and stakeholders to support customer projects
  • Oversee the entire sales cycle from idea through execution
  • Serve as the customer’s primary point of contact and transition accounts to the appropriate sales representative

Required Skills & Qualifications

  • Minimum 5 -10+ years of experience in business development, preferably within the utilities or energy industry
  • Bachelor’s degree in Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Engineering, Business, or a related field
  • Knowledge of regulators, intervenors, competitors, and other key stakeholders within the utilities ecosystem
  • Experience selling to steel companies, power companies, or similar industrial customers (candidates without direct energy experience but with strong industrial sales backgrounds may be considered)

Strong presentation skills

  • 5–10 years of leadership/managerial experience (senior-level commercial leadership )
  • Salesforce experience
  • Experience working with pipeline companies (e.g., TransCanada, etc.) is a plus
  • Experience in sales at a large organization

Interview Process

  • May include creating and presenting a strategic proposal outlining how to attract customers to client system and demonstrating the candidate’s value proposition
  • Two rounds of virtual interviews:
  • Round 1: Nicole
  • Round 2: VP