Business Systems Manager

Position Summary

The Business Systems Manager owns practical use, governance, and continuous improvement of Piedmont Service Group's core business systems. This role connects Leadership, Service Operations, Project Operations, Purchasing, Inventory, Accounting, IT, vendors, and branch users to solve business problems through better processes, reporting, training, and system configuration. The right candidate understands the business first, uses technology second, and can translate day-to-day issues into scalable systems and practical process solutions.


Scope and priority clarification: Piedmont Service Group is the primary operating focus and priority for this role. Because certain platforms are shared, the role also supports Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT where needed to maintain system uptime, routine user support, and business continuity. Requests for major enhancements, new workflows, custom reporting, integrations, or other non-routine improvements for those business units must be routed through the Chief Financial Officer for prioritization and approval.


This is not intended to be a pure accounting role; however, the role must have enough accounting and job-costing fluency to support clean handoffs between operations, accounting, and IT. The position should be comfortable with AP/AR impacts, service billing, purchasing, inventory, project accounting flow, data integrity, and reporting needs.


The role requires a hands-on leader who trains and coaches users, solves root causes, and takes ownership of outcomes. This person should be able to teach people how to prevent repeated issues. The role leads the Business Systems function, managing the Business Systems Lead and Business Systems Specialist roles.

Core Responsibilities

• Business Systems Ownership: Manage and improve Piedmont Service Group's ERP, field service, document management, reporting, integration, and mobile systems to support business operations, improve service delivery to our customers, and equip technicians and staff with the tools they need to work efficiently. Ensure systems are reliable, well-governed, and aligned with business needs. Identify, triage, and work toward resolution for system issues with urgency and ownership, including collaboration with in-house IT, MSPs, cloud hosting platforms, and vendors as needed to get systems back online. This is a priority responsibility to minimize business impact regardless of time or day of week. Support for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT is included where those entities rely on shared platforms, but Piedmont Service Group priorities take precedence. Non-routine requests from those entities require CFO prioritization and approval.


• Process Improvement & Root Cause Analysis: Evaluate recurring issues, identify root causes, and redesign workflows before defaulting to one-off fixes. Standardize processes across Piedmont branches and help users understand why the process matters. Shared-platform process support for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT should remain focused on system stability, routine support, and approved priorities.


• Accounting / Operations Bridge: Partner with Accounting, Service, Projects, Purchasing, Inventory, Customer Service, and IT to ensure Piedmont systems support accurate billing, job costing, purchasing, inventory movement, reporting, and month-end processes. Provide shared-platform issue support to Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT as needed to preserve system continuity, with broader process improvement requests escalated for CFO prioritization.


• Reporting, Data & Analytics: Support SQL-based reporting, Power BI dashboards, KPI development, data validation, and troubleshooting. Turn system data into usable business information for Piedmont managers and executives. Reporting or analytics requests for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT should be limited to routine shared-system support unless separately prioritized by the CFO.


• Project & Change Leadership: Lead Piedmont system upgrades, integrations, implementations, workflow changes, testing, training, rollout, and post-implementation follow-up while minimizing negative business impact. Keep projects moving, make practical decisions within the role scope, and escalate risks early when needed. Projects or enhancements for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT outside routine shared-system support must be reviewed and prioritized through the CFO before work begins.


Training, Coaching & Adoption: Create clear documentation using company standards (and/or create a company standard), train end users, and help Piedmont branches use systems consistently. Coach users through the problem and the fix, so the same issue is less likely to be repeated. Support training for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT where needed for shared-system continuity or approved initiatives. Communicate technical topics in plain language and build trust with users and supervisors. Lead with positivity.


• Vendor / Consultant Management: Serve as a practical liaison with software vendors and consultants supporting Piedmont and shared core systems. Define requirements, manage follow-up items, challenge vague answers, and hold vendors accountable for results. Vendor work tied primarily to Carolina Chillers, Gentry, or ATFT must be aligned with CFO-approved priorities unless it is required to maintain system uptime or routine operations.
• Team Leadership: Lead, coach, and prioritize the work of Business Systems staff, including daily support and longer-term initiatives.

Systems / Platforms

Current or expected systems exposure includes: WennSoft, Great Plains, Mobile Tech, Liaison, Enavate, Quadra, Avid, SmartConnect, Microsoft Teams, Copilot or other AI tools, Power BI, SQL/reporting tools, and future platforms such as XOI, Doclinks and MURA. Direct experience with every system is not required, but the candidate must learn business software quickly and understand integration concepts. Several current systems are shared across multiple business units; however, Piedmont Service Group remains the primary operating focus for this role.

Requirements

Required Capabilities
• Business acumen: Understands service operations, construction/project workflows, purchasing, inventory, customer service, accounting handoffs, and branch operations.
• Technical aptitude: Comfortable with SQL concepts, reporting, integrations, ERP configuration, data quality, and troubleshooting.
• Communication and coaching: Clear, patient, and diplomatic. Can explain system issues to non-technical users, coach people through better use of the system, and influence people without direct authority. Lead with positivity.


• Ownership and decision-making: Uses judgment, takes ownership, follows through, and does not default to the next level of management to make decisions. Understand when to escalate non-routine business unit requests for CFO prioritization.
• Project management: Can scope work, organize tasks, keep stakeholders aligned, and drive projects to completion.
• Change leadership: Understands that adoption matters. Can train users effectively, manage resistance, and help teams move from old processes to better ones.

Education and Experience
• Bachelor's degree in information systems, Business Administration, Accounting, Operations, or related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.
• 7+ years of business systems, ERP, operations support, reporting, accounting systems, or related experience preferred.
• Prior leadership, supervisory, coaching, or project ownership experience preferred.
• Experience with WennSoft/Great Plains, SmartConnect, Power BI, SQL reporting, field service software, document management, or ERP implementations strongly preferred.

Key Success Factors

• Keeps systems reliable: Keeps Piedmont Service Group's core business systems running reliably and effectively while supporting shared platforms for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT as needed for uptime, routine operations, and approved priorities.
• Finds root causes instead of only patching symptoms.
• Improves processes before adding unnecessary technology.
• Teaches users how to solve and prevent issues instead of only correcting them.
• Makes practical decisions, takes ownership, and escalates appropriately when needed.
• Balances urgent user support with long-term health systems.
• Builds credibility with Accounting, Operations, IT, vendors, and branch leadership.
• Communicates clearly with executives and front-line users.

Travel / Physical Requirements


Periodic Piedmont branch travel will be required for training, implementation, process review, and operational support. Occasional travel or remote support for Carolina Chillers, Gentry, and ATFT may be required when tied to shared-system continuity or CFO-approved priorities. This is primarily an office/business systems role; occasional light lifting or movement of equipment may be required as part of normal business support activities.

**Piedmont Service Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.