Strategic Accounts Leader, Commercial - Food Service & Retail

The Strategic Account Leader, Commercial serves as the primary field-based account leader responsible for supporting, growing, and executing strategies for assigned Retail and Foodservice National Accounts . This role partners closely with National Account Managers, distributors, service providers, and cross-functional Rheem teams to drive sales growth, execute customer programs, support expansion initiatives, and deliver an exceptional customer experience across assigned accounts.

The Strategic Account Leader is responsible for strengthening customer relationships at the regional and local levels, identifying growth opportunities, supporting new location development, coordinating program execution, and ensuring alignment between customer requirements and Rheem's commercial HVAC and water heating solutions.

This position serves Commercial National Accounts within the Retail and Foodservice verticals and is based in a major U.S. metropolitan area near a major airport.

Responsibilities

• Support and grow assigned Retail and Foodservice National Accounts by serving as the primary field-based customer contact within the assigned territory.
• Build relationships with regional operations leaders, facilities managers, construction teams, franchise operators, service providers, and distributor partners.
• Partner closely with National Account Managers to execute customer-specific growth strategies, pricing agreements, rebate programs, and service initiatives.
• Drive sales growth for Rheem commercial HVAC and water heating solutions through specification development, replacement opportunities, remodel projects, and new location initiatives.
• Support customer expansion efforts, including new store openings, remodels, equipment replacement programs, and capital improvement projects.
• Coordinate with distributors and service networks to ensure consistent execution of national account programs and customer expectations.
• Identify, develop, and close growth opportunities within assigned accounts to increase market share and customer penetration.
• Conduct regular business reviews with customer stakeholders and distributor partners to evaluate performance, uncover opportunities, and resolve operational challenges.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Warranty, Product Management, and Technical Support teams to deliver seamless customer experience.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for customer service, operational, warranty, and program-related issues within assigned accounts.
• Communicate and support company strategies related to pricing, product positioning, distribution, and channel management.
• Develop and maintain strategic account plans that align with Commercial National Account objectives and customer business goals.
• Maintain accurate sales forecasts, pipeline management, customer activity reporting, and opportunity tracking.
• Monitor industry trends, competitive activities, and customer needs within Retail and Foodservice segments and recommend strategies to capitalize on emerging opportunities.
• Establish and maintain consultative relationships with customer decision-makers at multiple organizational levels.
• Collaborate with customers and distributors to improve program performance, drive adoption of Rheem solutions, and deliver measurable business value.
• Develop and manage territory expense budgets to support customer growth objectives and sales initiatives.
• Take proactive ownership of professional development, industry knowledge, and customer expertise.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university.
• 5+ years of experience in sales, account management, business development, national accounts, or customer-facing commercial roles.
• Experience within HVAC, water heating, building products, facilities management, foodservice equipment, retail operations, or related industries preferred.
• Experience managing multi-location customers, franchise organizations, retail chains, restaurant groups, foodservice operators, or national account programs preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to influence customer decisions across operations, facilities, construction, procurement, and executive leadership functions.
• Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret sales data, identify trends, and develop account growth strategies.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, CRM platforms, and sales reporting tools.
• Strong financial acumen, including the ability to analyze pricing programs, discounts, margins, rebates, and business performance metrics.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple customer initiatives simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and collaboratively within a cross-functional team environment.
• Demonstrated ability to create demand for and successfully sell Rheem products while strengthening customer relationships and brand loyalty.
• Ability to travel extensively throughout the assigned account region.
• Must reside within or be willing to relocate to the assigned account region.

As a leader at Rheem, how you achieve results is as important as the results you achieve. While LEADING OTHERS, you will be expected to demonstrate the following competencies and behaviors:

• Aligning Performance for Success
• Applying Business Knowledge
• Building Talent
• Building Trusted Relationships
• Communicating with Impact
• Customer-Orientation
• Delegating Tasks
• Executing/Leading the Team
• Facilitating Change
• Fostering Relationships/ Emotional Intelligence
• Influencing
• Problem Solving & Decision Making
• Supporting Innovation

Equivalent combination of education, experience, and skills may supplement above minimum job requirements.

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At Rheem, we engineer products for life. For home life. For work life. For the life of the planet we all share. Backed by over 100 years of expertise, we’re passionate about product innovation and boldly committed to sustainability. Our full line of global air and water solutions deliver reliable performance, comfort and energy savings for residential and commercial applications worldwide. From engineers to accountants, sales professionals to support experts, Rheem depends on people to power our innovations. Join Rheem and help shape the future of products that impact lives—every day.

Our Behavior Based Values set us apart:

• Listening to Understand – Open mind, learning from others, accepting feedback, embracing the objective
• Contributing Respectfully - Sharing opinions, valuing ideas, sharing opposing perspectives with respect
• Thinking Creatively – Applying creativity, seeking improvements, understanding from the customers’ lens
• Acting with Responsibility – Owning decisions and actions, acting with integrity, embracing accountability

Rheem is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Rheem encourages all qualified candidates to apply, including those of any race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. The job description above has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. Equivalent combination of education, experience, and skills may supplement above minimum job requirements.

For U.S. Based jobs, please note that Rheem is unable to hire candidates to be employed in the following states: Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Vermont.

Rheem and its subsidiaries do not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an executed Recruitment Services Agreement, there will be no obligation to any referral compensation or recruiter fee.