Applied Control is seeking an experienced Key Industry Manager (KIM) to own and accelerate profitable growth across a focused portfolio of approximately 10 strategic refining accounts within a defined geographic region. This senior commercial role combines industry strategy, direct account ownership, executive relationship development, major project capture, and cross-functional leadership, with explicit accountability for increasing Applied's share of wallet, expanding market share, and converting whitespace into measurable revenue and gross profit growth.
The KIM is the single point of commercial accountability and quarterback for assigned accounts. The role develops and executes customer and industry growth plans, builds early visibility to maintenance and capital investment, and brings the full Applied team, supplier network, and portfolio together to deepen customer relationships, land major projects, displace competitors, and expand adoption across Applied's solutions and services. Assigned KIM accounts are managed as a dedicated industry portfolio rather than through traditional geographic account ownership.
Key Responsibilities
Industry Strategy and Market Development
• Develop, own, and regularly update Applied's refining growth strategy for the assigned market, including account priorities, market segmentation, competitive positioning, supplier alignment, and growth initiatives.
• Maintain current knowledge of refinery operations, capital investment, turnaround activity, reliability priorities, regulatory developments, market trends, and competitive dynamics.
• Translate industry intelligence into actionable account priorities, campaigns, supplier strategies, and investment recommendations.
• Establish Applied as a preferred solutions and lifecycle partner within the refining community.
Strategic Account Ownership
• Serve as the sole commercial owner and single point of accountability for assigned refining accounts.
• Develop and maintain annual strategic account growth plans that quantify current share of wallet, market position, competitive threats, customer priorities, key stakeholders, executive sponsors, whitespace by product and service line, and measurable actions required to expand revenue and gross profit.
• Build trusted relationships with refinery and corporate leadership, operations, maintenance, reliability, project engineering, procurement, and other key decision makers.
• Quarterback quarterly account growth reviews and coordinate the full Applied team and portfolio around clear priorities, pursuit strategies, customer commitments, whitespace conversion, and measurable growth actions.
Project Pursuit and Profitable Growth
• Build early visibility to maintenance, turnaround, reliability improvement, modernization, and capital project opportunities.
• Lead strategic opportunity planning, pursuit strategy, value positioning, specification influence, and capture execution for major opportunities.
• Drive measurable, above-market growth across Applied's full portfolio, including automation, control valves, isolation valves, instrumentation, reliability, asset performance, service, and lifecycle solutions. Increase share of wallet by connecting customer needs to underrepresented Applied capabilities at each assigned account.
• Systematically identify, prioritize, and convert whitespace, competitive displacement, new solution adoption, and share-of-wallet expansion opportunities, with named owners, milestones, revenue potential, and next actions documented in Salesforce.
• Balance revenue growth with gross profit, commercial discipline, customer value, and long-term account health.
Commercial Planning, Pipeline, and Forecasting
• Maintain accurate account, contact, activity, opportunity, and project information in Salesforce.
• Develop and manage a rolling 12- to 36-month pipeline of major maintenance, turnaround, modernization, and capital opportunities.
• Provide timely and credible forecasts, opportunity updates, growth projections, and risk assessments.
• Use data to evaluate revenue and gross profit growth, market-share progress, share-of-wallet expansion, whitespace conversion, solution penetration, opportunity conversion, and execution against account growth plans.
Industry Ecosystem and Supplier Development
• Build strategic relationships with EPC firms, engineering companies, contractors, licensors, corporate engineering groups, and industry influencers.
• Engage Applied's strategic suppliers early to strengthen technical positioning, project access, and win probability.
• Represent Applied at relevant customer events, industry associations, conferences, and supplier forums.
• Identify partnerships and market channels that improve opportunity visibility and access.
Internal Leadership and Team Orchestration
• Act as the account quarterback and lead the one-customer growth strategy across Applied business units, operations, engineering, service, suppliers, and leadership, ensuring the customer experiences one coordinated Applied team.
• Clarify pursuit roles, customer engagement plans, and follow-through expectations for internal teams supporting assigned accounts.
• Provide refining expertise, opportunity coaching, competitive intelligence, and market insight to the broader commercial organization.
• Share repeatable practices and customer insights that strengthen Applied's overall refining position.
Qualifications
Required Experience and Capabilities
• 7+ years of relevant experience in refining through operations, engineering, maintenance, reliability, turnaround or project execution, technical service, industrial sales, business development, or commercial leadership. Equivalent combinations of deep industry experience and transferable commercial leadership experience will be considered.
• Deep knowledge of the refining industry and demonstrated ability to build trusted customer relationships, influence cross-functional stakeholders, and translate customer needs into growth opportunities. Direct experience owning strategic accounts or leading complex commercial pursuits is preferred but not required.
• Strong working knowledge of refinery operations, maintenance and reliability programs, turnaround planning, capital projects, and customer decision-making processes. Candidates may bring this knowledge from commercial, operational, engineering, maintenance, reliability, project, or service roles.
• Ability to learn and apply strategic account planning, pipeline management, forecasting, and disciplined opportunity-pursuit practices. Prior direct ownership of all activities is preferred but not required.
• Credibility and relationship-building capability within refining organizations and the broader industry ecosystem, with the ability to grow into executive-level commercial leadership.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, negotiation, and executive communication skills.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, or a related field, or equivalent relevant industry experience.
Preferred Experience
• Experience with control valves, isolation valves, automation, instrumentation, process control, reliability solutions, rotating equipment, asset performance, or plant services.
• Experience working with major refiners, EPC organizations, licensors, engineering firms, or industrial service providers.
• Knowledge of refining process units and technology, including crude and vacuum distillation, FCC, hydroprocessing, delayed coking, alkylation, hydrogen, renewable fuels, or emissions-related projects.
• Experience contributing to major projects, complex pursuits, specification influence, or coordination of internal and supplier teams. Direct pursuit leadership is preferred but not required.
• Experience using Salesforce or a comparable CRM platform to manage account plans, pipelines, and forecasts.
Leadership Competencies
• Strategic and commercially minded, with the ability to translate industry insight into focused action.
• Executive presence and credibility with customer, supplier, and internal leadership teams.
• Disciplined account planning, opportunity management, and follow-through.
• Collaborative, quarterback-style leadership that aligns cross-functional teams around customer priorities and growth outcomes without relying on direct authority.
• Strong judgment, accountability, curiosity, and a bias for action.
Compensation and Benefits:- We offer a competitive compensation package with the opportunity to earn between $130,000 and $150,000 in cash compensation, with a mix of fixed and variable pay at plan. Prior work or industry experience as well as job-related education and unique skills will be taken into consideration when setting the wage rate.
- Other Variable Compensation: Eligible for additional incentive compensation including a quarterly sales bonus, an annual sales escalation payment, and an annual profit share
- Benefits offered include: Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurances, 401K with an employer match, generous PTO plan starting at 16 days of PTO and increases with service, a 9/80 work schedule that provides for 26 additional weekdays off each year.
