Roles and Responsibilities
GENERAL MANAGER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & ESCO
Department: Business Development & ESCO
Position: General Manager Business Development & ESCO
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Experience: 15+ Years
Employment Type: Full-Time
1. Position Summary
The General Manager Business Development & ESCO will be responsible for leading the organization's business development strategy and driving growth across ESCO, energy efficiency, infrastructure, lighting, energy management, and sustainability solutions. The role will have end-to-end responsibility for market development, revenue growth, strategic account management, ESCO opportunity development, large project acquisition, commercial negotiations, strategic partnerships, and team leadership. The incumbent will be expected to build a strong business pipeline, develop long-term customer relationships, identify high-value energy-efficiency opportunities, and convert them into commercially viable projects aligned with the organization's growth and profitability objectives.
2. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Business Development & Growth Strategy
- Develop and execute the Business Development & ESCO strategy in line with the organization's overall business objectives.
- Identify new markets, sectors, customers, and strategic opportunities for business growth.
- Develop annual business plans covering revenue, order booking, pipeline, profitability, and market expansion.
- Build and maintain a robust pipeline of high-value opportunities.
- Lead the complete business development cycle from opportunity identification to commercial closure.
- Develop strategies for new customer acquisition, account penetration, repeat business, and long-term revenue growth.
- Provide regular business updates, market intelligence, forecasts, and strategic recommendations to senior management.
2. ESCO Business Development
- Lead the development and expansion of the organization's ESCO business.
- Identify potential customers and facilities with significant energy-saving opportunities.
- Develop opportunities for energy audits, Investment Grade Audits (IGA), energy efficiency projects, Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs), and performance-based contracts.
- Work with technical and energy audit teams to identify, assess, and quantify energy saving opportunities.
- Convert audit findings into commercially viable project proposals.
- Develop business cases covering investment, energy savings, ROI, payback period, lifecycle benefits, and commercial viability.
- Lead customer discussions and negotiations for ESCO and performance-based contracts.
- Identify opportunities for integrated energy-efficiency solutions such as lighting, HVAC, controls, automation, smart energy solutions, and other applicable technologies.
- Develop long-term relationships with customers to generate recurring and repeat ESCO business.
3. Strategic Account Management
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with CXOs, government authorities, PSUs, facility heads, energy managers, consultants, EPC contractors, developers, and enterprise customers.
- Develop strategic account plans for key customers and high-value accounts.
- Understand customer business objectives, operational requirements, energy consumption patterns, and sustainability goals.
- Identify opportunities for cross-selling, up-selling, and account expansion.
- Drive customer engagement at senior management level and position the organization as a strategic energy-efficiency partner.
- Ensure high customer satisfaction and long-term account retention.
4. Project Development & Large-Value Sales
- Identify and develop large infrastructure, commercial, industrial, government, aviation, ports, oil & gas, institutional, and public infrastructure opportunities.
- Engage with project owners, consultants, architects, MEP consultants, EPC contractors, and other stakeholders at an early stage.
- Drive specification and solution positioning with relevant project stakeholders.
- Lead development of technical and commercial solutions in coordination with internal teams.
- Manage complex and long sales cycles involving multiple stakeholders.
5. Tender & Commercial Management
- Identify and evaluate relevant tenders, RFPs, RFQs, EOIs, and ESCO opportunities.
- Lead coordination for preparation of technical and commercial proposals.
- Ensure compliance with tender requirements, specifications, eligibility criteria, and contractual conditions.
- Review pricing, project economics, margins, payment terms, risks, and contractual obligations.
- Lead negotiations with customers, consultants, contractors, and strategic partners.
- Work closely with Finance and Legal teams to ensure commercially sound contract closure.
- Ensure all major opportunities meet internal approval and profitability requirements.
6. Market Expansion & Strategic Partnerships
- Identify and develop new market segments, geographical territories, and industry verticals.
- Conduct market intelligence and competitor analysis to identify growth opportunities.
- Develop strategic partnerships with EPC companies, consultants, technology providers, financial institutions, system integrators, contractors, and other relevant stakeholders.
- Build an ecosystem that supports ESCO project identification, development, financing, implementation, and long-term customer engagement.
- Monitor industry developments, emerging technologies, regulatory changes, and market trends.
7. Commercial & Financial Management
- Own business performance across revenue, order booking, gross margin, profitability, pipeline, and forecast accuracy.
- Develop and monitor annual budgets and business targets.
- Evaluate the financial and commercial feasibility of ESCO and infrastructure opportunities.
8. Team Leadership & People Development
- Lead and manage the Business Development & ESCO team.
- Set clear business targets, KPIs, responsibilities, and performance expectations.
- Conduct regular performance and pipeline reviews.
- Mentor team members on strategic selling, solution selling, ESCO models, account management, and commercial negotiations.
- Build a high-performance and customer-focused business development culture.
- Develop organizational capabilities in ESCO, energy efficiency, project development, and strategic sales.
9. Cross-Functional Coordination
- Work closely with Energy Audit, Engineering, Design, Project Execution, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Operations, and Management teams.
- Ensure seamless coordination from opportunity identification through project execution.
- Ensure technical and commercial commitments made during business development are aligned with project capabilities.
- Support resolution of critical customer, contractual, and commercial issues.
10. TECHNICAL & SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT
- Provide technical-commercial leadership for ESCO and energy-efficiency opportunities.
- Understand customer energy consumption, facility operations, equipment performance, and energy-use patterns.
- Guide energy audits, technical surveys, feasibility studies, and Investment Grade Audits.
- Identify, evaluate, and prioritize ECMs based on technical feasibility, savings potential, investment, ROI, and operational impact.
- Lead the development of integrated energy-efficiency solutions covering: LED and lighting systems; Outdoor / street lighting; HVAC optimization and retrofit; Motors and VFDs; Building Management Systems (BMS); Energy Management Systems (EMS); Automation and controls; Smart metering; IoT-based energy monitoring; Power-quality solutions; Renewable-energy integration; Industrial energy-efficiency solutions; Smart building solutions; Review energy baselines, consumption data, technical calculations, savings assumptions, BOQs, specifications, drawings, and technical compliance requirements.
- Ensure technical proposals are practical, measurable, scalable, and commercially viable.
- Develop and review technical scopes of work, performance specifications, solution architectures, and technical compliance matrices.
- Support development of Measurement & Verification (M&V) methodologies for performance-based projects.
- Evaluate OEMs, technology providers, system integrators, consultants, and technical partners.
- Assess technical risks, implementation constraints, equipment availability, shutdown requirements, and operational dependencies.
- Ensure all technical commitments made during business development are achievable within project scope, cost, schedule, and execution capabilities.
11. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
- Revenue achievement
- Order-book achievement
- ESCO business growth
- Qualified pipeline value
- Pipeline conversion ratio
- New customer acquisition
- Strategic account growth
- IGA-to-project conversion
- ESCO / performance contract acquisition
- Gross margin and project profitability
- Tender / RFP success rate
- Forecast accuracy
- Sales-cycle efficiency
- Customer retention and repeat business
- New market development
- Strategic partnerships
- Technical proposal quality and compliance
- Achievement of targeted energy savings
- Team productivity and performance
12. CANDIDATE PROFILE
- 15+ years of relevant experience in Business Development, ESCO, Energy Efficiency, Energy Management, Infrastructure, Lighting, Engineering, EPC, Sustainability, or related sectors.
- Proven track record in large-value B2B and project-based business development.
- Demonstrated experience in developing and closing complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
- Strong practical knowledge of ESCO models, energy audits, IGA, ECMs, M&V, energy-efficiency projects, and performance-based contracts.
- Strong technical understanding of energy-efficiency technologies and integrated energy solutions.
- Proven experience in CXO-level engagement and strategic account management.
- Experience with Government, PSU, Industrial, Commercial, Institutional, Infrastructure, or Enterprise customers.
- Strong experience in tenders, RFP/RFQ processes, pre-qualification, commercial negotiations, and contract closure.
- Strong understanding of pricing, project economics, ROI, payback, margins, forecasting, and P&L.
13. PREFERRED INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
Experience in one or more of the following sectors will be preferred:
- ESCO / Energy Services
- Energy Efficiency & Energy Management
- Energy Auditing / IGA
14. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical / Electronics / Energy Engineering or a related discipline.
- MBA / PGDM in Sales & Marketing, Business Management, or related discipline will be preferred.
- Professional certification in Energy Management, Energy Auditing, ESCO, Sustainability, or Project Management will be an advantage.
15. CORE COMPETENCIES
- Strategic Business Development
- ESCO Business Development
- Energy Efficiency & Energy Management
- Technical Solution Development
- Energy Auditing & IGA
- ECM Identification & Evaluation
- Measurement & Verification
- Strategic & Key Account Management
- Consultative & Solution Selling
- Large Project Acquisition
- Performance Contracting
- Tender & RFP Management
- Commercial Negotiation
Compensation will be commensurate with relevant experience, technical expertise, commercial capability, leadership experience, industry exposure, and demonstrated track record in delivering large-value ESCO, energy-efficiency, infrastructure, and project-based business.