Drives Business Development & Growth Leader

Schneider Electric Corp; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 162,000 - 242,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental and vision

Life insurance

Flexible work arrangements

Paid family leave

Well-being programs

Holiday entitlement: 12 days

Paid time off: 15 days per year

Job summary

Schneider Electric is seeking a senior leader to head the U.S. Drives BDM team, guiding approximately 10–12 members across OEM, End-User, Process and Channel sales. You will partner with regional leaders to onboard, educate and coach the team for Drives-focused automation hardware, software and services.

You will drive pipeline growth, win competitive deals, and ensure disciplined handoffs to delivery. Travel up to 50% is expected; strong cross-functional collaboration is essential for success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, or related field or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of B2B sales and business development experience in industrial automation or related sectors.
• Proven leadership in coaching and developing teams within a matrix organization.
• Strong presentation and storytelling skills for technical and executive audiences.
• Willing to travel up to 50% as required.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the U.S. Drives BDM team (10–12 members) and hire in partnership with regional leaders.
• Translate growth priorities into territory plans and deliverables; drive demand creation.
• Develop pipeline through multi-channel prospecting and convert leads to meetings and opportunities.
• Engage plant managers, engineering, operations, IT and executives to influence decisions.
• Hand off won deals to account managers and delivery teams for growth.
• Educate BDMs in value-based selling, discovery, workshops and demos.
• Collaborate with partners and system integrators to expand opportunities.
• Establish regular reviews, track targets and forecast accuracy; ensure accountability.

Skills

Leadership and coaching

B2B sales

Strategic planning

Relationship management

Presentation skills

Storytelling

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, or related field

Tools

Automation systems knowledge

Job description

Industrial Automation is a market challenger focused on growing its Drives business and winning customers from established market leaders. This management role leads the new team of approximately 10–12 Drives Business Development Managers (BDMs) across the OEM, End-User, Process and Channel sales pipes. The BDMs retain solid-line reporting to their respective sales pipe regional leaders and dotted-line reporting to this role. You will provide cross-pipe direction, education, guidance and support while driving adherence to agreed deliverables and accountability for business growth. This is a team leadership role—not a program coordination position or an individual-contributor sales role. Success requires leading through influence and partnering closely with regional sales leaders to turn prospecting, demand creation and qualified opportunities into new customers and orders for Drives-focused automation hardware, software and services.

What You'll Do

• Build and lead the U.S. Drives BDM team: Lead approximately 10–12 dotted-line BDMs across the OEM, End-User, Process and Channel sales pipes. Lead hiring in partnership with regional sales leaders, establish onboarding and education, and provide ongoing guidance and support.
• Drive team growth and competitive conversion: Translate Drives growth priorities into BDM territory plans, target-account priorities and agreed deliverables with regional sales leaders. Guide the team in identifying customers using competitor equipment and building plans to win their business.
• Equip BDMs to create and convert demand: Establish consistent approaches and provide practical guidance so BDMs can:
• Build their own pipeline: Generate leads through calls, emails, LinkedIn, trade shows and local events. Turn qualified leads from inside sales into meetings and opportunities.
• Reach decision makers: Build relationships with plant managers, engineering, operations, IT and executives to influence technical direction and buying decisions.
• Hand off well: Once a deal is won, transition the account to account managers and delivery teams so it keeps growing.
• Enable business-value selling: Educate and support BDMs in discovery, workshops and demos that connect Drives solutions to customer goals, including uptime, productivity, cybersecurity and modernizing aging systems.
• Support strategic pursuits and connect the team with partners and resources: Support BDMs in strategic customer engagements and major competitive pursuits, helping remove commercial, technical and organizational barriers to winning. Help BDMs work with system integrators, consulting engineers, OEMs and distributors to expand customer access and advance opportunities.
• Drive accountability and execution discipline: Establish regular business reviews and track agreed deliverables, bFO pipeline growth and conversion, net-new customer engagement, orders and forecast accuracy. Make commitments and deadlines explicit, follow through on gaps, and align recovery actions or escalations with the appropriate regional sales leader.
• Represent the team across the business: Consolidate customer needs, competitor insights and market trends from BDMs for offer management, marketing and sales leadership. Provide objective, cross-pipe guidance and coordinate support to keep the team focused on Drives growth.
• Lead Through Influence: Build alignment and accountability across a team in different locations, leading through influence in a dotted-line structure

What Success Looks Like

• A national team of approximately 10–12 Drives BDMs executing aligned growth plans and achieving or exceeding agreed annual Drives growth targets.
• Growth in qualified team pipeline, net-new customer engagement and opportunity conversion against agreed targets.
• New customers won and orders from new accounts against team and territory targets.
• Competitive conversions that replace incumbent Drives solutions with Schneider Electric.
• Accurate bFO pipeline and forecasts, on-time deliverables, and clear follow-through on agreed actions with BDMs and regional sales leaders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, and developing sales or business development teams via a matrix organization, educating and guiding BDMs in prospecting, competitive conversion, and long, complex sales cycles while building effective partnerships with regional sales leaders
• 10+ years of B2B sales and business development experience in industrial automation, controls, or industrial software, with proven success building pipeline, winning new logos, and expanding revenue
• Working knowledge of automation systems such as Drives, PLCs, DCS, SCADA, HMI, and industrial networks
• Strong presentation and storytelling skills with both technical and executive audiences
• Self-driven and commercially focused, with the ability to bring structure, prioritize across sales pipes, and follow through on commitments without relying on direct reporting authority
• Willing to travel as needed up to 50%

Preferred

• Existing network with system integrators, OEMs, or End Users in target industries
• Experience selling against US market share leaders in Drives, PLCs, DCS, SCADA, HMI, and industrial networks

Reporting and leadership scope

• This role reports to the Industrial Drives & Controls Portfolio Offer Manager. It provides functional management and growth leadership for approximately 10–12 Drives BDMs through dotted-line reporting, with no solid-line direct reports. BDMs retain solid-line reporting to their respective sales pipe regional leaders. This role leads team enablement, execution reviews, and follow-through on agreed growth deliverables in close partnership with those leaders.

Schneider Electric is there when it matters most to you

Our Total Rewards package outlines all the benefits and support you’ll enjoy as part of the Schneider Electric team:

Care for Yourself and Your Family. We ensure you feel secure with benefits that help you and your family thrive: medical (with member reward points), dental, vision, and basic life insurance, Benefit Bucks, flexible work arrangements, paid family leaves, well-being programs, 12 holidays per year, and 15 days of paid time off per year.

Invest and Plan Your Future. We help you plan and invest for the future with competitive pay and programs including base salary, incentives, company share ownership, and 401(k) with match.

Grow Your Skills and Career. We support development through performance discussions, global opportunities, the Schneider Career Hub, and learning platforms like Coursera.

Team Up in the Workplace. We encourage collaboration, recognition, sharing your voice, and an inclusive workplace.

Support Your Community. We make a difference through volunteer leave, programs with the Schneider Electric Foundation, youth education initiatives, and military leave benefits.

For this U.S. based position, the expected pay range is USD 161,600 - USD 242,400 per year. This pay range includes base pay and short-term incentives. The compensation range for this full-time position applies to candidates located within the United States.

If you believe this job posting is not compliant with applicable state pay transparency laws in the U.S., please notify the Company as soon as possible upon discovery by completing this form Job Posting Compliance Form.

Looking to make an IMPACT with your career?

When you are thinking about joining a new team, culture matters. At Schneider Electric, our values and behaviors are the foundation for creating a great culture to support business success. We believe that our IMPACT values – Inclusion, Mastery, Purpose, Action, Curiosity, Teamwork – starts with us.

IMPACT is also your invitation to join Schneider Electric where you can contribute to turning sustainability ambition into actions, no matter what role you play. It is a call to connect your career with the ambition of achieving a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable world.

We are looking for IMPACT Makers; exceptional people who turn sustainability ambitions into actions at the intersection of automation, electrification, and digitization. We celebrate IMPACT Makers and believe everyone has the potential to be one.

€40 billion global revenue

+9% organic growth

150 000+ employees in 100+ countries

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