Vice President of Commercial Operations

About Us

Flow Control Group (FCG) is a leading provider of fluid handling, process, and industrial automation solutions across North America. We are a 100% employee-owned organization made up of over 2,000 team members and 95+ entrepreneurial brands—each empowered to think big, move fast, and bring innovative ideas to life. Our ownership mindset fuels a culture of pride, accountability, and exceptional customer service. At FCG, we believe in the power of partnership and entrepreneurship. We work collaboratively across our brands to drive growth, unlock new opportunities, and deliver real impact for our customers. This unique model allows us to combine local expertise with national strength, creating a dynamic environment where creativity meets practicality.

About the Role

The Vice President of Commercial Operations is a critical enterprise leadership role responsible for driving revenue growth, commercial discipline, and operational excellence across a decentralized network of industrial distribution brands. This leader serves as the connective tissue between the corporate commercial strategy and the front-line selling organizations, translating strategy into execution across 10 Technology Groups (TGs) without disrupting the entrepreneurial culture that makes each brand successful.

This is not a role for someone who manages from a dashboard. The right leader spends time in the field, builds relationships with technology groups, commercial and brand leaders, and sellers, and earns the trust of decentralized operators by demonstrating commercial credibility. At the same time, they must be able to proficiently articulate a clear, data-driven commercial narrative to executive leaders. The role sits at the intersection of strategy and execution and reports directly to the EVP, Commercial Operations. The position owns the commercial operating system (Salesforce) and the metrics architecture (pipeline, bookings, win rates), while working closely with teams focused on pricing, cross-selling leadership, and strategic/national account programs. Each brand retains autonomy over its own P&L.

Responsibilities

• Commercial Strategy & Revenue Growth
  • Partner with brand, commercial, and technology group leaders to set growth targets, identify whitespace opportunities, and build actionable territory plans.
  • Support cross-selling initiatives by jointly developing tools, incentives, training, and coordination structures that enable multi-brand selling without disrupting brand autonomy.
  • Build and maintain the commercial calendar—QBRs, pipeline reviews, seller performance reviews, and board-level commercial updates.
  • Work directly with brands to define and implement actions to pursue new and emerging markets and customers.
• Salesforce CRM Ownership & Commercial Operations
  • Own the Salesforce platform(s) as the commercial operating system, focusing on adoption, data quality, pipeline integrity, and continuous improvement.
  • Drive Salesforce adoption across 100+ brands from onboarding through advanced usage, fostering a culture where sellers see CRM as a tool that helps them win.
  • Design and maintain the pipeline architecture, including stage definitions and opportunity hygiene standards that lead to forecasting methodology.
  • Build and deliver the commercial reporting suite for field and management teams, including weekly pipeline reports, monthly bookings dashboards, quarterly board presentations, and ad hoc analytics.
  • Partner with IT and Salesforce administrators to evaluate, implement, and optimize new capabilities such as CPQ integration, seller mapping, marketing cloud integration, and AI-assisted selling tools.
  • Ensure data integrity and consistency across brands by establishing standardized account hierarchies, contact management, and activity logging to support cross-brand visibility.
• Seller Performance & Enablement
  • Build and manage the seller performance framework, including quota setting, attainment tracking, performance tiering, and accountability structures across a decentralized organization.
  • Partner with HR and brand leadership to identify, develop, and retain top commercial talent, including succession planning for key sales leadership roles.
  • Design and deploy seller enablement programs, including product training, competitive positioning, value-based consultative sales methodology, and Salesforce proficiency.
  • Establish a coaching culture through field ride-alongs, joint customer calls, and quarterly seller reviews that combine data with direct observation.
  • Build and track leading indicators of seller health, including activity levels, pipeline creation rates, win rates by category, and new logo acquisition trends.
  • Identify and develop a Presidents Club structure, including KPIs for admittance, management, and maintenance, to build a world-class sales organization.
• Management Reporting
  • Prepare and present commercial updates to the FCG Leadership team and PE commercial sponsors, including monthly commercial operating reviews and market context.
  • Develop and maintain the commercial KPI framework, utilizing metrics that provide an honest view of the business and early-warning indicators for bookings.
  • Partner with the CFO, Operations, and Finance teams to align commercial forecasting with financial projections, ensuring accurate revenue and margin guidance.

Requirements

• Required Minimum Requirements/Qualifications
  • 15+ years of progressive commercial leadership and direct sales experience, with at least 5 years in a VP or Director-level role with broad commercial scope.
  • Experience operating within a decentralized, multi-brand, or multi-location industrial distribution, manufacturing, or services organization; ability to influence without direct authority.
  • Deep Salesforce proficiency, including experience driving adoption, building reporting architecture, and managing CRM as a commercial operating system across a complex organization.
  • Demonstrated track record of building and scaling commercial operations infrastructure from the ground up, including pipeline frameworks, seller performance systems, and cross-selling capabilities.
  • Strong financial acumen and ability to construct a revenue bridge from pipeline generation, model pricing/volume impacts, and speak credibly with FCG leadership.
  • Experience presenting to private equity sponsors or public company boards; systems and processes must be ready for publicly traded company performance within 3-5 years.
  • Industrial distribution, specialty distribution, or industrial services background strongly preferred; clear understanding of buying motions, customer types, and channel dynamics of MRO and project-based industrial selling.
  • Ability to use data to identify and build a team of sellers capable of moving from level 1 to level 4 management structures, and proficient in sales engagement processes for multi-site, large complex deals.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in a PE-backed platform business, including understanding of value creation plans, EBITDA management, and commercial levers that drive enterprise value.
  • Strategic accounts or national accounts leadership experience.
  • Cross-selling or integrated solutions selling experience in a multi-brand or multi-product environment.
  • Familiarity with industrial end markets: Energy, power generation, aerospace, EPC/construction, food & beverage, water/wastewater, automotive, industrial manufacturing, pulp and paper, and datacenters.
  • Experience with eCommerce in an industrial or B2B context; ability to promote and integrate eCommerce into the everyday workflow of sellers.
  • MBA or equivalent advanced degree in business, engineering, or a related field.

Benefits

• Ownership

  Every team member is an owner of the company through a broad-based employee ownership program extended to all employees within our portfolio companies.

• Competitive Benefits Package
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Competitive 401(k) matching program.
  • Paid time off, holidays, and parental leave.
  • Employee referral program.
• Training & Development
  • Access to FCG University, a learning and training platform offering over 80,000 courses.
  • Custom training programs, mentorship, and a supportive environment for professional growth.
• Career Growth

  Unparalleled opportunities for growth and advancement across a vast network of over 100 brands in North America.