VP, Customer Development and Growth

About the role

Summit Utilities is a growing natural gas utility providing safe, reliable, and clean-burning natural gas service to homes and businesses in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Vice President of Customer Development & Growth will lead enterprise customer growth, market development, customer development, and energy efficiency strategies across Summit’s multi-state footprint, advancing sustainable customer growth, expanding natural gas adoption, strengthening customer and community relationships, and aligning initiatives with Summit’s business, operational, regulatory, and long-term growth objectives.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise Strategy and Executive Leadership: Set and lead Summit’s enterprise customer development, growth, and energy efficiency strategy; translate corporate priorities into actionable growth plans, performance measures, and team goals; advise executive leadership on market opportunities, regulatory considerations, risks, and investment priorities; monitor industry trends, customer needs, regulatory developments, and emerging technologies to inform strategy.
• Business Development and Growth: Lead identification, evaluation, prioritization, and execution of growth opportunities across residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, and strategic account segments; expand Summit’s customer base, increase natural gas adoption, and support economically viable growth; partner with Operations, Engineering, Finance, Regulatory, and Legal to assess feasibility, economics, risk, and execution plans; build strategic relationships with developers, municipalities, builders, trade organizations, economic development entities, and other external partners.
• Customer Engagement and Retention: Strengthen customer relationships, improve customer experience, and support long-term retention; oversee engagement strategies for key accounts, growth customers, developers, municipalities, and strategic stakeholders; guide tailored customer solutions that align with Summit’s operational, financial, and regulatory requirements; use customer feedback, satisfaction trends, and service issues to identify improvement opportunities.
• Market Analysis and Opportunity Identification: Analyze market trends, economic development activity, competitor activity, customer demand, regulatory changes, and energy policy developments; lead efforts to develop programs, incentives, and initiatives that encourage natural gas adoption in high-potential markets; establish KPIs and reporting to evaluate growth outcomes, program effectiveness, and return on investment; present market insights, performance trends, risks, and recommendations to executive leadership.
• Regulatory and Stakeholder Management: Partner with Regulatory, Legal, Government Affairs, and Operations to align growth and energy efficiency strategies with applicable requirements; support regulatory filings, stakeholder communications, and policy discussions related to growth, energy efficiency, conservation, and market development; represent Summit with regulators, policymakers, municipalities, industry groups, customers, and community leaders; manage regulatory and stakeholder risks before they affect business objectives.
• Team Leadership and Organizational Development: Lead, develop, and hold accountable a multi-state Customer Development and EE/CIP organization; build leadership capability, succession depth, technical expertise, and clear performance expectations; foster collaboration, accountability, innovation, integrity, safety, and customer focus; promote cross-functional alignment and disciplined execution across operating jurisdictions.
• Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, and Innovation: Oversee Summit’s energy efficiency and conservation programs across applicable jurisdictions; align EE/CIP programs with regulatory requirements, customer needs, sustainability goals, and company objectives; evaluate renewable natural gas, hydrogen, energy efficiency, and other emerging solutions where practical; promote energy solutions that balance affordability, reliability, regulatory expectations, and environmental considerations.
• Financial and Operational Oversight: Provide financial stewardship for growth, customer development, and energy efficiency programs, including budgets, forecasts, resources, and performance expectations; ensure growth initiatives are supported by economic analysis, cost-benefit evaluation, and risk assessment; monitor performance against approved plans and recommend corrective actions when needed; report to executive leadership on performance, risks, opportunities, and strategic adjustments.
• Crisis, Issue, and Risk Management: Provide executive oversight for customer development issues, escalations, complaints, and crisis situations; mitigate customer, regulatory, reputational, operational, and financial risks tied to growth and customer development activities; partner with Communications, Operations, Legal, Regulatory, and executive leadership on customer-related communications during disruptions or high-profile matters.
• Innovation and Technology Integration: Champion data analytics, customer insights, digital tools, and technology to improve strategy and execution; evaluate tools that enhance engagement, streamline processes, improve reporting, and support decision-making; promote continuous improvement and scalable processes across the customer development function.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; degree in business administration, engineering, energy management, or related field preferred; advanced degrees such as an MBA preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of experience in customer development, business development, utility operations, or commercial functions, preferably in the natural gas or energy sector.
• Minimum of 7 years of leadership experience, including leading managers, cross-functional teams, multi-state programs, or large strategic initiatives.
• Experience in regulatory environments, stakeholder engagement, customer acquisition/retention programs, and executive-level presentations.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Knowledge: Strong knowledge of natural gas utility operations, distribution systems, market dynamics, and energy regulations.