Regional Manager

Johnstone Supply, North Americas leading wholesale distributor of HVACR equipment, parts, and supplies has a great opportunity to join our team. Over the last seven decades Johnstone has grown into the industry leader with over 470 distributor branches and 6 distribution centers throughout North America. We work with some of the largest companies in the world, including Daikin/Goodman, Honeywell, Emerson, Johnson Controls, Google and Fujitsu, to provide contractors with world class products, technical expertise, and quality service.

Now is the best time to join Johnstone Supply. Relationship-building is the key to our success, and it shows in everything we do. The Power of Johnstone is everyone who works with us. Our customers, our partners, and our people. Johnstone is growing, and so can you.

The responsibility of the Regional Manager is to be the strategic leader of business success within a defined geographic, multi-branch operation. This includes overseeing all sales planning and execution, customer experience, employee development, process improvement, management of the P&L, and overall branch and operational performance working through regional leadership partners. The Regional Manager works through direct and indirect subordinates, including Account Managers, Market Managers and select other positions, in order to ensure the region’s market share, profitability, productivity and marketing initiatives align with the Company’s overall business strategy.

Essential Job Function 

Overall Management of Region

• Reviews and analyzes business reports (daily, weekly and monthly) by region and market for the purpose of identifying sales by market segment, by customer, by product category etc. in order to monitor progress, determine corrective action, and pro-actively identify opportunities for continued improvement toward Regional goals and the delivery of the customer value proposition. 

• Upon analyzing P&L and scorecard reports, leads meetings to communicate with Account Managers and Market Managers to ensure understanding of region/market progress towards established goals and the overall impact of the region relative to the Store Group in its entirety. Holds Market Managers and Branch Managers accountable for leading all branches within the market toward accomplishment of short and long-term business goals in partnership with regional operations leadership. Supports monthly Branch staff meetings to ensure branch leadership team is informed and knowledgeable regarding their Branch’s performance relative to all Balanced Scorecard metrics (people, process, customer, financial) and works with local leadership to develop action plans to drive short and long-term objectives. 

• Establishes, communicates and models performance expectations for Account Managers, Market Managers, Branch Managers and other subordinate team members. Ensures expectations are met by monitoring various business application reports, gathering feedback from customers, observing performance and taking corrective action or rewarding employees as necessary. Safeguards region for continued success through proper succession planning, cross training, and ongoing training and development for all employees. 

• Drives communication between Regions and Branch Support to ensure Branch Support understands the field’s needs to successfully deliver the Johnstone Advantage, and to ensure all employees understand the business plan (including marketing plan and sales plan) and how to accomplish it. 

• Performs special projects under the direction of the Vice President of Operations & Sales or a Senior Team Executive, as requested. 

Sales Management

• Works in conjunction with outside Account Managers, Market Managers, and Branch Managers to forecast and determine customer needs. Works to increase market share and market penetration while maintaining a fragmented balance across customer and product segments. Drives the Johnstone Advantage to customer base. 

• Establishes, in conjunction with the Market Manager and Branch Manager, the annual sales and profitability goals for each branch and for the Market. Develops and implements sales plans to meet those goals. Regularly monitors performance against goals and takes corrective action where necessary. 

• Coaches and develops outside Account Managers in an effort to help each reach their top potential. 

• Ensure outside sales and inside sales are knowledgeable of and ready to support established sales programs, hot deals and special marketing promotions in order to attain or exceed sales budgets and profitability. Provides information regarding customer buying habits and needs to the Vice President of Marketing and Vendor Relations, the Product Managers and Purchasing Group on a regular basis. 

• Creates a business culture within the region of superior customer service that exceeds the customer’s expectations. 

• Visits Key Account decision makers and principles with the Account Managers to sell special sales and marketing programs in order to enhance “win-win” partnerships between customers and the Company designed to foster long-term commitments and continued business. 

• Resolves customer complaints and disputes in a timely, professional manner if such situations escalate beyond the Market Manager or Branch Manager level. 

Johnstone Supply believes that each employee's contribution should not be limited by the assigned responsibilities. Therefore, it is our expectation that each employee will offer their services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of our endeavors.

Education and/or Experience

High School diploma or equivalent required;  Bachelor’s degree (B.S./B.A.) in marketing, business, or related discipline preferred. At least ten plus years’ experience in sales or branch operations management in a wholesale environment or equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Five or more years’ experience leading and managing teams with experience managing outside sales teams preferred.

Job-Specific Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong leadership skills are critical in order to lead the sales and operations teams and to model expected employee behaviors with a sense of urgency.
• Ability to develop and execute sales initiatives through sales force
• Knowledge of human resource management principles, including recruiting and hiring, training and development, delegating, coaching, and evaluating employees.
• Ability to create and manage high-functioning teams and hold them accountable for end results.
• Very strong analytical, planning and organization skills and abilities.
• Ability to listen to customers and branch staff personnel to identify concerns and needs.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence attitudes and actions.
• Skill in facilitating open lines of communication and win-win relationships.
• Strong abilities to clarify company objectives and translate them to daily market and branch activities.
• Expert knowledge of wholesale distribution operations, including order fulfillment, inventory control, customer service, showroom merchandising, shipping and receiving, and sales.
• Ability to influence customers to partner with WGI in long-term mutually beneficial business partnerships.
• Very knowledgeable in abilities to read, analyze and interpret financial P&L and Scorecard Reports.
• Strong knowledge of PC-based applications (Excel, Word, Explorer) and business software (Eclipse and Mits).
• Excellent knowledge of inventory management principles and procedures, including procurement, storage, forecasting and handling dead inventory.
• Excellent knowledge of sales and marketing processes and techniques to drive sales.
• Excellent knowledge of the HVACR industry, contractor customer needs and product applications.
• General knowledge of governmental regulations as applied to product distribution, including OSHA regulations, Worker’s Compensation, Hazardous Materials Handling.
• Problem-solving skills: listening to, interpreting, and meeting the needs of others; diagnosing and rectifying problems.
• Highly skilled in the ability to multitask and prioritize work.
• Ability to develop and implement operational plans.
• Ability to write reports, business correspondence, procedure manuals, and marketing pieces.
• While multilingual skills are valued, English proficiency (written and spoken) is a core requirement for this position due to the nature of the work, safety regulations, and to ensure accurate communication and comprehension.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee spends significant time sitting, or standing, walking the facility and is occasionally required to climb or balance; stoop kneel, crouch, or crawl; taste or smell; and lift up to 70 pounds.

Work Environment

Combination of office with typical office equipment, warehouse with racks and bins, and wholesale branch environment. Employee may spend significant periods of time traveling on business via auto or air travel. Travel is often limited to the geographical region of responsibility.

We’re also interested in hiring a great candidate that holds these values so we can further build a strong company culture: 

• Safety: Always prioritizes safety, both at work and at home, while ensuring those who work for you work safely.
• Customer Focused: Take the perspective of those we serve, anticipate their needs, and responding quickly.
• One Team: We win together by collaborating with each other, focusing on the common goal, and leveraging the strengths of the team.
• Own It: Take the initiative, act with a sense of urgency and pride, do things right the first time, and always act with integrity.
• Innovate: Embrace and create change that drives continuous improvement and customer-valued solutions.

At Johnstone Supply, we recognize that our employees’ growth, well-being, and success drives the company’s success. We offer a competitive wage, in addition to health and wellness benefits including medical, dental, vision coverage, and options for supplemental care. We provide the resources you need to take charge of your well-being, including:

• Competitive Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Safe Harbor 401(k) – 100% employer match up to 5% of base pay and immediate vesting
• Holiday pay – we recognize and pay our employees for 7.5 holidays per year
• Paid Parental Bonding Time
• Employer subsidized medical, dental, and vision plans
• Employer paid life insurance and short-term disability
• Voluntary long-term disability, accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance
• 24/7 Access to virtual care/telehealth options
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution; Flexible spending accounts (FSA)
• Wellbeing program with opportunity to earn reduced medical costs
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for you, and your family
• Tuition reimbursement
• Employee referral bonus program
• Employee service milestone recognition program

We understand that our employees are the cornerstone of our success. Our commitment to continuous improvement & investment in our people is only matched by our commitment to superior customer experience.

EOE & E-Verify Participating Employer.