Data Center Business Development Manager

Sonepar•Upper Marlboro, MD

2d•$100,000 - $150,000•Remote

About The Position

Capital Electric is seeking a proactive and strategic Business Development Manager – Data Center to own the data center vertical within their assigned geographic territory. This is a hunter-style role focused on early-stage project intelligence, relationship mapping, and positioning Sonepar/ Capital Electric as the preferred electrical distribution partner with data center owners, developers, operators, and their design/build teams. This role is not a traditional outside sales role. The individual will act as the market expert for data center construction and expansion, identifying projects 12–36 months before bid, building multi-level relationships, and driving specification and preferred-vendor status at the end-user level while coordinating execution through local branches.

Requirements

5–7+ years of B2B sales or business development experience in electrical distribution, mission-critical power, data centers, or related construction verticals.
Proven track record of hunting new business and building relationships at the C-suite and procurement level with hyperscale/colocation owners strongly preferred.
Existing network within the data center ecosystem (owners, developers, engineers, GCs) in the target geography is a significant advantage.
Strong understanding of data center power infrastructure (MV switchgear, transformers, PDU/RPP, UPS, generators, busway, etc.) and the design/build process.
Experience using project intelligence platforms (Dodge, ConstructConnect, Industrial Info Resource, DataCenterKnowledge, etc.) and CRM (SPARK).
Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail — you will own the single source of truth for data center activity in your territory.
Self-starter comfortable working remotely with regular travel (30–50%) throughout the territory.
Ability to travel 40-50% within the United States.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred but not required with relevant industry experience.

Responsibilities

Proactively identify, track, and map every data center project (hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, edge) in your assigned territory using proprietary tools, Dodge/DataCenter, IIR, Dynamics/BAE reports, public filings, permitting data, and direct outreach.
Collaboration with executive and regional leadership to identify opportunities, provide insight and guidance on sales/service requirements, engage local branch teams when directed or necessary to drive market share and sales growth.
Build and maintain an accurate, real-time project pipeline database including owner/developer, GC, MEP contractor, engineer, timeline, size (MW), and current supplier incumbents.
Develop deep relationships with data center end-users (Ex. Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Equinix, Digital Realty, QTS, CyrusOne, Vantage, Aligned, etc.), their procurement teams, mission-critical engineering firms (Corgan, HDR, Syska Hennessy, etc.), and key influencers.
Position Sonepar/Capital Electric early in the design/specification phase through lunch & learns, spec-in support, value-engineering collaboration, and preferred distributor agreements.
Serve as the central point of contact between the end-user/owner and our regional and local branch network; ensure seamless hand-off and execution once projects move to procurement.
Effectively collaborate with Capital Electric executive and regional leadership and with Richard Landry & the Sonepar DataCenter Business Development Team.
Conduct regular project reviews and strategy sessions with regional leadership.
Attend key industry events (Data Center World, 7x24 Exchange, PTC, DCD Connect, etc.) to expand network and gather intelligence.
Achieve quarterly and annual revenue, project capture, and pipeline development targets.