Heavy Duty Key Account Manager

Valvoline Global • Lexington, KY

9d • Remote

About The Position

The Heavy-Duty Key Account Manager (KAM) is responsible for leading Valvoline’s commercial relationships with major heavy-duty fleet, transportation, leasing, maintenance, and national accounts across North America. This position drives profitable growth by developing and executing strategic account plans, managing complex decision-making structures, and coordinating cross-functional efforts to deliver exceptional customer outcomes.

This is a senior account management role that blends strategy, execution, and partnership. The KAM manages all sold-to relationships within their portfolio, owns the full sales pipeline for their accounts, and ensures alignment between Valvoline and the customer at every level – commercial, operational, and technical.

The ideal candidate brings experience working with heavy-duty fleets and understands the operational, maintenance, lubrication, and uptime challenges faced by commercial transportation customers. This role serves as a trusted advisor to customers by helping improve equipment reliability, maintenance efficiency, and total cost of ownership through Valvoline’s products, services, and technical expertise.

Requirements

• 7–10 years of sales or account management experience, preferably within heavy-duty transportation, commercial fleets, industrial markets, lubricants, fuels, maintenance services, or related industries.
• Proven success managing large or multi-location accounts with formal procurement processes, national agreements, and complex decision-making units.
• Experience working directly with fleet maintenance leaders, fleet operators, transportation companies, leasing organizations, service providers, or heavy-duty distributors.
• Heavy-duty fleets, transportation companies, maintenance providers, and national accounts
• Lubricants experience, including heavy-duty engine oils, driveline fluids, coolants, DEF, or similar products
• Fleet operations, maintenance practices, uptime, lubrication programs, and total cost of ownership
• Experience working with fleet maintenance leaders, fleet operators, and transportation customers
• Consultative selling and the ability to speak to both the commercial and operational side of the customer’s business
• Strong understanding of heavy-duty fleet operations, preventive maintenance programs, lubrication practices, and commercial transportation environments.
• Lubricants, heavy-duty engine oil, driveline fluids, coolants, DEF, or related technical product experience strongly preferred.
• Proven track record of delivering measurable growth through structured account planning, consultative selling, and long-cycle sales processes.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and build alignment across internal and external stakeholders.
• Commercial and financial acumen with experience managing pricing, contracts, profitability, and business case development.
• Proficiency in Salesforce or equivalent CRM, Microsoft Office Suite, and sales analytics tools.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or related field preferred.
• Willingness to travel up to 60%, including overnight travel, as required to support customers, industry events, and internal alignment meetings.

Responsibilities

• Lead Account Strategy and Growth: Develop and execute multi-year account plans that align to both customer goals and Valvoline’s growth objectives. Drive business expansion through new opportunities, contract renewals, share-of-wallet growth, and program optimization.
• Own the Relationship and Results: Serve as the primary point of contact and accountability for assigned accounts – responsible for all revenue, margin, retention, and pipeline activity tied to those customers.
• Drive Fleet-Focused Value Creation: Develop a deep understanding of customer fleet operations, maintenance practices, lubrication programs, equipment specifications, and operating challenges. Identify opportunities to improve performance through product conversions, lubrication program optimization, fluid analysis, extended drain opportunities, and technical support initiatives.
• Coordinate Cross-Functional Execution: Partner with internal teams – including Supply Chain, Marketing, Pricing, Product Line Management, Technical Services, Customer Experience, and Operations – to ensure operational excellence and delivery of Valvoline’s value proposition.
• Lead RFQs, Contracts, and Commercial Negotiations: Manage RFP/RFQ responses and multi-year contract discussions. Align proposals with strategic, financial, operational, and customer service objectives.
• Build Strategic Relationships: Develop strong, trust-based relationships with customer stakeholders at all levels – including fleet owners, maintenance leaders, operations teams, procurement, and executive leadership. Conduct regular business reviews and alignment meetings to track performance and uncover growth opportunities.
• Manage Pipeline and Forecasting: Own and maintain pipeline visibility for all assigned accounts in Salesforce. Monitor performance versus plan, analyze trends, and provide timely, data-driven updates to leadership.
• Guide Regional Collaboration: Work closely with regional sales teams, distributors, and channel partners to align resources, support execution, and ensure a consistent customer experience across all locations and channels.
• Serve as a Fleet and Lubrication Subject Matter Expert: Maintain a strong understanding of heavy-duty industry trends, OEM specifications, lubrication technologies, maintenance practices, and fleet operating environments. Leverage technical knowledge to strengthen customer relationships and support business growth.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior