Principal Business Development Manager – Air & Water OEM

GE Appliances, a Haier company•Louisville, KY

13d•Remote

About The Position

At GE Appliances, a Haier company, the Principal Business Development Manager – Air & Water OEM leads identification, prioritization, and advancement of OEM growth opportunities across manufacturers, plumbing/HVAC distributors, contractor roll-up groups, and other strategic channel partners. The role serves as a commercial subject matter expert for the Air & Water OEM space, shaping account and segment pursuit strategies, evaluating opportunity fit, and translating market needs into business requirements and cross-functional execution plans. It partners with U.S. teams and Haier engineering, manufacturing, and product management teams in China. This is a highly autonomous individual-contributor role with direct impact on OEM pipeline quality, profitable revenue growth, customer acquisition strategy, and scalable OEM commercial processes. The position is based in Louisville, Kentucky, and may be performed in remote, office, and customer-facing environments. Frequent travel of approximately 80% is required for prospects, customers, industry events, GE Appliances locations, and manufacturing partners, including international travel to Asia as needed. Occasional off-hours meetings may be required to collaborate across time zones. GE Appliances describes its culture as centered on people, inclusion, diversity, belonging, and its Zero Distance philosophy. Employees have the opportunity to work with their leader to create a flexible work arrangement balancing individual, team, and organizational needs. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States at hire and maintain that authorization without current or future employer or school sponsorship; the company will not sponsor employment-based visas for this position.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related field; equivalent experience may substitute for the education requirement.
At least 7 years of relevant experience in OEM sales, B2B technical sales, business development, national account sales, channel development, or related commercial roles in manufacturing or industrial environments.
Demonstrated experience leading complex opportunities through a structured commercial process, from prospect development and qualification through proposal development, negotiation support, and launch transition.
Experience evaluating customer needs, commercial tradeoffs, technical constraints, and execution risks to shape practical, profitable business opportunities.
Experience influencing cross-functional stakeholders in product, engineering, operations, supply chain, quality, service, and finance.
Experience working with customers in HVAC, plumbing, water heating, water treatment, building products, distribution, or related manufacturing sectors.
Strong domain knowledge in OEM business development, channel strategy, and technical/commercial selling within HVAC, plumbing, water, or related manufacturing environments.
Ability to evaluate customer requirements, margin implications, technical constraints, supply considerations, and execution risks to resolve complex commercial and operational issues.
Ability to manage complex business-development work from market targeting through launch transition with a high degree of autonomy.
Strong communication and influencing skills, including translating market needs and technical considerations into business requirements, pursuit strategies, and commercial recommendations.
Ability to work with minimal day-to-day oversight and drive outcomes through coordination, judgment, and stakeholder alignment.
Legally authorized to work in the United States at hire and able to maintain authorization without current or future employer or school sponsorship.
Willingness to travel frequently, approximately 80%, including international travel to Asia as needed; occasional off-hours meetings may be required.

Nice To Haves

Experience selling to or working with OEM manufacturers, plumbing/HVAC distributors, contractor roll-ups, consolidators, national service platforms, or strategic sourcing teams.
An existing network in plumbing, HVAC, water heating, water treatment, building products, contractor services, distribution, or OEM channels.
Experience supporting private-label, OEM supply, branded-program, or cross-border manufacturing partnerships.
Experience collaborating with global manufacturing, engineering, or product teams to support customer solutions and launch readiness.
Experience establishing commercial processes, qualification frameworks, or go-to-market discipline in an emerging or growth-oriented business space.
Ability to collaborate effectively across U.S.- and Asia-based teams.
Strong commercial judgment in OEM supply, branded-program, private-label, or strategic-sourcing environments.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute OEM growth strategies for assigned customer and channel segments, including target-account prioritization, whitespace identification, and pursuit planning.
Identify and prioritize manufacturers, plumbing/HVAC distributors, contractor organizations, strategic sourcing customers, and adjacent channel partners with OEM, private-label, or branded-program needs.
Build, manage, and refine a qualified opportunity pipeline through market mapping, relationship development, outreach, industry events, and referrals.
Establish account-entry and expansion strategies, including stakeholder mapping, customer-need assessment, opportunity screening, and pursuit sequencing.
Own pipeline visibility, opportunity governance, and forecast discipline for active pursuits.
Lead complex OEM opportunities from initial engagement through discovery, business-case development, solution definition, proposal coordination, commercial alignment, negotiation support, and transition to launch.
Assess customer requirements, competitive alternatives, volume potential, margin profile, supply implications, technical feasibility, and execution risks.
Partner with internal stakeholders to define commercially sound and operationally executable OEM solutions.
Coordinate commercial, operational, and technical inputs to influence pricing assumptions, scope, launch expectations, and agreement structure.
Resolve barriers to conversion by clarifying tradeoffs, surfacing decision points, and aligning stakeholders on a recommended path forward.
Track win/loss themes, conversion patterns, and recurring commercial obstacles to improve pursuit quality and close effectiveness.
Monitor market activity, sourcing trends, customer demand signals, channel shifts, and competitor positions to identify opportunities and risks.
Synthesize customer and market feedback into business cases, segment recommendations, and opportunity-prioritization guidance.
Recommend pursuit focus areas, target segments, customer strategies, and capability needs in support of OEM growth objectives.
Identify market pain points, unmet needs, and recurring deal barriers to inform process improvements, offer refinement, and OEM channel development.
Lead cross-functional coordination connecting customer requirements with product, engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, service, and global manufacturing capabilities.
Partner with Haier teams in China and U.S.-based stakeholders to align technical requirements, timing, manufacturing considerations, and launch readiness.
Communicate customer requirements, decision timelines, pricing needs, competitive threats, and program risks to stakeholders.
Coordinate structured handoffs and launch readiness for awarded business.
Contribute to scalable OEM tools, commercial processes, qualification frameworks, and operating practices.
Support trade shows, customer meetings, and internal business reviews.
Contribute to reporting, opportunity tracking, and commercial documentation.
Provide informal guidance and commercial context to cross-functional partners supporting OEM pursuits.
Perform other related duties as assigned.