The Company
An established, privately owned industrial distribution business with a small national branch network, backed by an institutional investor and running a multi-year growth plan. The business supplies industrial customers across resource industries, construction, contractors and trades. The Edmonton branch is a strategic part of the growth plan, and this hire is central to it.
The Opportunity
This is a full ownership seat with room to build a business. The Edmonton branch has a loyal customer base, strong service, deep inventory and a small tenured team. This role calls for a leader who invests in the team and works the market in person.
The near-term mission is concrete. Set the direction for how the branch operates day to day, and grow the branch materially over the next few years by getting out to customers and prospects. You would run the location the way you would run your own business, carry the number, and make the commercial calls. The senior leader you report to is based elsewhere in Canada and works on a light touch by choice, so the seat carries genuine autonomy from the first week.
The branch is also in the middle of a new inventory-system rollout, and part of the role is holding service steady through the change.
What You Would Own
- The branch profit and loss. You carry the number, make the pricing, inventory and headcount calls, and live with the results.
- New business. You personally go out to customers and prospects. This is a hands-on selling seat as much as a leadership one.
- The team. A small team of inside sales and warehouse staff. You lead the team you inherit, and hire across the branch as it grows.
- The day-to-day. Operating decisions, hiring across the branch, and setting direction inside a small set of company-wide standards. Routine calls belong to you and are expected to be made without asking.
- The system rollout. A new inventory system is landing in the branch, and part of the role is protecting service and customer experience while it beds in.
Who Thrives Here
- You are energised by carrying the number yourself. The autonomy is real, and so is the responsibility. This seat does not suit someone who wants a playbook or close direction.
- You are comfortable working without a support structure. The person you report to is based elsewhere and visits roughly quarterly. You are the one who unblocks yourself.
- You lead by getting into it. You are as comfortable in a customer conversation as you are in a team meeting, and the credibility you have with your team comes from doing the work rather than describing it.
- You are patient about people. You believe strong teams are built over months rather than weeks, and you like inheriting people with history rather than starting from scratch.
- You have run something small before and liked it. A branch, a territory, a shop or a business of your own where the number was on your name and the seat gave you room to run.
What You Bring
- Real experience leading a branch, territory, small business or operation of your own, with the number on your name.
- A track record of personally winning new business as a seller, not only managing others who do it.
- Comfortable operating with little day-to-day direction and no head office presence in the room.
- A background in industrial distribution or an adjacent supply category (industrial MRO, bearings and power transmission, pipe, valves and fittings, hose and fluid power, electrical or plumbing wholesale, oilfield and energy supply, heavy-duty parts). Direct experience with the specific product category is useful, not required.
- Familiarity with the Edmonton and Alberta market is useful context, not required.
The Details
- Compensation. Targeted base of around $100,000, depending on experience, with strong bonus upside tied to branch growth. Top branch leaders in the company earn above this through performance.
- Location. Edmonton, Alberta. On-site and in-person. This is not a remote or hybrid role.
- Reporting. To a senior leader based elsewhere in Canada who oversees the branch network.
