Vertical Market Manager
Location: Remote (United States)
Compensation: $160,000–$190,000 DOE + 20% Annual Bonus + 20% Long-Term Incentive Plan
Employment Type: Full-time, Exempt
About the Company
HireIQ Solutions is leading the search for a Vertical Market Manager at a US manufacturer of engineered-to-order HVAC and thermal management systems serving mission-critical, institutional, and commercial/industrial environments. The company sells through a national field sales organization spanning six regions, supported by a network of manufacturers' representatives, and is standing up a dedicated vertical market function to accelerate growth in the segments where its engineered, longer-lasting equipment competes best.
About the Role
This is a newly formed vertical market function, and this hire is one of its first. The Vertical Market Manager is the company's subject-matter authority for one or more verticals and operates as a matrix layer across all six sales regions — bringing the vertical market story, the technical proof, and the sales tools to a field organization that is built around territory rather than segment.
The ideal person has lived the sale. They started their career closing HVAC deals, earned their way to a national, strategic, or key account role selling complex engineered systems to large end users, and now want to take that experience up a level — turning what they know about how these customers buy into a go-to-market program an entire sales organization can run on.
The first person into the seat will carry multiple verticals. Current priorities are data centers, healthcare, and K-12 education, together with sustainability — the decarbonization and net-zero commitments that owners across every one of these markets are now putting real budget behind. Deep expertise in at least one of these is expected on day one; expertise in the others needs to be built quickly.
The mandate is scale. Success is measured by how many sellers are armed and credible in the vertical — dozens today, ultimately hundreds — across very different geographies and customer requirements. This person will stay close to customers and may take a hands-on role on a small set of top national accounts, but the job is to build the program, not to carry a territory.
This is a technical seat as much as a commercial one. The work runs on understanding the complexity and nuance of engineered HVAC deals and speaking the same language as the field sales organization, the rep community, and the consulting engineers behind these projects — with a product scope centered on dedicated outdoor air systems and split system equipment.
Key Responsibilities
• Serve as the vertical market expert across all six sales regions, layering vertical market strategy onto a territory-based field sales organization.
• Take products and solutions to market in the assigned verticals — positioning, launch planning, value propositions, and the proof points that win in each industry.
• Build and run the sales enablement plan for each vertical: customer collateral, sales training, technical positioning, and competitive tools that let the regional sales organization sell the vertical credibly.
• Scale enablement broadly: get dozens, and ultimately hundreds, of sellers ready to go to market across different geographies and customer needs.
• Work cross-functionally with Marketing, Finance, Product, and Applications Engineering, and side by side with the field — this role runs on influence rather than direct authority.
• Spend meaningful time in front of customers: owners, end users, national account decision makers, and the consulting engineers aligned to them.
• Build visibility into vertical pipeline and forecast with the regional sales leaders, and use it to steer where the program invests.
• Conduct strategic analysis to inform market decisions — market size, growth, segmentation, buying behavior, and the specifying and decision-making path in each vertical.
• Contribute to pricing strategy and pricing decisions for vertical opportunities and national accounts.
• Collect and document competitive intelligence including product positioning, differentiation, and the features that matter most to customers in the vertical.
• Recommend product lines and product features critical to the assigned verticals that will increase competitiveness and business results.
• Develop the sustainability story across the verticals — how the equipment supports owners' energy, decarbonization, and net-zero goals.
• Run recurring meetings with sellers in the field to gather feedback, and feed what you learn back into strategy, collateral, and product direction.
• Take a hands-on role on a limited set of top accounts where senior vertical expertise changes the outcome.
• Influence industry organizations, including presenting at industry events throughout the year.
Qualifications
• A sales career in HVAC: began in a quota-carrying role closing HVAC deals, and progressed to a National Account Manager, Strategic Account Manager, Strategic Account Executive, Key Account Manager, or equivalent level position.
• Experience selling complex, engineered HVAC systems and solutions — ideally with a manufacturer known for technical, consultative selling.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering preferred, so that you understand the complexity and nuance of the deals being sold.
• 10–15 years of experience in the HVAC industry.
• Expertise in one or more of the target verticals — data centers, healthcare, and K-12 education — and a working knowledge of sustainability, decarbonization, and net-zero initiatives.
• Go-to-market experience: taking products to market, building a sales enablement plan, and working cross-functionally as well as with the field.
• A solid command of pipeline management and forecasting.
• Experience conducting strategic analysis for market decisions, and involvement in pricing.
• Technical fluency in dedicated outdoor air systems and split system equipment, and the ability to hold a real technical conversation with engineers, rep firms, and specifying engineers.
• Demonstrated sales success with a track record of meeting or exceeding targets.
• Leadership capacity to mobilize cross-functional partners and a distributed sales force without direct reporting authority.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, and the presence to present effectively one-on-one and to large groups.
• Strong PC skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Work Environment & Physical Requirements
• Fully remote role based anywhere in the United States.
• Approximately 50% travel. Living near a large airport hub makes the travel meaningfully easier.
• Regular visits to manufacturing facilities with seasonal hot and cold temperatures, dust, and some chemical fume exposure.
• Ability to lift up to 50 pounds.
Why Join
This is a chance to build a function rather than inherit one. The vertical market team is new, the mandate comes from sales leadership, and the person in this seat defines how the company goes to market in data centers, healthcare, and K-12 — segments where the equipment is genuinely differentiated on reliability, efficiency, indoor air quality, and total cost of ownership rather than price.
For an accomplished national or strategic account leader, it is the natural next step: you keep the customer contact and the commercial edge, and add ownership of the strategy, the enablement, and the market position — with real influence on pricing and the product roadmap. It is fully remote, it reports into sales leadership, and the program you build is visible across the entire commercial organization.