Business Development Manager – Private Water, California

Job Posting:
Water is at the core of our business and central to our vision for sustainability. In California, private water utilities deliver safe, reliable water to more than 5.5 million residents, and they do it while managing aging infrastructure, tightening regulation, drought, and constant pressure to keep rates fair. Ferguson has a real opportunity to help. This role exists to put our full capability, products, technology, and expertise in front of the people making those decisions, so our customers can reduce water loss, modernize their systems, and keep clean water flowing to the communities that depend on them. This is how a Business Development Manager helps build water-resilient communities in California.
California’s private water market is growing, changing, and demanding more from its partners. Ferguson is looking for a field-first Business Development Manager who knows how to turn relationships, market knowledge, and disciplined follow-through into measurable growth.
This role is built for someone who wants to be close to the action; in front of customers, alongside branch teams, at jobsites, and engaged with the people responsible for delivering critical water infrastructure every day. The BDM will own growth execution across assigned private water accounts in California, strengthening Ferguson’s presence with investor-owned utilities, O&M contractors, and regional decision-makers.
The purpose of this role is to help our private water customers serve their communities more effectively by bringing the full strength of Ferguson to the field. That means building trust, removing friction, finding opportunities, and making sure strategy turns into results. We are looking for a grinder. Someone who is curious, persistent, commercially sharp, and energized by the work it takes to grow a market. The right person will be comfortable navigating complexity, following up relentlessly, and earning credibility through action. This is not a desk-first role. It is a California field role for someone who wants to help build something important.
This role is approved to be fully remote. The ideal candidate will reside in the California market and have convenient access to a major airport to accommodate regional travel.
What You’ll Own
Growth execution across assigned private water accounts in California, including IOU and O&M contractor relationships.
Field alignment between customer priorities, branch execution, regional sales, operations, and supply chain teams.
Practical follow-through that removes barriers, improves customer experience, and turns local insight into profitable growth.
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How You’ll Be Successful
Build Customer and Field Relationships
Build trusted relationships with customer operations, construction, procurement, and regional leadership teams.
Maintain consistent field presence with customers, branches, and project teams to understand needs and create momentum.
Build Ferguson’s local credibility through responsive engagement, reliable follow-through, and practical problem-solving.
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Drive Regional Execution
Execute account agreements, pricing programs, and customer commitments consistently across assigned branches and regions.
Turn market and customer insight into clear action with branch, district, operations, sales, and supply chain teams.
Monitor projects, orders, RFP activity, service issues, and operational risks to keep work moving and customers informed.
Remove barriers in real time, including inventory, logistics, invoicing, contract compliance, and service delivery challenges.
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Turn Opportunity into Growth
Build and execute practical account plans that connect customer priorities, regional opportunities, and Ferguson growth objectives.
Uncover new opportunities across assigned accounts by staying close to customer needs, projects, operational pain points, and buying behaviors.
Expand market share by positioning Ferguson’s full platform, including products, services, technology, supply chain solutions, digital tools, and process improvements.
Use pipeline activity, customer feedback, and performance insights to drive profitable growth, margin improvement, and long-term account health.
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Lead Cross-Functional Action
Bring the right internal partners together quickly to solve customer needs and improve execution.
Create alignment across regional sales, branch operations, supply chain, technology, and enterprise resources.
Follow through until issues are resolved, opportunities are advanced, and commitments are delivered.
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Qualifications
Experience in account management, sales, or project coordination, preferably within waterworks, utilities, or infrastructure
Strong ability to build relationships across regional, district, and field teams
Experience managing complex accounts spanning multiple locations or stakeholders
Knowledge of Ferguson systems (Salesforce and PowerBI) and operational processes preferred
Strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills
Ability to balance strategic alignment with hands-on execution
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Travel Expectations
Travel will be primarily regional and account-focused, supporting assigned Private Water customers and field teams 25 – 40% of time throughout the state of California
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Expected travel includes:
On-site customer engagement (utilities, contractors, job sites)
Key project milestones, implementations, or issue resolution.