Industry Principal Lead - Utilities (Water & Wastewater) - USA

Position Overview

We are seeking a senior industry leader to drive our Client`s Utilities vertical strategy, with a primary focus on Water and Wastewater organizations. This role blends executive-level business development, industry thought leadership, and deep operational technology expertise.

The Industry Principal Lead will shape Utilities market positioning, strengthen executive relationships, and develop scalable solution offerings that combine engineering, automation, digital transformation, and consulting services. This individual will serve as the company’s senior subject matter authority for Utilities, guiding both revenue growth and delivery excellence across municipal, regional, and industrial operators.

This role requires strong leadership presence, commercial acumen, technical credibility, and the ability to operate confidently with C-level stakeholders. This  position will require 40% travel.

Key Responsibilities

Industry Strategy & Market Leadership

• Define and evolve the company’s Utilities industry strategy, with particular emphasis on water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collection systems. Monitor regulatory trends, infrastructure modernization initiatives, and digital transformation drivers shaping the sector.

• Represent the organization externally at conferences, executive briefings, industry associations, and customer engagements. Develop high-quality thought leadership content including industry frameworks, white papers, maturity models, and strategic viewpoints tailored to Utilities.

• Lead executive-level discussions around SCADA modernization, operational resilience, asset performance management, industrial data strategy, OT cybersecurity, and advanced analytics. Provide expertise across water treatment operations, pumping and lift stations, asset-intensive infrastructure, and regulatory compliance landscapes.

Solution Development & Offering Innovation

• Design and refine industry-specific service offerings that integrate engineering, automation, digital platforms, analytics, and system integration capabilities. Translate Utilities market needs into repeatable, scalable solution packages in collaboration with product, engineering, and delivery teams.

• Contribute to the definition of Utilities solution architectures spanning SCADA/HMI platforms, PLC/DCS systems, industrial data historians, asset management platforms, cloud-based reporting, and analytics ecosystems. Identify reusable frameworks, accelerators, and reference architectures to improve delivery efficiency and commercial margins.

• Develop compelling value propositions aligned with municipal procurement models and infrastructure funding structures.

Business Development & Revenue Ownership

• Own Utilities-specific revenue targets and margin performance. Partner closely with Business Development leadership to build and execute annual growth plans.

• Serve as Account Owner for a select group of strategic and focused accounts. Drive the full sales lifecycle, from opportunity identification through contract execution, leveraging both direct engagement and industry networking channels.

• Lead consultative sales efforts with VP, SVP, and Director-level executives across Utilities organizations. Structure and position large-scale digital transformation programs, including SCADA/HMI modernization, automation upgrades, industrial data platforms, AI/ML initiatives, and enterprise asset management strategies.

• Prepare executive-ready proposals and statements of work for complex, multi-million-dollar programs. Articulate ROI, total cost of ownership, compliance benefits, and long-term operational value.

• Utilize CRM systems (Salesforce) and internal collaboration tools to manage pipeline visibility and opportunity progression.

Internal Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Provide leadership and mentorship to assigned business development and account management professionals. Support teams during complex sales cycles to secure strategic contracts.

• Collaborate with delivery teams, technical experts, marketing, and operations leadership to ensure alignment between market commitments and solution execution. Act as executive sponsor or steering committee member for major Utilities programs, ensuring regulatory and data integrity standards are upheld.

• Educate internal teams on Utilities operations, compliance frameworks, and digital transformation best practices. Partner closely with automation, SCADA, MES, data engineering, cloud, and AI teams to ensure cohesive and industry-aligned solution delivery.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline is required. Equivalent professional experience will be considered.

• Candidates should bring a minimum of 10 years of experience in new business development and client acquisition, with a consistent track record of profitable revenue growth. Experience selling engineering, automation, software, or operational technology solutions to manufacturing or infrastructure-intensive industries is essential.

• Strong executive presence and proven experience engaging C-suite and senior leadership stakeholders are highly desirable. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to manage quotas, long-term strategic objectives, and short-term revenue goals while maintaining financial discipline.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills are required, along with the ability to lead persuasive discussions in board-level and executive environments. Experience managing or mentoring sales teams and building long-term customer relationships is expected.

Preferred Background

• Experience within Utilities, Water/Wastewater, or infrastructure-heavy sectors is strongly preferred. Familiarity with SCADA/HMI platforms such as Ignition, AVEVA/Wonderware, Rockwell FactoryTalk, or Siemens WinCC is advantageous. Working knowledge of PLC/DCS environments, telemetry systems, historians, remote monitoring, and industrial data architectures is highly valued.

• Exposure to asset management platforms, predictive maintenance strategies, and OT cybersecurity frameworks is desirable. Prior consulting or advisory experience delivering multi-million-dollar transformation programs would be beneficial.

What Success Looks Like

The successful candidate will establish our organization as a recognized Utilities industry partner, build executive trust across strategic accounts, expand revenue within the vertical, and shape innovative offerings that address modernization, resilience, and compliance challenges facing Utilities operators today.