The Role
Lead end-to-end business development for Total Water Management: qualify opportunities, coordinate cross-functional teams, engineer pricing, prepare commercial proposals, manage contracts and customer follow-up, and close large Design & Build water projects while ensuring profitability and scalable benchmarks.
Summary Generated by Built In
The Business Development Manager (BDM) for Total Water Management (TWM) drives end-to-end business development, from discovery phase to contract finalisation. Acts as gatekeeper between internal resources (MO, Engineering, ITC, CAM) and external partners, ensuring rigorous opportunity qualification, competitive proposals, and sustainable profitability (pricing engineering and ROI).
Accountability Objectives
- Assist CAMs and sales force during discovery phase by attending visits and presenting TWM applications.
- Ensure compliance with qualification process and focus on relevant opportunities.
- Support Sales in project mode, acting as gatekeeper between internal resources (MO, Engineering, ITC, CAM) and external partners (engineering companies).
- Propose to SGS Director mechanisms (scope of work, working mode) and alliances/partnerships to ensure competitiveness and expected profitability.
- Lead pricing engineering with Finance to guarantee acceptable profitability and return on investment.
- Manage contractual matters and customer satisfaction follow-up with O&M team and Sales/KAM for existing TWM accounts.
- Support Sales and Engineering in negotiating claims with vendors and customers.
- Drive strong business growth with high closure ratio and profitability.
- Lead TWM selling process from conceptual note to contract finalisation.
Key Responsibilities
- Play an active role in discovery phase by attending sales calls and raising TWM-specific core business questions to customers.
- Manage opportunity qualification process and recommend Go/No-Go to qualification committee.
- Provide support to CAMs and coordinate (gatekeeper) Ecolab/Nalco team (Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance) during selling phase.
- Prepare commercial proposals for review by Project Team prior to submission by Sales; responsible for pricing engineering.
- Ensure 100% compliance with processes and obtain approvals from Finance and divisional leadership.
- Support Sales & MO teams in follow-up of ongoing contracts from a commercial perspective: ensure commitments (progress, cost reduction) are implemented; manage contract renegotiation.
- Balance commercial and technical aspects after first year of contract operation to draw lessons learned and set reusable benchmarks.
- Prepare and deliver internal and external presentations of TWM capabilities with Marketing, working with CAM & DM.
- Network with Engineering, Key Industry Marketers and R&D to leverage new technical developments through new products/applications/systems.
- Maintain internal benchmarks with peers, ensuring relevant feedback (methods, technology, costing) is considered during selling phase.
- Enhance competitiveness and relevance of TWM proposals by challenging stakeholders to optimise costs.
- Drive contractual agreement finalisation with customers with support from Legal and CAM.
Additional Responsibilities
- Develop and expand existing and new national accounts in designated industry segments (e.g., GHT) in collaboration with Corporation CAM.
- Build and secure major new business accounts at corporate level with support from Corporation CAM.
- Experience in selling large equipment/project deals related to water processing under Design & Build regime.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Water Processing or related field; strong sales-driven mindset; solid understanding of sales processes; experience with mid-to-large projects.
- Knowledge of complex multi-discipline solution selling; strong market and vendor network (equipment, engineering); experience in Project Management (execution phase); outsourcing project experience is a must.
- Minimum 10 years’ experience in mid-to-large companies.
- Proven ability to manage cross-functional teams without direct authority; leadership skills; attention to detail; excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to multitask, strong organisational skills, resilience.
Preferred / Nice to Have
- Knowledge of water/effluent treatment technologies (RO/UF, DAF, MBR, etc.) and familiarity with plant commissioning/start-up.
- Financial acumen and ability to define business cases and ROI.
- Willingness and ability to travel 30–50%.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Water Processing or related field
- Minimum 10 years' experience in mid-to-large companies
- Experience selling mid-to-large projects and large equipment under Design & Build regime
- Knowledge of complex multi-discipline solution selling
- Strong market and vendor network (equipment, engineering)
- Experience in Project Management (execution phase)
- Outsourcing project experience
- Proven ability to manage cross-functional teams without direct authority and leadership skills
- Strong commercial acumen: pricing engineering, ROI and business case definition
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; attention to detail; strong organizational skills; resilience; ability to multitask
- Willingness and ability to travel 30-50%
- Knowledge of water/effluent treatment technologies (RO/UF, DAF, MBR) and familiarity with plant commissioning/start-up
Ecolab Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Ecolab and has not been reviewed or approved by Ecolab.
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Retirement Support — Feedback suggests the company provides strong retirement programs, including a 401(k) with employer matching and a pension, alongside options like an employee stock purchase plan. Offerings such as retiree healthcare benefits and diverse investment choices reinforce long-term financial support.
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Healthcare Strength — Feedback suggests medical coverage is broad, with HSA plan options and company contributions, prescription benefits, dental and vision, and virtual care and mental health support. Company-paid wellness programs and income protection (short- and long-term disability, life and accident) further strengthen core coverage.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-focused programs include fertility support, adoption assistance, and paid parental leave, complemented by counseling and resource services. These offerings are positioned as supportive of employee well-being across different life stages.
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The Company
What We Do
A trusted partner at nearly three million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. With annual sales of $12 billion and more than 44,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions, data-driven insights and personalized service to advance food safety, maintain clean and safe environments, optimize water and energy use, and improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com, or follow us on twitter.com/ecolab, facebook.com/ecolab or instagram.com/ecolab_inc.
