National Accounts Manager (Store Support Center, Overland Park, KS)

About Ace Retail Group

Ace Retail Group (ARG), is a division of Ace Hardware Corporation that owns and operates several Ace brands, including Westlake Ace, Great Lakes Ace, Buikema's Ace, Outer Banks Ace, Dennis Company, and Breed & Company. ARG is one of the largest hardware retailers in the United States and has two headquarters located in Lenexa, KS and Farmington Hills, MI. ARG's origins date back over a century and operates over 250 neighborhood stores located throughout the United States. Great people make ARG stand out in our industry, and we are looking for individuals who strive for personal and professional growth, and who want to work with a company founded on (and still led by) our solid Core Values of: Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility and Teamwork.

Job Title: National Accounts Manager

Department: Commercial Business

Reports To: Vice President, Commercial Business

Exemption Status: Exempt (Salaried)

About Ace Retail Group

Ace Retail Group (ARG) is a division of Ace Hardware Corporation that owns and operates several well-known Ace brands, including Westlake Ace, Great Lakes Ace, Buikema's Ace, Outer Banks Ace, Dennis Company, and Breed & Company. As one of the largest hardware retailers in the United States, ARG operates more than 250 neighborhood stores nationwide and maintains its headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas.

With roots dating back over a century, ARG's success is driven by its people. What truly sets us apart in the industry is our commitment to hiring and developing individuals who are passionate about personal and professional growth and who want to be part of a company built on strong, enduring Core Values:

Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility and Teamwork

General Job Summary

This role owns and advances ARG Commercial's National Accounts strategy across targeted multi-family property management customers and other qualified customers of opportunity. The National Accounts Manager will identify and engage senior-level customer leaders, develop durable relationships that influence local buying decisions, and coordinate the internal resources needed to turn executive access into actual market-level sales. The role does not replace the field sales organization; it multiplies field effectiveness by creating access, accelerating onboarding, improving handoffs, and helping remove credit, billing, eProcurement, operational, and execution barriers that limit growth.

Role Purpose

The National Accounts Manager is a strategic growth role responsible for building executive-level relationships with high-value regional and national customers, creating enterprise buying alignment, and increasing repeatable, sustainable Gross Margin dollars across the National Accounts book. With a goal of creating coordinated, scalable account growth by opening doors, clearing operational barriers, and enabling BDMs/RSMs to win more effectively in the field.

Strategic Outcomes

Drive scalable, predictable GM$ growth by expanding wallet share within high-capacity Regional/National Accounts.

Create enterprise-level buying behavior through senior decision-maker engagement with CEOs, CFOs, procurement leaders, owners, and other key influencers.

Convert top-down relationships into field-level execution by connecting local buyers with ARG BDMs and RSMs.

Improve margin stability, sales predictability, payment consistency, and operational scalability through cross-functional partnership.

Prioritize growth in existing accounts while selectively adding high-value new targets with clear scale potential.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Executive Relationship Development

• Identify, pursue, and cultivate senior-level relationships with high-potential existing and new Regional/National Account customers.
• Position ARG Commercial as a credible, scalable, tier-one supplier capable of supporting multi-market customer needs.
• Use trust, service, responsiveness, and problem-solving to earn access to larger bids, recurring purchases, and enterprise-level opportunities.

Account Targeting & Pipeline Focus

• Maintain a focused book of primary targets based on growth potential, geography, customer type, existing activity, payment history, field coverage, and operational fit.
• Utilize and execute CRM use at a high level by documenting relevant relationship and sales driving data points.
• Balance existing account expansion with selective new account acquisition, recognizing that too broad a target list slows progress against all opportunities.
• Partner with BDMs, RSMs, eProcurement, AR, trade shows, industry associations, and market referrals to identify qualified, scalable opportunities.

Field Enablement & Launch Discipline

• Create a consistent launch process that connects National Account wins and opportunities to the appropriate RSMs, BDMs, stores, and support partners.
• Provide field teams with introductions, context, decision-maker insight, buying locations, and clear next actions to accelerate local relationship development.
• Partner with RSMs throughout strategic projects, not just at handoff, to identify competing priorities and improve local execution.

Cross-Functional Growth Engine

• Collaborate with Accounts Receivable to support appropriate credit lines, accurate billing formats, payment consistency, and proactive account planning.
• Partner closely with eProcurement to support integrations, customer portals, bid visibility, automation, and scalable ordering paths.
• Coordinate with Commercial Marketing to build awareness, strengthen customer onboarding, and support targeted customer communication.
• Work with CFC Operations, stores, and field leadership to ensure fulfillment capability, inventory readiness, delivery alignment, and service consistency.

Commercial Execution & Financial Discipline

• Negotiate pricing, rebate structures, incentives, and ROI-positive programs that encourage long-term buying behavior while protecting margin quality.
• Track account progress, field engagement, sales activity, bid opportunities, and barriers to growth; communicate themes and needed action clearly.
• Own market challenges by identifying friction points, coordinating fixes, and creating repeatable solutions that prevent the same issues from slowing future growth.

Success Measures

• Gross Margin dollar growth across the National Accounts book and targeted account segments.
• Expansion of wallet share within active National Accounts and improved penetration across supported markets.
• Activation of qualified new high-value accounts and successful conversion of strategic bids/RFPs.
• Improved field engagement, clearer launch discipline, and stronger RSM/BDM adoption of National Account opportunities.
• Reduced friction in AR, billing, eProcurement, order flow, and operational execution for strategic customers.
• Greater account predictability, stronger retention, and more consistent payment and purchasing behavior.

Other Essential Requirements

Ability to exhibit and incorporate our Core Values into daily decisions and interactions with others:

o WINNING - In business, money is the score. To win, we must perform, compete, and have fun. At Ace, we win through people- our strength is being helpful.

o EXCELLENCE - Excellence honors God and inspires people. We aspire to be the best, to continuously improve and to inspire others by giving the team our very best.

o LOVE - Love the people, love the work and love the results.

o INTEGRITY - For Ace to win, we need to be able to trust each other. And trust will require us to be honest, reliable, caring, of high character and of unquestioned ethics.

o GRATITUDE - We recognize that we are blessed to be in the business of serving others.

o HUMILITY - We strive for greatness with a humble, modest and respectful attitude.

o TEAMWORK - We will fight the natural tendency for control and credit in favor of collaboration and mutual success, recognizing that…Together, we are Ace.

Minimum Qualifications, Requirements and Skills

• Strong executive presence and ability to communicate credibly with senior customer leaders, procurement teams, owners, operations leaders, internal executives, RSMs, and BDMs.
• Proven relationship-development skills, including consultative selling, negotiation, conflict resolution, follow-up discipline, and comfort asking for commitment.
• Deep understanding of retail operations, commercial sales, inventory flow, customer service, delivery execution, and business fundamentals.
• Ability to lead through influence across field sales, AR, eProcurement, marketing, operations, and store teams without direct authority over all partners.
• Comfort with prospecting tools, internet-based research, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, industry resources, trade shows, customer meetings, Teams meetings, and customer portals.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills; able to prioritize a focused target list, track progress, identify barriers, and communicate concise action plans.
• Excellent PC skills, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, CRM/reporting tools, and related business applications.
• Ability to work independently, manage flexible hours, travel frequently, and operate with a high level of ownership, urgency, professionalism, and judgment.
• Deliver results through ARG Core Values: Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility & Teamwork
• Represent ARG Commercial with professionalism in customer meetings, trade shows, association events, market visits, internal meetings, and executive updates.
• Protect customer trust by following through, communicating clearly, resolving issues promptly, and coordinating the right internal resources.
• Sitting, standing, walking, talking, presenting, and engaging in customer/field meetings.
• Must be able to lift and load up to 50 lbs.

Compensation Details

$100000 to $125000 per year

For a full list of benefits and open positions, please visit us at: https://acehardware.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ARG_External

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Equal Opportunity Employer

Ace Retail Group is committed to a policy of promoting equal employment opportunities. The company recognizes the importance of diversity and leveraging the skills and talents of all people to the mutual advantage of each individual and the organization. The company is committed to the prevention of employment discrimination related to race, religion, color, sex (including sexual harassment), gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, disability and military discharge, or any other action covered by federal or state laws.