Client manager

Client Manager

Full-Time | Field-Based | This position must be based in Texas, with a strong preference for candidates in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) or Houston areas.  

Leading the People Who Make Savings Happen

You've led teams. You've sat across from executives who needed a straight answer. You've been the person who gets called when a project is drifting. This role puts all three to work at once.

Cenergistic helps schools, universities, hospitals and government organizations cut energy waste without capital investment. Since 1986, our clients have redirected more than $7.3 billion in utility savings back to classrooms, patient care and public services. We've been named an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year 13 times.

As a Client Manager, you'll run a regional portfolio of clients and lead Energy Specialists embedded with them. You're the principal point of contact for each client, the person accountable for the savings, and the coach who develops the people delivering it.

What Our Best Client Managers Have in Common

This job asks you to be trusted by an executive and useful to a custodian in the same afternoon, and to develop a team you rarely see in person. That shows up as five things:

• Trusted at the top. You're comfortable in an executive suite or in front of a board, and executives keep taking your calls after you've told them something they didn't want to hear.
• A coach, not a supervisor. Your Energy Specialists work alone, in buildings, on their own schedules. You develop them from a distance — teaching the program, positioning them well with the client, and holding them to the number without hovering.
• Accountable for the result. The portfolio has savings projections attached to it. You track them continuously, spot a shortfall before the client does, and do something about it.
• Steady when things go sideways. Escalations come to you first. You can tell the difference between a problem that needs you and one that doesn't, and you drive the hard ones to a resolution both sides can live with.
• A strong communicator. A board presentation one day, a maintenance director the next, and an internal engineering conversation in between. You adjust without losing the thread.

What You'll Do

• Lead a regional portfolio of client deployments and serve as the principal Cenergistic contact for each one
• Build and hold executive relationships across your clients — the finance, operations and facilities leaders who decide what happens
• Manage and coach the Energy Specialists assigned to your clients — teaching the program, positioning them with client staff, and helping them find and capture the conservation measures that drive performance
• Own savings performance across the portfolio and step in early when a client is drifting off projection
• Handle escalations and drive difficult issues to a favorable resolution
• Review results with client senior leadership, and help your Energy Specialists prepare formal performance updates
• Lead semi-annual Energy Management Plan reviews with clients and Cenergistic leadership
• Present program performance to client boards twice a year
• Support your sales director with new business in the region, and your client’s experience director on growth within the existing portfolio
• Work with our client experience, measurement and verification, engineering and product teams on anything affecting your clients

Work Looks Different by Client

Our clients aren't interchangeable, and neither are the portfolios. The program is the same everywhere. What changes is who you're working with and what's possible in the buildings.

• K-12 school districts. Buildings empty out at night, on weekends and over the summer, and a lot of the savings live in those hours. You'll work with district business officials and facilities directors, principals who control their own buildings, and elected boards in public meetings.
• Higher education. Residence halls, classrooms, labs, athletics and central plants, in a decentralized structure where deans and department heads control their own space — so one change can need agreement in several places. Research space runs around the clock. Campus sustainability commitments often open the door.
• Healthcare. Nothing shuts down. Savings come from discipline in setpoints, ventilation and scheduling across administrative, outpatient and support space, and anything touching clinical areas goes through infection prevention, life safety and accreditation review. Slower, more documented, and you'll work closely with plant operations and facilities leadership.
• Government and commercial. Mixed portfolios where an office, a library, a courthouse and a 24/7 public safety facility all behave differently, inside public procurement and open meeting rules.

You don't need to have worked across all of these. Tell us which ones you know, and it'll factor into where you'd fit best.

What You'll Need

• A bachelor's degree in an applicable field
• Proven leadership experience and a track record of developing a team
• Excellent customer-facing skills at every level, from executives to custodians
• Strong written and verbal communication across different audiences
• Effective presentation skills, including executive and board audiences
• Comfort with Microsoft Office, project management tools and web-based applications
• Valid driver's license, reliable transportation and proof of auto insurance
• Willingness to travel 75% to 100% within your territory

Helpful, But Not Required

• A degree in electrical or mechanical engineering, or equivalent experience managing in a mechanical systems environment
• Four or more years directing large-scale, multi-phase projects — energy efficiency deployment especially
• Experience with K-12 districts, universities or other public sector organizations
• PMP or CEM certification
• Working knowledge of HVAC, building automation or energy management systems

Strong backgrounds for this role include multi-site operations leadership, facilities and property management, program and project management, military leadership, K-12 or higher education administration, healthcare operations, and consulting or account leadership in a technical field.

Before You Start

You’ll be working on client property — schools, campuses, hospitals and public buildings — so this role carries requirements set by both us and our clients. If we make an offer, it will be contingent on:

• A criminal background check
• A motor vehicle record check
• A drug screen
• Proof of a valid driver’s license and active automobile insurance

Some clients require additional screening before granting site access — fingerprinting for many school districts, for example, or extra health screening for hospitals. All of this happens after an offer is extended, not before, and you’ll need to keep your license and insurance current for as long as you’re in the role.

Travel and Schedule

This is a field-based role supporting clients across an assigned territory, with travel of roughly 75% to 100%. Your clients may include schools, universities, healthcare facilities, government buildings and other commercial sites.

It isn't a traditional 8-to-5 schedule. Board meetings happen in the evening, your Energy Specialists audit buildings when they're empty, and the week bends toward whichever client needs you. Managing your own time and travel well is a real part of doing this job well.

Physical Requirements

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. The role regularly involves:

• Standing, walking and climbing stairs during site visits and building walkthroughs
• Occasionally using ladders and accessing roofs and mechanical spaces, following safety guidelines
• Bending, kneeling, crouching and reaching while inspecting building systems
• Occasionally lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling up to 25 pounds
• Working in mechanical rooms and outdoor areas, where noise, heat, cold and weather exposure occur
• Using a computer, tablet and phone throughout the day, and communicating in person, by phone and in virtual meetings
• Driving and flying independently to client locations, with frequent overnight travel

Why This Role Matters

Every dollar your portfolio saves is a dollar that stays in a classroom, supports patient care, or goes back into serving a community. And because lasting savings depend on how buildings are operated, the work holds — the changes your teams make keep paying out year after year.

Build a Career Here

Client Manager → Regional Vice President

We promote results: portfolio performance, client satisfaction, and the Energy Specialists you develop. Several of our regional leaders came up this way.

Benefits

Medical, Dental & Vision · 401(k)· Paid Time Off · Mileage Reimbursement · Training & Professional Development · Employee Assistance Program

Accommodation

If you need reasonable accommodation to complete the application or take part in the interview process, contact Human Resources at 972.590.7793 or [email protected]. We'll work with you to figure it out. If you're hired and need accommodation to perform the job, the same door is open.

Ready to Apply?

Cenergistic is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.