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Welcome to Tomorrow

We believe that effective leaders don't simply seek "jobs"; they seek organizations with a compelling story, exceptional colleagues, and room for continued growth. As you scroll through this page, you will gain a better understanding of Pentair's narrative, where the company has been, and where it is going.

General Manager (Manitowoc Ice)

Pentair

Pentair is one of the world's leading global producers of end-to-end Water Treatment, Water Filtration, and Water Sustainability solutions.  Following its official start in 1966, Pentair's first few decades of history were decorated in ups and downs as the company entered and exited varying industries including research balloons, paper production, power tools (Delta/Porter Cable), enclosures, and electrical solutions, seemingly searching for its mainstay identity.  This dynamic changed in 2004 when Pentair officially entered the Water Solutions space via a strategic acquisition of Wicor Industries.  The next 20 years of Pentair's history have been earmarked by successes in growing into one of the most powerful Water Solutions companies across the globe.  In 2018, the final non-water business of Pentair's was divested, leaving room for continued laser-focus and investment in growth across end-to-end Water Solutions.  This led to one of the most critical acquisitions of Pentair's history in 2022 as the company purchased Manitowoc Ice from Welbilt for ~$1.6B.  Manitowoc Ice is North America's food service marketshare leader in the Ice Machine business, with a rich 60 year history of producing top quality, industry-leading innovation, and impeccable customer service.  As the acquisition and integration process has now unfolded, Pentair's executive team is prepared to identify the business unit's next General Manager who will report to the highly respected Group President (former leader of Manitowoc Ice, Bo Erickson), overseeing its very healthy ~$400M P&L while leveraging the power of 800 business unit employees and Pentair's enterprise resources to drive an innovative transformation of the product portfolio and most importantly, global market expansion.  This particular GM role is also a highly visible component of Pentair's executive succession ladder as the company looks to grow by identifying talented senior leaders from the outside, and providing continued career growth opportunities into senior executive leadership.

A Foundation you can build on

Getting a sense of the foundation that has been built prior to your arrival offers a lens through which you can see where your career may go.

Pentair's Manitowoc Ice

Manitowoc Ice is a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-quality commercial ice machines and related products for the foodservice industry. With a rich history dating back to 1964, the company has established itself as a leader in the ice-making industry through a relentless focus on innovation, quality, and customer service. Manitowoc Ice is part of Pentair, a global water treatment company that operates in more than 25 countries. With a presence in more than 100 countries worldwide and a reputation for excellence, Manitowoc Ice is a preferred choice for businesses looking for high-quality ice-making solutions.

History

Manitowoc Ice has a rich history dating back to 1964 when the company was founded in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The company initially focused on manufacturing ice-making equipment for commercial and industrial customers, including hotels, restaurants, and healthcare facilities.

Over the years, Manitowoc Ice has established itself as a leader in the ice-making industry through a relentless focus on innovation, quality, and customer service. The company has introduced numerous groundbreaking products and technologies over the years, including the first modular ice machine in the early 1980s, and the first "quiet" ice machine in the 1990s. 

Manitowoc Ice has continued to innovate and expand its product offerings. The company has introduced several new lines of ice machines and has expanded its global reach, with a presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. Today, Manitowoc Ice is a key part of Pentair, a global water treatment company that operates in more than 25 countries.

Through its 50+ year history, Manitowoc Ice has established itself as a leader in the ice-making industry, with a reputation for quality, innovation, and customer service. The company's commitment to excellence has allowed it to build strong relationships with customers around the world and maintain its position as a preferred choice for businesses in need of high-quality ice-making solutions.

The Ice Industry

Over the past six decades, Pentair's Manitowoc business has built a strong brand reputation and has become the preferred choice for businesses looking for high-quality ice-making solutions. Manitowoc Ices' CAGR is 5.6% - 6%. One out of every two ice machines sold in North America is a Manitowoc Ice machine.

Scale

Manitowoc Ice is an industry leader in its category in the United States. Driving a P&L of $400M the firm leads the industry in delivering high quality and exceptional customer service. The firm has a stable foundation with immense opportunity for growth in marketshare ahead. With a team of approximately 800 employees, Manitowoc Ice has a global customer base of over 4,000 businesses. Manitowoc Ice has a global install base of approximately 1M units, offering over 200 models of commercial ice machines, while reinventing the company product line every 5-7 years introducing new products in a competitive market and responding to increased demand.

Our Take On Pentair's Values

Prideful

Pentair's leadership and employee engagement stems from a sense of pridefulness of being a part of a premium brand, owning market share in the United States within the industry vertical. Holistically, the firm embodies a proud culture devoted to creating quality products, offering exceptional customer experiences, and driving innovation for future expansion.

Community

Manitowoc Ice leads with a community orientation in business. Serving communities across the country, as well as having a sense of ownership and responsibility to driving the firm's business forward, the teams operate with immense dedication and partnership internally. The culture provides a sense of humility to support those around them in significant ways.

Collaboration & Capability

Pentair's Manitowoc Ice business has an overall very capable leadership team that believes in hiring talented people and fostering a highly collaborative environment for teams to thrive in this business.

What You Will Be A Part Of

As a leader at Pentair's Manitowoc Ice business, you will position the organization for its future, which requires an understanding of those around you, what they collectively stand for, and how they positively impact the world.

PRODUCT DEMO - ICE MACHINE

Hear a Manitowoc Ice team member speak about the machines and how they're best utilized.

MANITOWOC WEBCAST PRODUCT SEMINAR

Manitowoc Ice Headmaster presents head pressure control valve operation and troubleshooting of machines.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS 2022

NRA 2022 Testimonials

BAR RESCUE - MIXOLOGY DEMO MANITOWOC ICE

Ice Matters, become an Ice Master with Manitowoc Ice's Bar Rescue demo of mixology.

CLIENT-PARTNER, HOTEL

Hear from Manitowoc client-partner, hotel management on the reliability, efficiency, and cleaning ease with the product, Indigo. 

PRODUCT INNOVATION = VENDOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

Affordable, quality products. Manitowoc Ice wins business from continued support, product innovation, and exceptional service provided to customers. Integrity, committment to stakeholders, excellence - values the company holds dear.

The Company You’ll Keep

Who you’ll work with is often more important than the work itself. Get to know the Pentair leadership team you will be engaging with in this role.

Bo Erickson

Group President - Commercial Water Solutions

Bo Erickson is a seasoned business professional with over 15 years of experience in driving the growth of profitable business segments. As the Group President of Pentair's Commercial Water Solutions and previously serving as President of Manitowoc Ice, Bo has dedicated the past 12 years to cultivating mutually beneficial relationships and expanding profitable business within the foodservice industry. He has achieved this through collaborative distribution, channel partnerships, and extensive connections with key players in the top 50 Chain restaurants of the food-service segment. Bo's responsibilities as Group President of Pentair's Commercial Water Solutions encompass leading three multi-million dollar business units, overseeing Commercial Ice, Filtration, and Service teams across multiple global facilities. Known for his proactive approach and problem-solving abilities, he thrives on the challenges of growing dynamic businesses and has consistently achieved year-over-year growth since 2009. Colleagues would describe him as a go-to professional who excels in execution, remains calm under pressure, and prioritizes teamwork and results over personal recognition. Bo welcomes the opportunity to make new professional connections and believes that success is achieved through relationships and collaborative strategies. 

Nicki Lertiz

CHRO - Water Solutions Segment

Aaron Brix

Group Marketing Leader - Commercial Water Solutions

Greg Ebel

VP Global Sales and Distribution

John Myers

Director of Engineering

Gina Passage (Johnson)

Finance Director and Group CFO

Kyle Gress

Group Integrated Supply Chain Leader

Tanya Hooper

EVP and CHRO

Adrian Chiu

EVP and President, Water Solutions at Pentair

A Day in the Life

As the General Manager of Manitowoc Ice's business within the Pentair portfolio, this leader will work cross functionally across the matrixed leadership team driving business growth. This leader will oversee product, product strategy, and commercialization, with sales, and marketing oversight. The GM of Manitowoc Ice will have the opportunity to influence and work through all matrixes and functions to ultimately impact the $400 million P&L they own. 

The General Manager will lead a high-performance team that thrives on developing and launching impactful, leading products and services for commercial customers. This individual will lead a growth-focused global product portfolio with over $400 million in annual sales. The General Manager will develop and drive the overall growth and profitability strategy for Manitowoc Ice product categories through a cross-functional direct report team of Product, Sales, and Service leaders as well as matrixed leaders from Operations, Technology, Finance and Marketing.

Responsibilities

  • Develops and drives strategy and translates business direction into global product portfolio decisions for the entire category.

  • Takes a broad perspective on the overall goals and performance of the category incorporating all aspects of the business including Sales, Operations, Marketing, Technology, Financial, Human Resources, Compliance, and others.

  • Responsible for meeting or exceeding P&L targets (i.e., sales, standard margin).

  • Aligns, inspires, and develops teams across functional and geographic boundaries.

  • Ensures customer perspective and end-user needs are a driving force behind strategic priorities, business decisions, product and service innovation and organizational processes.

  • Utilizes data to diagnose business strengths and weaknesses and identify the implications for potential strategies and to increase financial performance and growth.

  • Provides oversight to all product portfolio strategic initiatives (e.g., branding, NPD, portfolio optimization, channel expansion).

  • Partners with Technology and Program Management to lead cross-functional NPD and VAVE execution.

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  • Integrates profit and revenue considerations into business and operational decisions and allocates appropriate resources by making trade-offs while maintaining a focus on achieving goals and profitability targets.

  • Develops pricing strategies and tactics through effective interpretation of market dynamics, customer insights, and profitability analytics.

  • Utilizes financial modeling and risk analysis to make decisions. Evaluates, recommends, and makes decisions based upon proposals and/or contract terms and conditions.

  • Leads value proposition definition and differentiation of product and service portfolio.

  • Identifies and champions new business models or services and is accountable for business plans.

  • Drives alignment and accountability with forecast and SIOP process and aligns with Operations on support for growth.

Requirements

  • At least 10 years of product management, business development and/or category leadership experience.

  • Experience building and executing strategic product roadmaps.

  • An understanding of best-in-class product marketing and ability to build consumer insight capabilities, gather and analyze voice-of-customer, and deliver impactful integrated marketing plans.

  • Strong financial acumen and the ability to drive decisions that deliver business goals.

  • A driven leader with inspiring enthusiasm for product management and development.

  • Ability to build and sustain strong cross-functional relationships functional to influence, ensure open communications and drive alignment.

  • Desire to build a sense of shared purpose and vision to focus Pentair’s strategic product development and launch plans to deliver impactful, meaningful products and experiences to consumers and partners.

  • Ability to travel as needed for the role.

  • A bachelor’s degree is required, and an MBA or master’s degree is preferred.

  • Experience working effectively within a business unit matrix structure to ensure functional alignment and high performance.

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  • Demonstrated drive for results that contributes to a high-performance culture.

  • Ability to adapt quickly to change and ambiguity.

  • Experience managing and developing a diverse team.

  • Ability to develop and execute strategy and achieve significant top and bottom-line results.

  • Understands key drivers of sales and profit growth and establishes innovative strategies that create growth.

  • Ability to generate new business by growing market share, expanding brands, identifying high-growth product categories, and developing new businesses.

  • Recognizes and assesses risk and key indicators of financial health (e.g., liquidity, profitability, and productivity ratios) and identifies trends from financial data to guide strategic and operational decision making.

  • Understands key financial statements and demonstrates proper cash flow management (capex, working capital, etc.)

  • Ability to quickly grasp strategic concepts and detailed, complex market and customer information and assimilate them into coherent solutions and decisions.

  • Understands how to utilize different functions and key stakeholder groups (e.g., customers, vendors) to meet unique demands, constraints, and opportunities for the business.

Download Full Job Description

What You Bring to the Table

Commercialization

A leader who can support commercializing products. A skilled leader with experience through the product lifecycle from ideation to understanding voice of customer to positioning for commercialization and engaging in new product development.

Servant Leadership

A leader who supports a talented team by driving an engaged culture and enhancing present-state. A people-leader who supports as a player-coach in a collaborative culture driving successful outcomes with a high performing team. Someone who empowers the team to reach their full potential while focused on serving the greater good of the firm holistically.

Strategic and Practical

A leader who has the ability to think strategically, set long term goals for the organization, while being detail oriented in executing said plans and addressing challenges real-time for the business and its stakeholders. A leader who effectively bridges the gap between strategic vision and day-to-day operations.

We believe this opportunity has the potential to be your next best thing. What do you think?