C&I Sales Manager, Distribution

Canadian Solar

Location not specified

Full Time

Posted September 11, 2026

$120k - $140k

Solar Energy

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Job Description

Anticipated travel for this role is approximately 50% of the year depending on the territories you support in North America and their relative location to your home.

Key Responsibilities

This is not an account management role.
We are looking for a highly driven channel sales manager to help grow CS Power Systems' commercial and industrial (C&I) distribution business across the Northeast US. Must live in the Northeast general area.
Many distribution partners in solar have historically focused on residential business. Our goal is to help those partners successfully expand into commercial solar, and we are looking for someone who knows how to make that happen.
This role is for a builder.
You will work directly with distributor leadership teams, branch teams, outside sales reps, EPCs, and commercial installers to help create real commercial sales momentum through distribution. The right person understands both the distribution landscape and the commercial solar market and knows how to turn relationships into measurable growth.
We are looking for someone who is highly accountable, competitive, self-directed, and energized by being in the field developing business. This role requires a strong hunter mentality combined with the ability to influence, educate, and drive action across channel partners.
Drive commercial distribution growth throughout California and the broader Western U.S. region.
Develop and execute territory growth strategies focused on expanding Canadian Solar’s presence within distribution partners.
Build strong relationships across distributor organizations including outside sales teams, purchasing teams, branch leadership, commercial sales teams, EPCs, and installers.
Identify and activate new commercial sales opportunities through distribution channels.
Help residential-focused distributors expand their commercial solar capabilities and confidence
Conduct ride-a-longs, branch visits, training, and field engagement activities to support distributor sales teams.
Support channel partners with commercial solar education including project positioning, customer targeting, quoting strategy, and go-to-market execution.
Create pull-through demand by strengthening relationships with EPCs, installers, and commercial developers.
Drive market share growth against key competitors within the commercial distribution channel
Maintain accurate forecasting, pipeline visibility, and territory planning.
Represent Canadian Solar at trade shows, customer events, and industry conferences.
Collaborate cross-functionally with internal sales leadership, product management, operations, and support team.
What Success Looks Like Success in this role means building commercial momentum through distribution. This includes:
Expanding commercial activity within existing distribution partners.
Increasing module sales through the channel.
Helping distributors become more confident and active in C&I solar.
Developing new EPC and installer relationships.
Activating dormant or underperforming accounts.
Creating repeatable commercial growth strategies across the territory.
Becoming a trusted commercial resource within the channel.

Requirements

5+ years of experience selling into solar distribution channels.
Strong existing relationships within the solar distribution industry.
3+ years of experience in commercial and industrial (C&I) solar markets.
Strong understanding of the C&I sales cycle, customer profiles, procurement process, financing considerations, and EPC workflows.
Proven ability to grow territory revenue and develop new business opportunities.
Experience influencing and supporting outside sales organizations.
Ability to identify decision-makers and navigate complex sales environments.
Strong field presence with a willingness to travel extensively throughout the territory.
Self-motivated with a high sense of urgency and accountability.
Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
Ability to operate independently while collaborating effectively across teams.
Experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office Suite preferred.
The ideal candidate combines strong solar distribution relationships with real commercial solar fluency. They are: • A hunter who enjoys building business, not maintaining the status quo.
Comfortable spending significant time in the field.
Able to influence distributor organizations at multiple levels.
Commercially minded without needing deep engineering expertise.
Confident leading conversations around C&I opportunities and market strategy.
Highly responsive, organized, and accountable.
Energized by building something new and creating measurable growth.

Benefits & Perks

Canadian Solar offers a competitive salary plus fully comprehensive benefits and performance bonus package based on an annual objective achievement. Our generous benefits package includes a 401(k) Retirement Plan, medical/dental/life/disability program, PTO and sick days.
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