District Manager

District Manager

Westburne is the Canadian market leader in electrical distribution. We are looking for a dynamic leader for our Western District. Responsible for all aspects of the district, the District Manager directs recruiting and developing talent, shapes strategic direction, drives sales and market share, and manages the P&L. In this role, you will also develop and maintain relationships with our key vendors and customers and interact effectively with internal stakeholders.

Based at our Kitchener location, the District Manager , is a critical leadership responsible for P&L responsibility for the Western District in Ontario.

The District Manager is accountable for ensuring the district is highly profitable and continues to grow its market share. This will be accomplished by developing and implementing strategies, as well as monitoring the district's capability to execute initiatives. A key initiative is expanding the digital and e-commerce capabilities to better serve customers.

The successful candidate for this role will have a proven track record of management capability, a strategic growth mindset, superior business acumen, and a people-focused leadership style. They will bring strong leadership skills operating in complex national, multi-divisional, and distributed workforce. The candidate should be an accomplished operator with strong communication skills and a hands‑on approach. They should be an authentic, highly credible leader that can develop trust within their team and with the greater Rexel with ease.

Key Responsibilities

• Support and comply with Rexel Canada’s health and safety policies and procedures.
• Provide leadership, direction, and development of the management team to ensure organizational and personal goals are achieved. Create a healthy environment where staff can perform to their maximum potential.
• Evaluate organizational performance in meeting objectives and identify areas for improvement.
• Take corrective action to solve business problems and challenges.
• Ensure performance plans are set, maintained, and continuously improved; generate creative solutions to identify improvements in processes.
• Shape the culture of the district and positively impact.
• Make sure employees are motivated and driven by creating a work environment that encourages high morale, team spirit, and rewards good performance. Also, ensure employees receives the necessary training to carry out their assigned responsibilities.
• Create innovative ways to market products and services to potential customers.
• Research and establish new opportunities to expand the district’s customer base.
• Maintains positive relationship with supply partners. Lead annual planning meeting and conduct regular reviews to ensure mutually agreed goals are achieved.
• Collaborate with the internal departments at the banner level and Rexel Canada level including Finance, Human Resources, IT, and other business functions to discuss issues, coordinate activities, or resolve problems.
• Positively represent the Westburne banner and Rexel Canada through a success-oriented and professional demeanor.

Qualifications

• Possesses a university degree and over 10 years of leadership experience in residential, commercial, and industrial construction and MRO product distribution. They should have a proven track record of managing multiple branch operations that deliver superior business results. It would be an added advantage if the candidate has experience in the electrical products distribution industry.
• Have strong financial acumen.
• A strategic thinker with a growth mindset. A proven track record of developing and executing strategic plans that capitalizes on market opportunities and delivers sustainable, profitable growth.
• A leader with proven success in building and sustaining a professional, accountable, disciplined, and performance-driven culture.
• A leader who understands the diverse functions within a distribution company and how they work together including Finance, HR, Sales, Marketing, and IT.
• An authentic leader with high integrity, strong emotional intelligence, and low ego. They should be able to build trust, engagement, and high-trust relationships by working collaboratively with all levels internally and externally.
• A leader who is strong, flexible, and dedicated. They should be able to lead the organization successfully through changes, ever-changing business environments, and times of disruption. The perfect candidate should be able to stay enthusiastic in the face of adversity and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude that inspires others.
• Makes good decisions based upon a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment; sought out by others for advice and solutions.
• A leader who develops his team for their current and future responsibilities. Create strong morale and spirit within the team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; let’s people finish and be responsible for their work; lets subordinates present to senior management; acts as if real success is the success of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging on the team.
• Clearly assigns responsibility for tasks and decisions; sets clear objectives and measures; monitors process, progress, and results appropriately; delivers timely and objective feedback on accomplishments.
• Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first‑hand customer information and uses it to improve products and services; talks and acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Knowledgeable in current and possible future industry policies, practices, trends, and information affecting the business and organization; knows the competition; is aware of how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace.
• Can negotiate skillfully in tough situations with both internal and external groups; can settle differences with minimum noise; can win concessions without damaging relationships; can be both direct and forceful as well as diplomatic; gains trust quickly of other parties to the negotiations; has a good sense of timing.
• Is effective in a variety of formal presentation settings: one‑on‑one, small, and large groups, with peers, subordinates, and bosses; is effective both inside and outside the organization, stays cool in hot and controversial topics; can change tactics midstream when something isn’t working.
• Uses his/her time effectively and efficiently; sets priorities; values time; separates the critical few from the trivial many and concentrates his/her efforts accordingly.
• A leader who is honest and knows what they stand for. They should make decisions based on Rexel values. The District Manager should be friendly, sincere, and dedicated with excellent communication, relationship building, and negotiation skills.
• Comfortable in developing annual budgets, capital plans and workforce planning.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to speak effectively with customers and suppliers, negotiate contracts, as well as write business performance reports.
• Comfortable using MS Office applications, especially Excel and PowerPoint.

Additional Information

The anticipated annual base salary range for this position is negotiable. Final compensation within the range will be determined by factors such as relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity. This range does not include variable pay or other components of Rexel’s total rewards package.

What We Offer

• Our employees enjoy a positive work‑life balance while thriving in an environment that is dynamic and motivated by new and exciting challenges.
• We provide competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits plans, and pension plans, along with a remarkable range of career opportunities—whether advancing in your current field or exploring something entirely new. If you’re motivated, we’ll help you find the career path that suits you.
• Rexel Canada is committed to Employment Equity and values a diverse workforce, recognizing each employee’s unique talents and skills.