Vice President - Fire Equipment Division

Description

W.S. Darley & Co is seeking a Vice President for our Fire Equipment Division to join our Team!  

The Vice President, Fire Equipment provides strategic leadership, sales leadership and full operational oversight to ensure the long-term success, growth, and profitability of Darley’s Fire Equipment business. This leader holds full P&L responsibility, driving financial performance while setting and executing clear strategic vision for the division.

In this role, the Vice President delivers decisive leadership across sales, operations, people leadership, customer engagement, and vendor relations. They foster strong credibility with internal teams, Darley Executive Leadership team, external partners, the Fire Advisory Board, and other state and local agencies.  They work closely with the President and Chief Executive Officer to set, communicate and implement goals that align with the organization’s mission, vision, and overall direction, while scaling talent and organizational capabilities to support sustainable growth.

The leader establishes an environment that emphasizes rigorous execution, advanced planning, options-based decision making, and high-performance standards. Onboarding of new teammates, training and skill development, career coaching and mentorship will be a priority. 

Leveraging deep experience in the Fire market, the Vice President builds trusted relationships, ensures operational excellence, and positions the division as a customer/supplier-focused organization that is a direct support enabler for their missions. 

This role is accountable for driving strategic results, strengthening market position, and championing a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Ideal candidates will be able to balance responsibilities in running sales for the division while also providing strategic leadership. They will also be agile and able to execute while scaling the business. 

About W.S. Darley & Co: Founded in 1908, W.S. Darley & Co. (Darley) remains a family owned and operated business, supplying the highest quality equipment solutions to its military and first responder customers. With origins in the equipment distribution and Midwest manufacturing, Darley offers a family of leading innovate emergency equipment brands and innovative solutions. Darley prides itself on delivering the highest quality solutions and services from its corporate headquarters in Itasca, IL and its’ ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturing operations in Chippewa Falls, WI and Janesville, IA.

Darley Defense, a division of the W.S. Darley company, specializes in using existing contracts to distribute products and services to the Federal Government. Darley Defense specializes in special operational equipment and fire and emergency services.

Requirements

Strategic Leadership & Alignment

• Lead the development and execution of the Fire Equipment strategy and market strategy, ensuring it aligns with enterprise-wide goals.
• Set clear priorities and translate strategic direction into actionable plans that drive growth, operational excellence, and competitive positioning.
• Collaborate effectively with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

Financial Leadership & P&L Management

• Own and manage the full P&L for the Fire Equipment Division, delivering strong financial performance through disciplined planning, forecasting, and resource allocation.
• Drive revenue growth, margin improvement, and operational efficiency while ensuring financial transparency and accountability across the division.

People Leadership, Talent Strategy & Organizational Development

• Ensure people and organizational plans are implemented to create clarity in roles, responsibilities, and decision rights throughout the division.
• Attract, decide to hire, develop, and retain top-tier talent; build bench strength; and keep succession, capability-building, and leadership development at the forefront.
• Ensure fair, data-driven, and strategically aligned performance and compensation plans are established that incentivize individuals to their highest performance, motivates teamwork within the teams, and the Division, drives accountability, rewards high performance, and supports retention of top talent. 
• Foster a culture that emphasizes learning, professional development, and continuous improvement and recognition of spectacular efforts/results.

Integrated Sales and Marketing Leadership

• Plan and architect the Division’s go-to-market strategy that is aligned with broader company objectives.
• Strengthen and lead an integrated Sales and Marketing function to understand market opportunities; direct the Marketing resources in driving brand awareness and connect financial outcomes to marketing effort. 

Operational Excellence & Risk Management

• Lead daily operations of the division.
• Identify, monitor, and manage business risks, including modernized acquisition readiness, cost/pricing risks, and revenue concentration risk.
• Analyze sales data and CRM metrics to provide accurate forecasting and market insights to the executive leadership team using Salesforce platform.
• Stay current on industry trends, NFPA standards, and emerging technologies to position Darley as a market leader.
• Establish and lead a disciplined process for evaluating new business opportunities, setting strategic bets with clear success criteria.
• Ensure company meets contractual obligations

Stakeholder, Client & Vendor Engagement

• You will lead the national sales team, manage high-level distributor and OEM relationships, and drive revenue growth across municipal and industrial sectors.
• Build and maintain high-credibility relationships with key fire service influencers and decision—makers at the municipal and state levels. 
• Represent Darley’s Fire Equipment Division as a trusted leader in the fire market, leveraging industry expertise and executive presence to strengthen partnerships and drive long-term growth.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

Provides leadership and oversight for the Fire Equipment team, supporting a team of approximately 20 team members including 2-3 direct reports.

WORK ENVIRONMENT 

This job operates in a professional office environment in Itasca, IL and requires frequent travel.  This role routinely uses company standard office equipment such as computers and cell phones.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms.

POSITION TYPE / EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK 

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or as otherwise required to meet business needs.  Occasional evening and weekend work may be required to support sales events, customer needs and critical incidents.

TRAVEL

Regular travel is required to customer sites, OEMs, Darley sites, management meetings and trade shows (approximately 25-30% depending on time of year).

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Marketing or related field (MBA preferred) or requisite experience

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in the fire service industry, industrial sales, or related industries, with at least 5 years in senior sales leadership role
• Active or retired firefighting experience is highly preferred
• Proven track record of success in managing large sales territories and meeting or exceeding multimillion dollar quotas
• Advanced experience with CRM platforms (e.g. Salesforce) and data analytics (e.g. Power BI) to drive decision making
• Experience in e-commerce strategy
• Deep understanding of government contracting, municipal acquisition processes, and ISO 9001 standards.

Skills

• Exceptional public speaking and negotiation skills with ability to represent Darley at national trade shows and industry events
• Strategic mind-set with hands-on capability 
• Strong communication and leadership skills
• Ability to manage complex multi-division environments
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities. 

Compensation

$150,000-$175,000 base salary

Benefits

• PTO
• Paid Holidays
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Health & Wellness Reimbursement
• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Life & Disability
• HSA with Darley contribution
• FSA
• 401K/Roth with match and profit sharing
• Darley paid life insurance

AAP/EEO Statement

Darley is an equal opportunity organization. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law