Full Time
Dallas, Texas
Posted 4 weeks ago

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HARRY’S TEARDOWN: TERREPOWER was BBB Industries until the rebrand. Started in 1987 in Daphne, Alabama by the Bigler family, remanufacturing starters and alternators out of one building.

Today the company describes itself as the largest sustainable manufacturer in the world by volume: 19 manufacturing plants, 14 distribution centers, 28 brands, products sold in more than 90 countries, with European operations across Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, and Poland. Clearlake Capital controls it.

Last month they went live a new tagline, “Reimagine What’s Possible.”

The business is remanufacturing. They take back used cores – a dead alternator, a failed hydraulic pump – tear them down, inspect, replace what’s worn, reassemble, and test. What comes out the other side is a warrantied part that costs less than new. The core charge on your invoice is what encourages you to send the recoverable unit back.

It’s a circular model, and a returned core is one input they aren’t buying on the open market. That reduces exposure to purchased inputs; it doesn’t eliminate it, since reman still consumes new components, labor, energy, and freight. Hold the thought anyway, because it matters more than the sustainability language does.

They also do EV battery upcycling, started in 2019, and solar panel upcycling. The company’s own materials frame that second one against roughly 100,000 tons of panel waste that could potentially reach landfills by 2035 – their figure, not an independent one.

Here’s a great interview with Duncan Gillis, the firm’s CEO.

About the Market

Auto parts wholesaling in the US is a $262.9 billion industry in 2026, forecast to reach $280.8 billion by 2031. The electrical and electronic components segment alone – TERREPOWER’s home turf – is $45.6 billion, 17.2% of industry revenue.

According to industry research, the average vehicle on American roads exceeds 12.6 years. S&P’s later print is 12.8. Either way, people are still fixing cars rather than replacing them. That is a demand curve you do not have to manufacture.

And it is a brutal place to make money. Industry profit margin is 2.5%. Purchases eat 78.9% of revenue. Supplier power is High and buyer power is Moderate. This is a major league squeeze.

Which is why the remanufacturing model is so interesting. 25% tariffs on covered imported automotive parts took effect in May 2025, with USMCA-qualifying content treated differently.

The industry’s producer price index for automotive parts, accessories and tire retailers rose 11.7% in 2025 and is on pace for another 7.7% in 2026.

My read, not a company disclosure: Every core that comes back is an input not bought into that environment. Circularity isn’t a brand story here. It’s a cost-line argument – and TERREPOWER has published nothing that lets anyone size it.

About the Customer

TERREPOWER’s ecosystem runs through national retail accounts, regional warehouse distributors, independent repair shops, collision centers, fleet operators, and industrial customers in construction, agriculture, mining, and marine.

Professional buyers, all of ’em.

The company has not published a customer-segment breakdown, so who buys direct versus who sits downstream is unconfirmed. My best guess after 21 years in the business is they care about three things in this order:

Is the part in stock?
Will it fit? And …
Will it fail or come back?

A wrong part doesn’t just reverse a sale. It costs an installer an unbillable hour and a customer a day. People get hella pissed.

That asymmetry governs everything about how this job has to be played. Consumers meet these products downstream, on a retailer’s shelf or a marketplace listing, usually without knowing whose brand they bought.

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So what is this job, really?

Well, it’s not presented as a conventional DTC storefront role, and no public source shows a consumer checkout. The transactional system I can confirm in North America is 1Stop, their customer ordering portal.

In Europe, four of their brands – Budweg, Metalcaucho, STC, and Alfa e-Parts – run orders through TecCom, which handles urgent and replenishment orders with real-time stock data and automated dispatch advice. Different plumbing, same idea: professional buyers placing parts orders, not consumers checking out.

My take: This is a channel governance job.

The JD says it plainly: Grow across 1P, 3P, and marketplace models “without cannibalizing existing retail partnerships.” Build “pricing discipline” that tracks competitive retail and online pricing “without establishing market-low price points.” Develop “sub-branding strategy including exclusive assortments tailored for online marketplaces.”

So, the real mandate is to grow marketplaces without cannibalizing retail. Pie-enlarging growth, not pie-rearranging.

Industrywide, third party marketplace algorithmic price matching has escalated past same-SKU comparison: that source documents retailers matching at the per-unit and per-count level, matching competitors’ promotional prices, and matching competitors’ loyalty program prices, and reports instances of Amazon matching SKUs built as Amazon exclusives.

There’s a degradation path at Amazon running in hours-to-days rather than the weeks-to-months typical of traditional retailers – active, then limited promotability, then Prime-only, then ASIN suppression, then CRAP status (Can’t Realize Any Profit), then delisting.

Translate it before you get to interview: In this category the comparison isn’t ounces, it’s part-number interchange, fitment equivalence, reman-versus-new, warranty terms, and shipping-inclusive price. Same algorithmic logic, different equivalence keys.

Industry benchmarking across 300 consumer brand organizations found that just 0.4% are simultaneously running all four core mitigations: promo planning that accounts for downstream matching, differentiated assortment, price pack architecture, and MAP enforcement.

Four-tenths of one percent. Lots of upside.

Yet nothing in the business databases or the JD separates “ecommerce revenue” into its own numbers. At least five observable things could be hiding under the hood – the 1Stop portal, EDI, retailer-dot-com, Amazon 1P, and Amazon 3P through resellers – plus any direct business that hasn’t been disclosed.

Ask about it during your phone screen.

Whatever you do, do NOT assume an org chart of channels. I couldn’t find it anywhere. Whoever builds it first will know where the money is before anyone else does. (In a Clearlake portfolio company, that is not a reporting exercise. That is leverage.)

There is also a specific, winnable fight available early. Public listings for BBB-branded product have been observed on Amazon in both 1P and 3P form, including one sold by an independent third-party reseller; ownership of those accounts is unverified.

I can’t verify from any public source whether TERREPOWER controls Vendor Central or Seller Central on those listings. If they do not, the pricing-discipline language in the JD has no enforcement path until that is settled. Establishing who owns those accounts is first-quarter work, not a conclusion.

Now we get to the part I’m dying to know:

Duncan Gillis is the CEO. Last June, the firm named Michelle Allen EVP of Independent Aftermarket Sales, taking over from Chris Garner, who plans to retire at the end of the year. The trade press called it part of a run of senior leadership changes.

But none of that indicates to whom this role reports.

And fwiw, the public financials don’t reconcile either. Financial databases list Terrepower, LLC at $770.6 million in sales with 1,074 total employees. The company’s own LinkedIn page claims 10,001+ employees.

Meanwhile, a commercial directory estimates roughly $1.4 billion. Financial databases also carry a $3.89 billion figure in their “Global Ultimate Total” cell – that is the family-tree rollup on the record, not Terrepower, LLC’s sales. These describe different entities, and nobody has said which one this role serves.

There’s more: No direct reports are mentioned anywhere in the published job description, and team size and reporting structure are not disclosed.

There’s nothing sinister about this, but it’s worth knowing.

If the way you win requires a team you command, get the headcount question answered before you go far in the process. (Pro tip.)

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the firm’s Vice President of Ecommerce, you will own its North America digital commerce strategy.

Best I can tell, your job will be to 1.) define what ecommerce revenue actually means by separating portal, EDI, retailer-dot-com, and marketplace channels into their own contribution-margin P&Ls, 2.) build pricing and channel governance that grows marketplace revenue without triggering price-match cascades into established retail partnerships, and 3.) equip decentralized business units with playbooks and operating models they can run without you.

AREAS OF OVERSIGHT

The JD gives you the mandate. Here’s how I’d translate it into an operating agenda.

Channel Segmentation and Price-Match Governance

Define differentiated roles for retail, distributor, marketplace, and direct channels. Each needs a distinct assortment, price architecture, and promotional calendar rather than competing for the same buyer with the same SKU.
Build a price-match trigger map. Trace how a promotion at any single retailer or regional distributor cascades into marketplace repricing, then establish the promotional guardrails that keep the cascade from starting.
Implement and enforce MAP policy across authorized distribution. That includes the monitoring cadence and the escalation path for when an authorized partner breaks it.
Move promotional mechanics away from straight discounts, BOGO, and tiered multi-buy, which algorithms match trivially. Shift toward gift-with-purchase, subscription discounts, third-party gift card offers, and cause-driven campaigns that deliver shopper value without setting a matchable price point.
Establish repricing velocity as a tracked operational metric. Set response-time targets calibrated to SKU velocity tiers rather than a uniform monthly cycle.

Marketplace Ownership and Seller Governance

Establish and document TERREPOWER’s ownership position across Amazon Vendor Central and Seller Central for every brand in the portfolio. Close any gaps where a reseller currently controls the listing, the content, or the price.
Build the unauthorized seller identification and enforcement program. That means buy box monitoring, test purchases, and the supply chain diagnostics that trace gray inventory back to its source.
Model 1P versus 3P contribution economics by brand and category. Account for commissions, fulfillment, returns, chargebacks, and advertising, recognizing that industry benchmarking shows only 15% of brands treat a 1P-to-3P switch as a reliable price-match remedy.
Own the annual vendor negotiation posture for marketplace accounts. That includes the evidence package that defends cost increases against documented category price movement.
Track challenger 3P sellers competing in TERREPOWER’s categories. Monitor their launch cadence and advertising ramp as a leading indicator of category share shift.

Sub-Brand and Exclusive Assortment Architecture

Design the exclusive and differentiated assortment strategy the job description calls for. Use channel-specific SKUs, pack configurations, and virtual or physical bundles to reduce direct comparability across retailers.
Evaluate non-branded and sub-branded fulfillment models. Look for cases where a distinct marketplace identity would grow incremental demand without exposing flagship brand pricing to retail partners.
Apply price pack architecture across the portfolio. The goal is to make per-unit equivalency matching harder to justify algorithmically.
Build the business case for each exclusive. Weigh it against the operational complexity it introduces in SKU count, forecasting, and inventory placement.
Rationalize slow-moving and unprofitable digital assortment. That releases working capital and reduces the surface area that has to be governed.

Digital Shelf Content and Fitment Data

Own product information management and application data quality as a margin lever. In aftermarket parts a fitment error reverses the sale and costs the installer unbillable labor.
Audit content depth on priority SKUs against available image, video, and enhanced module real estate. Industry benchmarking identifies that real estate as the leading organic growth lever on marketplaces.
Build content that addresses multiple applications, vehicle fitments, and buyer types within a single listing. That supplies the contextual signals both traditional ranking algorithms and AI-driven discovery systems reward.
Establish the syndication architecture behind catalog, fitment, and availability data. Push it consistently to distributor portals, retailer sites, and marketplaces from a single source of truth.
Measure content investment against return rate and warranty claim reduction. Not impressions.

Wholesale Digital Enablement

Extend the 1Stop portal from an ordering utility into a self-service commerce platform. Cover availability, core returns, warranty claims, and reorder automation.
Map EDI and portal order economics against manual order processing. That quantifies the cost-to-serve improvement available from digital migration.
Build the distributor and national account adoption program. Move order volume to self-service without weakening negotiated relationships.
Integrate core return workflows into digital ordering. Core recovery rates directly govern material availability and remanufacturing throughput.

Performance and Retail Media

Set advertising investment as a forecasting input, not a performance lever alone. Benchmark evidence shows brands reducing ad spend as a percentage of sales project materially slower growth than those maintaining or increasing it.
Direct retail media and performance spend toward the digital shelves where purchases actually close. For this business, that is predominantly downstream of TERREPOWER’s own domain.
Build the content and educational asset strategy the job description calls for. That includes DIY installation material that expands category reach with new buyer segments.
Establish attribution that connects media spend to orders, contribution margin, and return rates. Not to traffic.

KPI Architecture, Governance, and BU Enablement

Build the channel-level reporting that separates portal, EDI, retailer-dot-com, marketplace 1P, and marketplace 3P revenue. Each needs gross margin, contribution margin after channel-specific costs, and cash conversion.
Establish governance cadences across digital channels. Give business unit leadership and the board full performance visibility.
Design scalable frameworks and playbooks that equip business units to activate and grow digital channels on their own. That is the mechanism that scales where this role’s direct-report structure has not been publicly disclosed.
Report in sponsor language. Inventory turns, core recovery rate, working capital released, contribution margin by channel, and revenue quality independent of any single customer relationship.
Instrument the cannibalization question directly. Reported digital growth has to be distinguishable from retail revenue that simply moved online.

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION

Bachelor’s degree required. MBA or equivalent advanced degree strongly preferred per the employer’s published requirements.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES – SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

15+ years of progressive commercial or P&L leadership experience. Increasing scope and executive responsibility over that span.
Demonstrated accountability for revenue growth and margin outcomes in a P&L or general management environment. Not a staff or center-of-excellence role alone.
Proven track record scaling ecommerce or digital commerce channels. Inside complex, multi-business-unit organizations.
Direct, hands-on experience navigating multi-channel conflict, balancing 1P, 3P, and retail partnerships while protecting channel integrity. Candidates should be able to describe a specific instance where marketplace growth threatened a retail relationship and what they did about it.
Working command of algorithmic price matching mechanics. That includes per-unit equivalency matching, promotional matching, and the marketplace suppression and delisting consequences that follow.
Practical experience with MAP policy implementation and enforcement. Plus unauthorized seller remediation and buy box control.
Experience building exclusive or differentiated assortment, price pack architecture, or bundle strategy. Deployed as a deliberate channel-conflict remedy.
Command of marketplace contribution economics: commissions, fulfillment, returns, chargebacks, advertising. Including the ability to distinguish gross marketplace revenue from contribution profit in a board setting.
Product information management and catalog data governance experience. Ideally where fitment, application, or compatibility data drives return rates.
Retail media and performance marketing fluency sufficient to direct spend and evaluate agency partners. Without needing to execute personally.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Proven ability to lead through influence. The published job description identifies no direct reports and describes the role as an enterprise resource and center of excellence coaching business unit leadership.
Track record driving alignment and results across business units and functions without direct ownership. In matrixed or decentralized organizations.
Executive stakeholder management. Including board-level and C-suite engagement.
Ability to build organizational conviction around a clear point of view. Then convert it into documented operating models that others can run.
Cross-functional partnership with pricing, sales, supply chain, and marketing. Price-match governance cannot be owned by any single function.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

High integrity.
Self-directed. Comfortable building influence in a decentralized matrix while team structure and decision rights are still being clarified.
Strong communicator. Able to move between an installer’s economics and a sponsor’s return model in the same meeting.
Evidence-driven. Where no channel-level revenue definition is published, the ability to build the measurement system is the source of authority.
Comfortable with ambiguity and unglamorous first-quarter work. That includes definitional and data cleanup that produces no headline.
Entrepreneurial orientation appropriate to a private-equity-owned platform.
Politically durable. The JD describes twenty-eight brands and a decentralized, matrixed organization where this role drives alignment without direct ownership. In my experience that shape means hearing no from people who do not report to you.

To apply for this job please visit fa-euha-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com.

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