Fireplace and stove chief executive officer job description
A fireplace and stove chief executive officer picks the brands a hearth company carries, the markets where it opens showrooms, and how much it stakes on each heating season. The owners or board judge the CEO on that stake, from the fall stock order to the product lines that fill the summer.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other building equipment contractors · BLS, May 2025
The CEO provides visionary leadership, overseeing overall strategy, ensuring profitability, and driving sustainable growth in the Fireplace & Stove Installation industry. Serves as the primary strategic driver and decision-maker, fostering partnerships and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Aligns the company’s operations with its long-term goals to enhance market presence and operational excellence. Champions an innovative, customer-centric culture across all business functions.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and execute the company’s strategic plan to achieve profitable growth and market leadership.
Guide overall operational and financial performance, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
Secure and nurture key strategic partnerships and alliances to expand service capabilities and market reach.
Represent the company to external stakeholders, including investors, partners, and industry organizations.
Oversee risk management and ensure regulatory compliance while driving company-wide innovation.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily financial and operational performance reports to track progress against targets.
Hold regular strategy meetings with department heads to align initiatives and address challenges.
Engage with key clients and partners to strengthen relationships and identify new business opportunities.
Monitor market trends and competitor activities to inform and adjust business strategies.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue Growth Percentage: Achieve a minimum of 15% year-over-year growth.
Gross Margin: Maintain a target gross margin of at least 30%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Exceed an average rating of 4.8 stars.
New Strategic Partnerships: Secure no fewer than 3 new strategic partnerships annually.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, or a related field; an advanced degree is a plus.
A minimum of 10 years of senior leadership experience within the home services or a related industry.
Strong strategic planning, financial acumen, and decision-making skills.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Proven track record as an executive leader in the home services or similar industry.
Experience in Fireplace & Stove Installation or adjacent fields, leading operational excellence initiatives.
Demonstrated success in scaling operations and spearheading market expansion.
Background in managing mergers, acquisitions, or significant corporate partnerships.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to work in a standard office setting for extended periods.
Occasional site visits to operational locations may require moderate walking and standing.
Minimal lifting requirements, with most activities conducted in a controlled office environment.
Occasional travel to industry events or partner site visits.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard work hours with flexibility for additional hours during peak periods.
Occasional weekend and evening work required to meet business objectives or industry events.
Frequent travel expected for partner meetings, conferences, and site evaluations.
A dynamic, fast-paced work environment that supports collaborative leadership and innovation.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Annual salary range of $150,000 to $250,000 USD, commensurate with experience and performance.
Performance-based bonus structure tied to strategic and financial milestones.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we pride ourselves on fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Our commitment to enhancing customer satisfaction and operational excellence is at the heart of everything we do. We invest in our employees’ professional growth, provide opportunities for advancement, and celebrate achievements that drive our shared success. Join us in a role that not only challenges you but also rewards you with the opportunity to make a significant impact in the Fireplace & Stove Installation industry.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
The calls that shape a fireplace and stove company
A hearth company is a store and a contractor at once. It sells units off a showroom floor, then cuts through walls and roofs and runs gas to put them in. The CEO's biggest choices are about what that floor holds and which markets want it.
The stove tax credit ended with 2025
From 2023 through 2025, buyers of wood and pellet stoves that met the IRS efficiency bar could claim a federal tax credit of up to two thousand dollars a year, install labor included. The IRS says the credit covers only improvements made through December 31, 2025. If your stove sales jumped before that date, don't judge this year against 2025. Compare wood and pellet sales with the years before the rush. Source: IRS: Energy efficient home improvement credit.
Some markets ban burning on the coldest days
In seven Utah counties, Salt Lake and Davis among them, the state calls mandatory no-burn days, mostly from November to March. On those days wood fireplaces, wood stoves and pellet stoves must sit cold, even EPA-certified wood stoves, unless the home registered the unit as its only heat. Gas and propane units can still run. In the areas the rule covers, Utah also bars selling or installing a wood stove that isn't EPA certified. A showroom there sells into those limits. Source: Utah Division of Air Quality: Mandatory no-burn days.
Picking brands is picking partners
Every brand on the floor brings displays, training and parts, plus service for each unit you ever sold. Before you sign or renew, read each dealer agreement for territory, required displays, ad rules, and what happens to warranty work if you part ways. Dropping a line strands the customers who own it and the parts on your shelves. So the CEO makes that call alongside the operations and finance leaders, not during a sales rep's visit.
Summer needs its own plan
If most of your sales land in fall and early winter, the warm months need a plan of their own. Grills, outdoor kitchens, fire pits and outdoor fireplaces are one way to use the floor; a spring service push and builder work are others. Each takes its own stock, floor space and people. The CEO picks one, sets what it has to earn by Labor Day, and decides who sells and installs it.
How much fireplace and stove chief executive officers make
The closest BLS group for fireplace and stove chief executive officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $157,100 a year ($75.53 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 100 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for other building equipment contractors.
Salary and a bonus for hitting strategic and financial milestones, as the template lays it out. Judge the bonus over a full heating season, since one early cold snap can make a weak plan look strong.
Other building equipment contractors
$157,100$157,100 median Middle half $81,360–$177,770 10th–90th $68,550–$253,000
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other building equipment contractors
$68,550
$81,360
$157,100
$177,770
$253,000
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for fireplace and stove installers on their own. These figures cover other building equipment contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has run a business that both sells products from stock and installs them in customers' homes
Negotiates dealer agreements, territories and order terms with manufacturers
Knows how gas service and propane delivery shape what a showroom can sell
Plans a year with one selling season and a slow summer, and funds the gap
Has hired and kept the leaders of a showroom, an install department and a service department
Teach these on the job
The product lines you carry, by fuel and venting type
The terms of each dealer agreement you hold now
Which builders, remodelers and propane suppliers send you work
The trade shows and buying calendar your makers run
Where wood burning is limited in your markets
A hearth CEO works from the monthly financials, a cash forecast weighted to the fall, and sales split by fuel, brand and channel: showroom, builder and service. Add a yearly report of sales and margin per brand set against the floor space each one takes, since that is where dealer agreement talks start.
Fireplace and stove chief executive officer interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Investing as fuel trends shift
Gas and electric fireplaces are growing in your market while wood stove sales are flat. How do you decide where to invest?
A strong answer: Looks at local demand, product and install margins, skills and licensing needed, showroom space and inventory, manufacturer partners and local burn rules, then shifts gradually with measures.
Behavioral · Leading through rule changes
Tell me about a time a rule change, such as a new emission standard or a local limit on wood burning or gas hookups, changed what your company could sell. What did you do?
A strong answer: Saw it coming, planned stock so nothing unsellable was left, trained sales on what changed, shifted the product mix, explained it honestly to customers and measured the effect on sales and margin.
Swap in targets drawn from your last three heating seasons, since a warm October can sink a year that was run well.
Revenue Growth Percentage
Year over year, split by gas, wood, pellet, electric, outdoor products and service, and by location. Note how much of the growth came from new markets and how much from showrooms you already had.
Gross Margin
Revenue less unit cost, venting, installer labor and freight, by product line and by channel. Floor models sold at a discount and installs that ran long pull margin down without anyone noticing.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
The public rating across every location, read next to complaints that reached a manager. Compare locations with each other, and look hardest at any whose rating slid during the fall rush.
New Strategic Partnerships
Signed deals that bring repeat work or better terms: a new manufacturer line, a builder or remodeler account, a propane supplier that refers buyers. Drop any that hasn't sent paying work by its first anniversary.
Career path
General managerRuns a showroom location and its install and service crews.
Should a fireplace and stove company sell units it won't install?
Some shops sell stoves and inserts over the counter for homeowners or other contractors to put in. It adds sales without using crew time. But your company's name stays on the sale if someone else's install goes wrong. Make it a written policy: which products can leave without an install, what papers and manuals go with them, and whether you will inspect another installer's work for a fee.
How much does a fireplace and stove chief executive officer make?
Chief executives who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $157,100 a year ($75.53 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $81,360 and $177,770 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Should a hearth showroom carry electric fireplaces?
They need no gas line, chimney or vent, so they suit condos, rentals and rooms where a vented unit won't fit, and they can sell outside the heating season. Big-box stores and online sellers carry them too, which sets the price buyers expect. Carry them if they bring in buyers you would otherwise lose, and judge them on margin per foot of floor space, not on how many you sell.
How should a hearth CEO size up a new market?
Start with fuel. Find out where natural gas lines run and where homes rely on propane, how many older homes have a fireplace or chimney that could take an insert, and what the local air rules allow. Then look at who already sells there, from big-box stores to chimney sweeps that sell inserts, and whether area builders put fireplaces in new homes.
What does the CEO template mean by walking, standing and minimal lifting?
It describes the site side of the job: walking a builder's model homes, standing at a home show booth, touring a maker's plant, or looking over a showroom reset. List those tasks in your ad under the template's lines. The EEOC counts a job description written before you advertise or interview as evidence of the job's essential tasks, so write it with care.
