Position Summary

Sparkfund is hiring experienced sales professionals to work closely with our Utility Partner to originate and develop innovative energy efficiency projects for commercial and industrial customers. These roles will be responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, prospecting and originating project opportunities for these customers, and coordinating within our Utility Partner’s and Sparkfund’s teams and organization to develop and pitch project proposals to customers. These are new roles within Sparkfund that will play a critical role in a new area of growth for Sparkfund.

These roles will be employed by Sparkfund but will be seconded to our Utility Partner. These team members will have access to our Utility Partner’s office, systems, equipment, training materials, and other information and resources necessary to successfully engage and sell to their customers.

These roles can be Sr. Manager- or Director-level, depending on experience. These roles will directly report to a Director on Sparkfund’s Customer Solutions team, but they will also indirectly report to the Sparkfund Program Manager who manages our relationship with this Utility Partner as well as to our Utility Partner’s Program Manager.

These roles require entrepreneurial and strategic sales professionals with strong communication and organization skills who are hungry and driven to make an impact with the company and the communities we aid.

Location & Travel

This is a hybrid role requiring 2-3 days in our Utility Partner’s Minneapolis, MN office every couple of weeks, at least. Candidates must be based in Minneapolis-St. Paul metro areas and must be willing to commute to the office regularly.

This role will also require 10-20% travel to customer offices and locations for scheduled meetings, pitches, presentations, etc. Additionally, we expect you to travel to Denver, CO and / or other US cities for organized team and / or company gatherings to collaborate with other members of the team / company, learn the ins and outs of our business, and contribute to our company culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Prospect and identify leads for our Utility Partner’s energy efficiency program in close collaboration with customers as well as internal and external teams.
• Lead the development and presentation of energy efficiency and electrification projects and proposals, coordinating with internal stakeholders within the Utility and Sparkfund to ensure timely development and ensuring the customer’s needs are represented and accounted for at all stages of development.
• Lead and coordinate contract presentation, negotiation, and execution.
• Develop, manage, and forecast sales strategy to achieve or exceed the set quota for the program, including creating and managing a sales plan, monitoring sales performance, and adjusting strategies as needed to hit or exceed quota.
• Establish and maintain relationships with customers, communicating regularly to understand their needs, provide project updates, and ensure customer satisfaction.
• Monitor and track industry developments, competitors, market intelligence, and pricing strategies, sharing trends and findings with the wider team.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• 5-10 years of sales experience within the utilities or energy industries.
• Effective ability to build and maintain relationships and trust internally and externally, including a consultative approach to relationship management and meeting preparation (organized, anticipatory, goal-oriented).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with an ability to communicate effectively for different audiences, including technical and non-technical audiences as well as audiences at different levels of an organization.
• A self-starter with the initiative and drive to identify and do what it takes to deliver outcomes as well as the growth mindset to strive to improve.
• Proven ability to demonstrate good judgment and composure in difficult situations and with incomplete information.
• Experience effectively managing multiple projects and priorities simultaneously with the demonstrated mental agility and ability to switch between contexts quickly.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

• Proficient financial acumen, including a strong understanding of project economics as well as energy project financing solutions (leases, loans, etc.).
• Proficient technical acumen, including experience with one or more (ideally more) of our core technologies: HVAC, building controls, solar, battery storage, generation, EVSE, or lighting.
• Experience using pricing tools to model project economics across different contracting structures.
• Familiarity with the energy services and financing industries, including financing solutions, leases, loans, or as-a-service agreements.
• Competency in software and cloud-based information management tools – especially with Salesforce, Google Workspace, Slack, Asana, Excel, PowerPoint, and/or project management tools.
• Dedication to what we’re building at Sparkfund and a passion for combating climate change.