VP of Sales

Job Overview

Proper Voltage is entering a new phase of commercial scale. We already have products in the field, and the platforms now moving into customer deployment address substantially larger markets. The pipeline and commercial agreements around them are developing quickly, with multiple products following behind. We are hiring our first Vice President of Sales to turn that demand into repeatable revenue and build the commercial organization required for the next stage. This person will own revenue across direct customers, OEM programs and distributor-led channels.

This is a player-coach role. The team is small today and has built a strong pipeline. You will lead and grow that team, but your immediate value will come from personally driving the company’s most consequential opportunities through technical discovery, proposal, pricing, engineering alignment, commercial terms and signature. The seller who originates an opportunity keeps it. Your job is to make sure nothing stalls or breaks between qualification and close, step into opportunities that have no natural owner, and bring the commercial judgment required to decide what advances, what changes and what stops.

You will also help determine where the company goes next commercially. You will investigate adjacent markets, develop a view on where our technology fits, validate that view with customers and recommend where the company should invest its commercial and technical resources. You do not own technical truth or the engineering roadmap, but you are responsible for ensuring those decisions are informed by credible market evidence.

You are inheriting a real foundation, not a blank page. Pipeline stages, CRM, compensation frameworks and channel templates already exist. There is an active pipeline spanning hyperscale data center, industrial and robotics accounts, along with two team members covering UPS program sales and technical sales. The current go-to-market model is channel-led and distributor-first, with rep coverage into OEMs and direct engagement on strategic accounts. You will own operating, measuring and improving that model. Any significant change should be supported by evidence and decided with the leadership team.

This role requires genuine fluency in battery and power systems or a demonstrated record of learning and selling comparably complex technical hardware. You will work directly from customer specifications, convert technical inputs into commercial assumptions and form defensible positions on volume, pricing, scope and delivery. You will have strong technical people around you, but you must be able to follow the discussion, ask the right questions and recognize when requirements are changing without waiting for someone else to translate every decision.

You will begin as a hands-on leader carrying important deals personally. Over time, the role will evolve toward building and leading a larger commercial organization.

Who this role is for

This role is for someone who has personally closed complex technical deals, led salespeople and consistently finished what they started. You are comfortable carrying an important opportunity yourself while helping the person who originated another deal get it across the line. You can operate without a large support organization and do not confuse leadership with delegation.

You understand that selling physical products is different from selling software. Lead times, BOM costs, certifications, technical limitations and production capacity constrain what can be promised. You can work with engineering, finance, supply chain and legal to form a commercial position the company can actually deliver.

You are also curious about markets and technology. You can investigate an unfamiliar application, learn enough to ask useful questions, validate the opportunity with customers and arrive with a recommendation. You know the difference between an interesting custom project and a repeatable product opportunity.

Experience building the operating system behind a sales team, including pipeline stages, compensation plans, hiring plans and forecasting, is valuable. What matters most is your ability to run what already exists, form your own view of what should change and implement improvements without waiting to be chased.

This role is not a fit if

This is not a traditional SaaS sales role, and it is not a position focused primarily on managing a large existing organization.

It will not work for someone who:

• Needs a full marketing, sales operations and customer success organization already in place.
• Expects technical team members to carry every customer conversation or translate every material decision.
• Treats business development as collecting relationships rather than building a repeatable process.
• Avoids conflict or consistently defers difficult decisions upward.
• Waits for a finished roadmap instead of developing and validating a commercial point of view.
• Brings problems and status updates without recommendations.
• Prioritizes bookings without regard for margin, technical fit, production readiness or deliverability.

Responsibilities

• Own the company revenue number, pipeline, forecast and commercial operating cadence across direct sales, OEM programs and distributor-led channels.
• Drive strategic opportunities through technical discovery, proposal, pricing, engineering alignment, commercial terms and signature. Close personally when an opportunity has no natural owner and help the originating seller protect the close everywhere else.
• Manage and develop the existing commercial team and build the organization as revenue grows.
• Own pricing, quoting, scope discipline and commercial negotiations, working with leadership and counsel where appropriate.
• Develop and validate commercial opportunities in existing and adjacent markets, then bring evidence-based recommendations to engineering, finance and supply chain.
• Own the customer-facing commercial experience, including product positioning, specifications, channel education, launch materials and events, using engineering-approved claims.
• Coordinate with supply chain and operations so that pricing, volume and delivery commitments reflect production capacity, cost and technical readiness.
• Decide which opportunities advance, change, pause or stop based on product fit, margin, deliverability and strategic value.

Required Qualifications

• 10 or more years in commercial roles with direct ownership of a revenue outcome.
• Either substantial experience selling complex technical hardware or an exceptional record in a demanding technical environment with demonstrated ability to learn difficult products and markets quickly.
• A personal track record closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals through technical evaluation, commercial negotiation and signature.
• Experience working directly with customer specifications and holding your own with engineering audiences.
• Experience leading and developing salespeople, with the ability to grow a small team without making management the primary source of your value.
• Proven ability to operate with ambiguity, make defensible decisions and push back internally and externally when required.
• Experience translating market and customer evidence into recommendations that influenced engineering, product or operating decisions.
• Clear and concise communication, strong follow-through and a consistent habit of bringing recommendations rather than only identifying problems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with UPS systems, critical power infrastructure, industrial energy storage, data centers, defense, robotics or industrial automation.
• Experience with distributor, manufacturer’s representative or OEM-led sales models, including channel program design.
• Experience in a high-growth hardware company with real production, certification and delivery constraints.
• Battery, power electronics, electrical engineering or energy systems knowledge.
• Experience building a sales organization, including hiring, compensation, pipeline process and forecasting.
• Experience working in a demanding, highly competitive technical environment with strong commercial standards and relationships.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $225k to $300k depending on experience
• Variable Compensation: Annual performance incentive tied primarily to accepted bookings and strategic commercial outcomes, with margin, delivery readiness and forecast quality considered. Final structure and target will be determined based on experience and start date.
• Equity: Company equity, sized based on experience.
• Health, dental, vision insurance.
• Flexible PTO with a generous holiday policy.
• Hybrid-friendly work schedule, with travel as required for customer engagement.