Manager / Director, Commercial Solutions - Sparkfund

Denver, CO

About the Job

About Sparkfund

Sparkfund is an energy transition partner built to accelerate the energy transition by transforming the built environment into a productive, resilient, climate-adapted extension of the grid. We do this by partnering with utilities and building owners to provide program management, project implementation, and financing services and capabilities to our partners' customers. Together, we are creating a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable energy future.

Position Summary

Sparkfund is hiring two experienced project development professionals to qualify and develop innovative efficiency and electrification projects for our utility partner's customers. These roles will play a critical role in the growth and success of Sparkfund's Commercial Solutions team as well as our Projects business unit. These team members will collaborate with teams across all four of Sparkfund's business units – particularly our Program Management, Project Development Engineering, Legal, and Finance teams – to manage project qualification, close strategy, pricing, proposal development, and internal management of the project across relevant cross-functional teams. They will be responsible for hitting margin targets, increasing our close rates, and infusing customer and product learnings throughout the organization.

These roles will focus on one of Sparkfund's existing strategic utility partners and their efficiency and electrification program. These team members will be responsible for collaborating closely with our partner's key account managers to develop relationships with end-use customers and to identify, target, and qualify leads. They will then be responsible for developing these efficiency and electrification projects that Sparkfund's Project Delivery team will then implement.

These positions will directly report to the Associate Vice President of Commercial Solutions and will be key contributors to our Projects business unit. They can be Manager-, Senior Manager-, or Director-level positions, depending on the candidate's level of experience. Both roles require self-starters and highly effective communicators capable of effectively managing and influencing a wide variety of perspectives and stakeholders.

Location

While Sparkfund is a fully remote company, we require this person to be based in either the Denver or Minneapolis metro areas. In addition to traveling to our utility partner's office, we expect you to travel to Washington, DC 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

Represent Sparkfund's partner in the market with senior buyers, demonstrating a high level of expertise in the energy industry as well as financial and technical acumen, a bias towards action and solutions, and strong creative problem solving capabilities.
Lead and manage project qualification, sales strategy, project modeling, pro formas, and proposal preparation for each project in your pipeline, including indirectly managing a project team of financial and technical support professionals assigned to a specific project's process.
Partner closely with Sparkfund's Program Management team to ensure the utility partner is trained and has confidence in Sparkfund policies and best practices specific to these relationships.
Communicate, collaborate, and work effectively alongside account management and economic development professionals within the program who originate, qualify, and own customer relationships.
Manage all commercial customer account and opportunity data in Salesforce regularly, ensuring the data is up-to-date, accurate and consistent for use in reports for a variety of stakeholders across Sparkfund.
Collaborate with the Projects Operations team on sales process optimization and team enablement, contributing to the Commercial Solutions team's as well as Sparkfund's operational efficiency and our ability to more effectively meet our customers' needs.
Bring best practices in the sales process and in project development to a rapidly growing organization.

Required Skills & Qualifications

3-10 years of relevant experience in a related role, such as project development and/or technical sales, within the utilities, ESCO, or broader energy industry.
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.
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.
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

Competency in software and cloud-based information management tools – especially with Salesforce, Google Workspace, Slack, Asana, Excel, PowerPoint, and/or project management tools.
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.
Dedication to what we're building at Sparkfund and a passion for combating climate change.

Benefits

Competitive compensation and stock option plans - we believe in shared ownership.
Comprehensive benefits package including medical, vision, and dental insurance as well as disability and life insurance.
Flexible vacation policy that encourages ~4 weeks of paid time off. We also observe all federal holidays.
8 weeks gender-neutral paid leave for caregivers when they have a new addition to their families and an additional 4 weeks of paid leave for birthing parents.
A one-time, work-from-home stipend to help cover any equipment, hardware, etc. you need to set up your remote office.
A monthly allowance of $100 to help cover phone and WiFi expenses.

We Want You To Know

You can be a great candidate even if you don't fit everything we've described above. You can also have important skills we haven't thought of. If that's you, don't hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We are dedicated to environmental stewardship, and recognize we need diverse perspectives to successfully tackle this massive challenge. To change the world, we must first change ourselves, which is why Sparkfund has created a space that sources viewpoints from people who look and think differently.

We are committed to diversity and building an equitable and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and experiences, and we're taking steps to meet that commitment.

We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, veterans, and people with disabilities.

Source : Sparkfund