Company

Batteries have a big role to play in tackling the climate crisis, and it’s essential to make sure that they’re profitable, safe and reliable to operate.

At Zitara Technologies (YCombinator S20), we build cutting-edge software solutions that empower companies to deeply understand their batteries, both in design and deployment. Our customers operate >$100M deployments of batteries in e-mobility, energy storage systems, consumer electronics, drones, satellites and beyond. Our mission is to enable and accelerate an energy storage and renewable energy revolution, powered by safer batteries, at lower cost, and with less waste. Join us!

Role

We are looking for a mission-driven, self-motivated sales leader who will grow Zitara’s customer base and revenue by sourcing and qualifying leads, developing customers’ interest in Zitara’s products and roadmap, and driving deals to a successful close.

You will start as an individual contributor, but as one of the revenue team’s first hires, you will be asked and empowered to help shape the commercial vision and team. You should be comfortable with risk, and with making recommendations and taking action with incomplete information.

Your broad mandate will be to identify and initiate engagements that maximize the various value-propositions of Zitara’s world-leading technologies across battery applications including, but not limited to, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, light electric vehicles, drones, satellites, and beyond.

This role requires an entrepreneurial mindset, intellectual curiosity, strategic thinking, teamwork – and a deep understanding of prospective customers’ needs across a diverse range of business verticals and applications. To succeed, you will need to concisely communicate technical and programmatic details up and down prospective customers’ org charts.

A technical background is preferred, but not required. A thorough understanding of batteries, battery management systems, and/or power management systems will be necessary, over time if not immediately.

Demonstrated experience selling semiconductors and/or embedded software solutions would be tremendously helpful, particularly if you sold into one or more of the following markets: Internet of Things (IoT), light electric vehicles, drones, and/or satellites.

This is a unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a category defining startup as it matures from technology development to commercial deployment. We will grow together as a young, promising start-up and as a small, tight-knit revenue team in an exciting and emerging industry.

Responsibilities

Drive a full-cycle sales process. Prospect, discover, qualify, pitch, persuade, negotiate and close new customers.
Generate leads by leveraging and expanding your professional network and contributing to Zitara’s marketing initiatives
Ask about prospective customers’ products, pain points and purchasing processes
Develop and execute criteria to qualify customers
Pitch Zitara’s products, services and roadmap, and persuade potential customers to move forward with Zitara
Collaborate cross-functionally to define engagements and draft statements of work
Negotiate and close contracts, with the support of Zitara’s outside counsel
Collaborate with account management, applications engineering, and operations teammates to launch new customers
Update leadership on the status and progress of deals, and contribute to the design and execution of go-to-market strategies.
Be the “voice of the customer,” loud and clear. Develop an in-depth understanding of customer needs across industries, identify product gaps, and contribute to Zitara’s product roadmap by advocating for our customers
Track industry trends, competitors’ activities, and market dynamics to inform sales strategies

Minimum Qualifications

4-10 years in technical sales and/or account management – or a background well-suited to an impactful career transition (e.g. a technical background and several years in strategy consulting)
Demonstrated ability to land and/or expand business-to-business engagements
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
A self-starter. Excel while working independently (and if applicable, remotely)
An ability to organize, prioritize, and execute
Excited to travel to prospective customers and industry events
Bachelors' degree required

Preferred Additional Qualifications

Familiarity with lithium-ion batteries, battery management systems, and/or power management systems
Work experience in industries deploying batteries, including but not limited to IoT devices, electric vehicles, energy storage, drones, satellites and beyond.