Associate Director, Business Development – Strategic Partnerships

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Establish new business relationships with electric utility companies and foster partnerships with automakers, EV charging firms, battery suppliers, and other distributed energy providers.

• Manage a targeted portfolio of key utility and partner opportunities.

• Recognize and evaluate prospects, cultivate relationships with senior decision-makers, create commercial and strategic value propositions, negotiate agreements, and assist in converting signed contracts into successful launches and revenue streams.

• Progress utility accounts from initial interaction through to scoping, proposal preparation, negotiation, and contract finalization.

• Cultivate relationships with utility executives and leaders involved in transportation electrification, distribution, grid planning, demand-side management, innovation, and operational processes.

• Lead consultative discussions to understand customer priorities, regulatory frameworks, operational limitations, procurement pathways, budgets, and decision-making mechanisms.

• Create and oversee proposals, presentations, business cases, pricing strategies, bid defenses, and other materials for intricate enterprise opportunities.

• Navigate formal procurement processes, regulatory frameworks, pilot programs, and other avenues.

• Source, assess, and advance collaborations with automotive OEMs, EVSE manufacturers and network operators, battery and energy technology suppliers, aggregators, and other key ecosystem participants.

• Build relationships with partner executives and teams across product development, engineering, energy services, marketing, and strategic planning.

• Identify mutual value opportunities through technology integration, collaborative go-to-market initiatives, utility program execution, customer acquisition, or the creation of new revenue channels.

• Develop partnership frameworks that outline shared value, commercial terms, responsibilities, technical dependencies, and market entry strategies.

• Manage priority partnerships post-signature, collaborating with Client Success, Product, and other internal teams to facilitate launches, boost customer enrollment and participation, overcome obstacles, identify growth opportunities, and monitor performance.

• Foster internal consensus on priorities, decisions, responsibilities, timelines, risks, and subsequent steps.

• Shape solutions and commercial strategies with Product, Client Success, Finance, Policy, and Delivery teams.

• Coordinate efforts across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Policy, Finance, Legal, RevOps, and executive leadership.

• Create decision memos, executive presentations, account plans, and strategic recommendations.

• Maintain oversight of pipeline stages, forecasts, relationship maps, account plans, and CRM data.

• Convert customer, partner, and market insights into actionable recommendations that inform product strategy, positioning, partnership priorities, and go-to-market plans.

⛳️ Requirements

• 7–10 years of experience in enterprise business development, strategic partnerships, corporate development, consultative sales, or a related field.

• Proven experience in originating, structuring, negotiating, and closing complex B2B opportunities, preferably with electric utilities, automotive firms, EV charging providers, energy technology companies, or similarly complex organizations.

• Strong commercial acumen, capable of translating market dynamics, customer requirements, financial analysis, regulatory context, and technical considerations into a compelling business case.

• Good judgment in navigating long and ambiguous deal cycles.

• Ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment while maintaining a high level of collaboration.

• Experience with electric utilities, transportation electrification, distributed energy resources, or enterprise energy software.

• Professional expertise in one or more areas: virtual power plants, DERMS, demand response, managed charging, vehicle-grid integration, energy storage, or grid planning.

• Experience in negotiating agreements encompassing both commercial and technical aspects.

• Familiarity with working with regulated customers or in markets influenced by public utility commissions and regulatory procedures.

• Established relationships within the North American utility, automotive, EV charging, and distributed energy resource ecosystem.

• Convenient access to a major airport.

• Willingness to travel periodically for customer meetings, partner engagements, conferences, and internal events.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equity in the form of stock options.

• Comprehensive benefits package.