VP of Sales in Carlsbad, California at Proper Voltage

Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

About Proper Voltage

Proper Voltage is unlocking the next generation of battery technology across robotics, data centers, and defense.

We're building intelligent battery systems that make advanced chemistries (sodium-ion, lithium-titanate, lithium-silicon) work in products that were never designed for them. Humanoid robots can upgrade power systems without redesigning their entire platform. Data centers get safer, cheaper backup power. Drones and autonomous vehicles get higher energy density without lengthy integration cycles.

If you want to build the revenue engine for hard technology that matters (power systems that enable humanoid robots, AI infrastructure, and next-gen mobility), this is the place.

Job Overview

Proper Voltage is hiring its first Vice President of Sales to own revenue and build the commercial organization as the company scales across direct customers, OEM programs, and distributor-led channels.

This is a closer's job and a builder's job, and we will not compromise on either. You will personally own and close the company's most consequential deals: multi-year supply agreements, OEM design wins, and channel partnerships. At the same time, you will design the revenue system underneath you: sales process, pipeline stages, compensation plans, forecasting, tooling, and the hiring sequence that takes this team from a handful of people today to 15 to 20 across UPS, robotics, and emerging platforms.

You inherit a real foundation, not a blank page: an active pipeline spanning hyperscale data center, industrial, and robotics accounts; a Director of UPS Market Development and a Technical Solutions Manager who will report to you; established channel frameworks and commercial templates; and executive founders who currently close and will hand you the pen deliberately, not reluctantly.

You also inherit the go-to-market itself: channel-led, distributor-first, with rep coverage into the OEMs and direct engagement on strategic accounts. You own operating, measuring, and evolving that model, and it is yours to challenge: changes to the model itself are proposed with evidence and decided with the leadership team, not made by default.

The role requires genuine fluency in battery and power systems, or a demonstrated record selling comparably complex technical hardware (power electronics, energy systems, robotics, industrial automation) in startup or high-growth environments. You will work directly from customer specifications, convert technical inputs into volume and energy assumptions, and form commercial positions independently. You are expected to know what we can deliver at scale and to enforce that reality internally and externally.

Who this role is for

Someone who has personally closed complex technical hardware deals and has also built the machine behind a sales team: the stages, the comp plans, the tooling, the hiring plan. You have taken a revenue organization from a few people to fifteen or more, inside a hardware, energy, or industrial technology company, and you can describe exactly what you built and why.

You are comfortable being accountable for a number while simultaneously building the system that makes the number repeatable. You make confident commercial decisions with incomplete information, stand behind them, and push engineering, partners, or leadership when clarity or tradeoffs are required. You value clean execution, concise communication, and finishing what you start.

This role is not a fit if

This is not a SaaS job - Lead times, BOM costs, certifications, and production capacity are all real constraints on what you can promise. This role is also not a fit if your track record is relationship-driven selling without system-building. If your answer to “how did you scale the team” is a list of names in your network rather than a process you designed, this will not work. It is also not a fit if you are looking for a late-career seat optimized for comfort, if you expect to be taught basic battery, power, or energy concepts on the job, or if you need a full marketing and CS organization already in place to succeed.

It will not work for someone who avoids conflict, defers decisions upward when things get uncomfortable, or needs highly structured direction to know what to do next.

What you'll do

• Own the company revenue number across direct sales, OEM programs, and distributor-led channels.
• Personally lead and close strategic deals: supply agreements, OEM design wins, and marquee accounts, with executive support where useful rather than required.
• Design and operate the revenue system: pipeline stages, qualification and handoff process, forecasting cadence, CRM discipline, and commercial tooling.
• Build the team: define the hiring sequence for account executives, sales engineers, and robotics-focused salespeople; recruit, onboard, and manage to a 10 to 20 person organization.
• Manage and develop the existing commercial leaders: Director of UPS Market Development (commercial) and Director of Technical Solutions (pre-sales, technical qualification, sales operations).
• Work with company leadership to design compensation plans that reward the right behavior at each role, from technical pre-sales through closing.
• Own pricing, quoting, and scope discipline; lead negotiation on commercial terms with executive and counsel support on legal redlines.
• Operate within the company’s Interface Protocol: promise only claims that trace to the engineering-signed capability sheet, log every external commitment in the commitments register, and route demo and eval definitions through outcome specs written in commercial language.
• Feed market signal into product: synthesize what customers and the pipeline are asking for into clear, prioritized input to the Head of Product, who owns product direction, and close the loop back to customers on what gets built.
• Interface with supply chain and operations on lead times, BOM cost, and production capacity so that every commercial commitment (price, volume, delivery date) is one the company can keep.
• Serve as the senior commercial interface for distributor and channel partners, enforcing clarity, accountability, and process adherence.
• Decide which opportunities advance, pause, or stop based on product fit, production readiness, margin, and strategic focus.
• Push engineering and product teams when customer needs require decisions, tradeoffs, or prioritization, and translate the answer back into commercial commitments the company can keep.

Required Qualifications

• 12 or more years in commercial roles within hardware, energy storage, power electronics, or similarly technical systems, including direct ownership of a revenue number.
• Personal track record closing complex, technical, multi-stakeholder deals (seven figures and up, long cycles, engineering-heavy evaluation).
• Demonstrated experience building a sales organization: hired and managed a team through meaningful growth, and designed the process, comp, and tooling it ran on.
• Ability to command a deeply technical sale: work directly from customer specifications, including voltage, power, energy capacity, and volume assumptions, and hold your own with engineering audiences. Battery, power electronics, or energy storage domain knowledge strongly preferred; comparable complex-hardware fluency required at minimum.
• Proven ability to operate with ambiguity while making confident, defensible decisions, and to push back internally and externally to protect execution quality, margin, and delivery.
• Clear, concise communicator who brings recommendations, not just problems. Strong ownership mindset and follow-through.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with UPS systems, industrial energy storage, DoD-related battery products, or critical power infrastructure.
• Experience with distributor, manufacturer's representative, or OEM-led sales models, including channel program design.
• Background in high-growth hardware companies with real production and delivery constraints.
• Experience selling into robotics, data center, or hyperscale customers.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $230k to $260k depending on experience and location.
• Variable Compensation: $150k to $180k at target, tied to company revenue and closed bookings (on-target earnings of roughly $400k to $440k).
• 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.