Founding Sales Leader - CPQ & Industrial Manufacturing at UP.Labs – California

Company Description:SpecSync is an AI-powered CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) platform purpose-built for industrial OEMs, the manufacturers of commercial vehicles, trailers, heavy equipment, truck bodies, and specialty vehicles. We're solving one of the most persistent problems in industrial manufacturing: the quoting process is broken.
Today, sales reps spend 1–2 weeks navigating complex configurations, compatibility reviews, and manual pricing workflows just to deliver a quote, and 8 out of 10 deals stall because of it. Meanwhile, 80% of orders are repeat configurations with minimal changes. SpecSync eliminates the bottleneck by using AI to generate accurate, fully configured quotes in minutes, guiding buyers to standard configurations in real time, and surfacing product intelligence that OEMs have never had visibility into before.
SpecSync bridges the gap between ERP, CRM, and CPQ, connecting data that normally stays siloed, without heavy integrations or custom development. The result: faster quotes, fewer errors, and more deals won.
We are backed by UP.Labs, a venture studio that partners with leading industrial enterprises including Wabash, JB Hunt, Alaska Airlines, and Porsche to build technology companies from the ground up.
The Role:We are hiring a Founding Sales Leader to join as one of the first commercial hires at SpecSync. You will work directly with the CEO to open doors, land early enterprise customers, and help define the company's go-to-market motion from the ground up. This is not a traditional, plug-and-play sales role - it is a high-impact position where you will shape how the product is sold, who it is sold to, and how deals are structured.
This role is ideal for a senior, hands-on seller who comes from the CPQ or industrial manufacturing space, has real relationships they can activate, and wants to build something from 0>1. You will own the full revenue cycle - from top-of-funnel to close - working alongside a contract SDR and directly with the CEO on strategy and execution.
What You'll Do:Enterprise Sales & Deal Ownership

• Own the full sales cycle from first outreach through close for early enterprise customers
• Lead complex, multi-stakeholder deals across sales, operations, and engineering teams at industrial OEMs
• Structure and negotiate strategic agreements in ambiguous, early-stage environments

Pipeline Creation & Customer Access

• Source your own opportunities through outbound, relationships, and creative deal-making
• Leverage an existing network within the CPQ and industrial manufacturing space to open doors
• Build pipeline from scratch alongside a contract SDR — there is no pre-built engine

Early Customer Engagement

• Act as a strategic partner to early customers navigating complex configuration and quoting challenges
• Work closely with prospects to understand workflows, pain points, and buying dynamics
• Drive successful onboarding and early adoption alongside the product and engineering team

Go-To-Market Development

• Partner with the CEO to define ICP, messaging, and early sales playbooks
• Help refine positioning based on real customer conversations and market feedback
• Contribute to pricing, packaging, and deal structure in the early stages

Voice of the Customer

• Translate customer insights into actionable feedback for product and engineering
• Help shape the roadmap by identifying patterns in customer needs and objections
• Serve as a bridge between the market and the product

Who You Are:

• A high-performing enterprise seller who has operated in complex, ambiguous environments
• Comfortable owning the entire sales process — from sourcing to closing
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and excited by building something from scratch
• Able to build credibility quickly with both technical and executive stakeholders at industrial manufacturers
• Competitive, driven, and motivated by high ownership and long-cycle, high-value deals

What You Bring:

• 5–10+ years of experience in enterprise sales, strategic accounts, or similar roles
• Background in the CPQ space — you understand the problem and have sold into or alongside engineering-heavy OEM environments
• Experience selling into industrial manufacturing (trailers, commercial vehicles, heavy equipment, or adjacent verticals strongly preferred)
• Proven ability to source and close complex, multi-stakeholder deals (often 6–12+ month cycles)
• An existing book of relationships you can activate — you're not starting from zero
• Track record of building pipeline independently in early-stage or undefined environments
• Strong communication, negotiation, and executive presence

Nice to Have:

• Experience in a "first seller" or founding sales role at an early-stage startup
• Familiarity with ERP/CRM ecosystems (SAP, Salesforce, etc.) and how they interact with CPQ platforms
• Background building a sales playbook from scratch

Why Join:

• Be the foundational commercial hire at a category-defining AI platform for industrial manufacturing
• Work directly with an experienced CEO and the broader UP.Labs ecosystem of founders and operators
• Own early customer relationships and have a direct hand in shaping company trajectory
• High upside through equity ownership in a venture with enterprise-scale potential
• Uncapped commission — if you're driving revenue, we want you to share in it

About UP.Labs:UP.Labs builds high-growth technology startups that enable faster, cleaner, and safer movement of people and goods. Our platform is unique in three ways:
Risk: We reward our team and partners with meaningful equity. Technology: We build and launch scalable technology products from day one. Industry Focus: We stay deeply focused on the underlying fabric of mobility and logistics.