Director of Business Development

Role Overview

We are looking for a strategic and technical Business Development Director to own and grow Gridware’s commercial presence across the Central Region of the U.S. You will be the primary point of contact for all utilities from the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast, focusing on investor‑owned utilities, leading full‑cycle enterprise sales efforts with a heavy technical emphasis. This high‑impact individual contributor role will work cross‑functionally with customer success, sales engineering, regulatory affairs, revenue operations, and field operations to land and expand key accounts.

• Own and manage a defined territory of investor‑owned utilities across the Central U.S. (Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, and neighboring states).
• Build and maintain a robust pipeline of qualified opportunities.
• Develop multi‑threaded relationships across utility organizations—field, engineering, operations, asset management, grid modernization, and C‑suite stakeholders.
• Drive complex, technical, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles from initial outreach through contract execution, typically ~18 months in length.
• Lead discovery, technical presentations, pilot structuring, and commercial negotiations with support from revenue leadership.
• Develop account strategies and territory plans; bring a disciplined, process‑driven approach to forecasting and pipeline management.
• Partner with sales‑engineering and regulatory teams to define pilots that ensure prospects experience clear, measurable value.
• Represent Gridware at utility industry events and conferences (e.g., EEI, Distribu
  
  TECH) to build brand presence in the Central Region.
• Gather and synthesize market intelligence—customer needs, competitive dynamics, regulatory drivers—to inform product roadmap and GTM strategy.
• Work closely with marketing and product to develop region‑specific messaging and materials.

• 7+ years of technical sales or consulting experience directly with electric utilities.
• Demonstrated ability to convey and respond to technical engineering questions without additional internal support.
• Deep familiarity with the investor‑owned utility landscape—including procurement processes, regulatory environments, and key stakeholders.
• Strong executive presence and ability to build trust with both senior leaders (VP/C‑suite) and frontline individual contributors.
• Experience managing long‑cycle, technically complex sales processes involving multiple stakeholders.
• Self‑directed and resourceful; comfortable creating structure in an early‑stage, fast‑moving environment.
• Willingness to travel 40‑50% within the Central Region.

• An engineering degree with 2+ years of industry experience working with or for electric utilities on T&D planning/engineering projects.
• Professional engineering licensure.
• Experience selling hardware/software platform solutions (sensors, IoT, SaaS) into utilities or critical infrastructure.
• Knowledge of distribution grid operations, engineering, protection, asset management, or wildfire mitigation programs.
• Networked into several major Central Region IOUs.

$175,000 - $215,000 per year.

• Health, Dental & Vision (Gold and Platinum with some provider plans fully covered).
• Paid parental leave.
• Alternating day off (every other Monday).
• “Off the Grid”, a two‑week per year paid break for all employees.
• Commuter allowance.
• Company‑paid training.