Commercial Operations Manager

Come join SparkMeter’s Commercial Operations team and help increase electricity access in developing countries. As Commercial Operations Manager, you will help facilitate our sales process by moving our microgrid and central utility customers through our sales pipeline, supporting the rest of the team with market research, and joining other SparkMeter staff at conferences and other events.

We pride ourselves on a problem-led, solution-based sales philosophy. We understand the challenges facing utilities who are working to increase energy access, and we’re not trying to sell useless things to another salesperson — we’re talking with interested commercial and technical experts to develop a solution that works for them.

You'll focus on:

• Managing our commercial operations processes. You’ll manage our CRM (Salesforce), and help track potential projects from qualification through quotation and negotiation to close. You’ll make sure we’re following up with our contacts regularly so our potential customers have the information they need when they need it, and so we don’t miss out on potential opportunities. You’ll develop metrics and reports to keep the full commercial operations team apprised of the status of opportunities in our sales pipeline and our sales performance. You’ll join initial calls with our potential customers so you can get firsthand contact with the heuristics we use to qualify customers, and you can apply what you learn throughout your work. Finally, you’ll work with the rest of the team to make sure our processes and tools are as efficient as they can be.
• Market research. You’ll help us identify utilities and developers who might be interested in our products. You will follow developments in the minigrid, renewable energy and energy access sector and help us determine who we should contact — and how best to do it.
• Conducting demos for microgrid developers & central grid utilities. After you become more familiar with how our products work, you’ll help us conduct demonstrations for our potential customers. (This is usually online, but may occasionally be in person.)
• Representing SparkMeter at industry events & conferences. We travel internationally to events regularly to give talks, meet with our current customers, and expand our networks in the industry. You’ll join other members of our team at a few events each year. (Some recent events have been a few blocks away in Washington while others were in Dar es Salaam and Cape Town!)

This role has significant potential for growth, and over time you’ll be able to make significant contributions to nearly any part of our organization. For example, you could contribute to product development or customer operations with what you learn from our customers. Or, you could move into a dedicated sales role where you handle customer relationships from qualification to close.

Where You'll Work
SparkMeter's Commercial Operations team is based in our Washington D.C. office, and you’re welcome to join us here. Our office is easily accessible from either Farragut Metro stop, and there are abundant bike share stations nearby. You can expect occasional travel: about 5%, or ~2-4 weeks a year.

Type of Role & Compensation Structure
This is a full-time W-2 role with benefits. Compensation is salary, not commission.

SparkMeter was founded to promote opportunity in underrepresented communities.

SparkMeter’s core value is opportunity: the opportunity for underserved communities to achieve great things. That's why our mission is to increase access to electricity in underserved communities - it is electricity and the services derived from it that unlock and create those opportunities. This value is reflected in our hiring ethos: we believe that the strongest teams have diverse backgrounds. Our approach to hiring has been validated by academic and industry studies that show that workforce diversity improves team and business performance. (It has also been validated by the quality of the team we’ve assembled so far!) We encourage applications from members of groups currently underrepresented in our sector, and in engineering generally.

Requirements & Skills

You'll be a good fit for this role if you have:

• Empathy. Our customers and partners are all over the world, and come from many different backgrounds. You should be comfortable (and, ideally, enjoy!) talking with people different from yourself.
• Curiosity. You’ll use your knack for gathering information and problem-solving to help us figure out ways to create solutions to our customers’ unique challenges.
• Experience using a CRM. We use Salesforce as our CRM to track opportunities and generate quotations for customers. You should have some experience with Salesforce or another CRM system for tracking opportunities, generating quotations, and creating reports. SparkMeter uses many customized features within Salesforce, so comfort with adding custom fields and features is a plus.
• Comfort with technology. While you don’t have to be an engineer to do well at this role, you should be comfortable with computers, science and engineering concepts, and electricity.
• A connection to energy and energy access. Our mission is to increase access to electricity in underserved communities, and your connection to our mission will both inform your work and make it meaningful for you.

We’d also like to see (but don’t require) experience with:

• Business development or sales. If you have experience in sales, that’s great! However, you don’t need that to do well in this role. This role combines aspects of consulting and professional services, product and design, account management, and general administration, and experience in any of these areas will be an asset for you.