Vice President of Sales and Business Development

About Aclima

Aclima is pioneering an entirely new way to scientifically monitor and respond to air pollution in communities, and track the effectiveness of focused mitigation efforts. We leverage cutting-edge sensor technology mounted on fleets of mapping vehicles to measure air pollution, greenhouse gases, methane, and air toxics across entire cities, states, and regions at block-level resolution. Our professional analytics software, Aclima Pro, translates billions of scientific measurements into insights at the source level, providing Environmental Intelligence for governments, industry, and communities. Our free app delivers address-level air pollution insights for the communities we serve. Aclima is a purpose-driven technology company helping to catalyze bold climate action that protects community health, reduces emissions, and supports smart government.

Aclima is one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential companies. Other awards include Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World, #1 in Data Science, Inc. Magazine’s Best in Business, a Fast Company 2022 World Changing Idea, a WEF Technology Pioneer, and one of the top 100 companies in GovTech for 2023. Aclima is headquartered in San Francisco.

To learn more about Aclima, please visit https://aclima.earth.

About the Role

We are seeking a Vice President of Sales & Business Development who will be directly responsible for leading our go-to-market strategy and execution. Reporting to the CEO and Founders, this role is pivotal to the company's success: closing high-touch multi-stakeholder deals, building out a high-performing sales organization, and expanding into new verticals.

This is not a traditional BD role. This is a role that requires enterprise value selling focused on governance and defensibility. Buyers evaluate Aclima not only on tech capabilities, but on whether results will withstand scientific review, meet public expectations and scrutiny, and hold up to regulatory or legal challenges. This role requires the ability to build trust with technical reviewers, program owners, procurement/legal, communications, and community stakeholders—without over-promising.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on strategic sales executive who has successfully sold paradigm-shifting approaches to government agencies, utilities, and other regulated industries, and who brings a strong network, deep sales expertise, and a passion for climate solutions.

This leader will operate at multiple altitudes: from building high-trust relationships with public officials and C-level executives, to designing and operationalizing internal sales processes, to coaching a growing team, and personally owning and closing top-tier deals. Sales cycles can be long; success depends on process, persistence, and stakeholder orchestration, with strong relationship-building. Success in this role requires selling “paradigm shift” outcomes, with humility, rigor, and proof.

What success looks like in the first 180 days:

• Work with Product to deliver an updated segmentation and ICP for agencies vs utilities; identify the top 25 targets and a pursuit plan. Execute.

• Build a repeatable pilot-to-program conversion framework and implement it in the top 5 active opportunities.

• Establish an RFP/RFI system (calendar, content library, defined partner bench, response team).

• Define packaging and pricing options for 2–3 standard solution and program tiers (agency and utility).

• Hire and/or assess required GTM roles (AE(s), BD, partnerships, proposals) and define a scalable operating cadence.

• Establish gov affairs operational responsibility with founders and external gov affairs teams.

Responsibilities:

Sales Leadership and Execution

• Identify, pursue, and close Aclima’s new business opportunities across public sector, utilities, and adjacent verticals.

• Design and execute a pilot-to-program playbook (success criteria, stakeholder mapping, measurement plan, expansion triggers, renewal pathway).

• Lead the multi-stakeholder buying journey with our customers (science/technical, program, procurement, legal/privacy, communications/EJ, executive leadership).

• Build and run an RFP/RFI strategy: early education, requirement shaping, teaming, compliance, pricing strategy, and debrief learnings.

• Shorten long-cycle sales by leveraging relationships, government procurement expertise, and proven deal-closing tactics.

• Forecast, manage, and report on pipeline health, deal velocity, and sales performance.

Team Building & Sales Infrastructure

• Build, lead, and scale a high-performance sales and business development team.

• Partner with Operations and Product to ensure promises match delivery capacity; implement deal-review discipline to prevent scope creep.

• Own pricing and packaging across services + software (tiers, standard scopes, options, renewal/expansion).

• Implement sales tools, methodologies, and disciplines for long-term growth and repeatability.

• Define sales KPIs, performance metrics, and account-based strategies to support scaling.

Market Strategy & Expansion

• Identify and evaluate new market segments and partnership opportunities.

• Help shape pricing, packaging, and go-to-market strategies in collaboration with product leadership.

• Build Aclima’s utility GTM: targeted use cases (methane/leak management, equity-informed planning, wildfire smoke response, infrastructure emissions, reliability/operations), procurement pathways, and regulatory alignment.

• Expand Aclima’s reach into utilities, state and municipal governments, and other regulated markets.

Strategic Partnerships & Relationships

• Leverage your existing network and build new relationships to drive top-of-funnel activity and accelerate sales cycles.

• Represent Aclima at key events and with high-value stakeholders as a credible and compelling ambassador.

• Establish strategic partnerships that complement direct sales and amplify Aclima’s impact.

Must haves Qualifications:

• Experienced Sales Leader: 10+ years of experience in enterprise sales, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role. Has built and led high-performing value selling teams and can point to significant revenue growth.

• Experience selling into regulated markets where trust, defensibility, and public scrutiny are as important as performance.

• B2G and/or utility enterprise sales wins: Closed multi-year, multi-stakeholder deals (ideally $1M+ program scale) that required procurement review (RFP/RFI/MSA).

• Procurement fluency: Can speak to timelines, compliance, pricing structures, cooperative purchasing vehicles, and how to win with evaluators.

• Hybrid offering experience: Sold solutions that combine services delivery + software/data platform (not purely SaaS, not purely consulting).

• Technical credibility: Able to sell with scientists/engineers in the room—comfortable discussing methods, uncertainty, QA/QC, validation, and limitations without hand-waving.

• Operating discipline: Strong pipeline management, forecasting, and sales process, with the ability to build a repeatable engine (MEDDICC or equivalent).

• Team builder: Built and managed teams; can recruit, coach, and hold performance standards.

• Strategic & Tactical: You think big, align to company vision, and also roll up your sleeves to make the plan real.

• Resilient Operator: You thrive in ambiguity, are comfortable in startup environments, and operate with urgency and grit.

Strong Plus:

• Network of active contacts across state/local agencies, air quality programs, climate offices, and/or electric/gas utilities.

• Experience with environmental monitoring, geospatial analytics, emissions programs, or environmental health.

• Experience navigating community trust / EJ-facing programs (with clear role boundaries: agency-led engagement, vendor support).

• Partnerships experience (systems integrators, channel partners, consultancies, Esri ecosystem, utilities associations).

Pay Transparency

Compensation will be structured as a 50/50 base + commission plan. For this full-time exempt position, the base salary range for candidates in the SF Bay Area, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, or the Seattle metro region is $180,000, with additional commission eligibility, equity, and benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location, and are informed by current market data provided by Carta Total Comp.

Within those ranges, individual pay is determined by exact region and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. The hiring manager can share more about the specific salary range for your geographic region during the hiring process. Employee must continue to reside within 90 miles of location used to determine starting salary, otherwise Aclima reserves the right to make regional adjustments to pay.

To Apply

Please submit your resume. Be prepared to show off your track record of success and explain to us why you’re especially qualified.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Aclima is committed to diversity in our organization and building an equitable and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and experiences, and has proudly made the Kapor Capital Founders' Commitment. Aclima provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Aclima complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, veterans, and people with disabilities. Full-time position only. Out of area candidates will be considered.

Benefits

Aside from the fulfillment of working alongside world-class colleagues to make a positive impact in people’s lives, while improving planetary and public health, Aclima offers competitive compensation, equity potential, and excellent benefits. Benefits include medical/dental/vision/Life/AD&D/STD<D, 401K, wellness credits, company events, and an extraordinary culture.