Founding Account Executive - United Kingdom
- London, United Kingdom
Posted 3 days ago
About the role
Electricity grids are undergoing the most significant transformation in a century. The shift to renewables, the proliferation of rooftop solar, batteries and EVs, and the increasing complexity of distribution networks are forcing utilities to operate their grids in fundamentally new ways. Gridsight's vertical SaaS platform uses data, ML and AI to help grid operators modernise their operations and unlock transformational new capabilities. We deliver visibility into the grid edge, faster renewable connections, and real-time orchestration of distributed energy. The opportunity is enormous ($1B+ ARR).
We're embedded with over 50% of Australia's distribution networks, more than 30% in New Zealand, and have 1 of the top 5 utilities in the US as our lighthouse. Airtree led our Series A, we grew ARR 3.4x in the past 6 months, we just closed our Series B led by a major US fund, and we're on the path to build the first truly generational utility software company.
We are a team of builders. What unites us is that we’re curious, hungry and obsessed with maximising the impact we can deliver to Gridsight and the energy transition. If that sounds like you, come join us!
Why now, in the UK and Europe
Gridsight was founded in Australia five years ago. We have product-market fit at home, we are the category leader there, and we have made real inroads in the US with multiple Top 20 utilities now working with us.
The UK and Europe are our newest market, and we are building here from a standing start.
About the role
This is the first sales hire in the region. There is a mapped set of DNO and DSO accounts, one live customer, real engagement across the ecosystem, but no dedicated sales capacity behind any of it. You would own the pipeline end to end, from working out which accounts are worth pursuing through to the tender, alongside a founding delivery and engineering team.
Your patch for the first twelve months is GB DNO/DSOs and Ireland. Continental European DSOs are the year-two brief and we are being deliberate about the sequencing: a continental DSO means a different regulatory frame, a different buying process and realistically a second language.
What you'll do
- Own the GB and Ireland account set: prioritisation, sequencing, and the case for where we spend our time.
- Run consultative discovery with network operators, with the Power Engineer alongside you for technical depth.
- Own the bid calendar and our procurement standing, including framework pre-qualification, and decide what we bid for and what we decline.
- Build the partner and channel relationships the region currently holds informally, and put them on a proper footing.
- Multi-thread accounts alongside the EMEA Lead.
Who you are
Must-haves
- An enterprise sales record in long-cycle, technically complex B2B, with evidence of landing new logos rather than farming existing ones. The deals we run are multi-year and material, and we care that you have carried and closed them yourself.
- Comfortable being the commercial function rather than a seat inside one. No inherited pipeline, no marketing engine, no sales ops.
- Genuinely consultative. You can sit in a technical discovery session and add to it rather than wait for it to finish.
- Pipeline discipline from first principles. You build the reporting, keep it honest, and forecast something we can plan against.
- A demonstrated reason to be in energy.
Strongly preferred
- Sold into regulated utilities, and know how a DNO/DSO actually buys: framework agreements, pre-qualification, innovation funding routes, and the difference between an innovation budget and a business-as-usual one.
- Experience building a partner or channel motion from nothing.
Nice-to-haves
- A second European language, with a view to the year-two brief.
- Experience selling analytics or software into an installed base of hardware.
How we work
We deliver work we take pride in, shipped at pace. Everyone owns outcomes end to end. We take on interesting, high stakes problems but they don't come with instructions or a playbook. We seek the fastest path to value for the customer and take it.
If you want real problems, real pace and the opportunity to do your life's work, we want to meet you.
What we offer
- Competitive salary. We hold high expectations, but pay accordingly.
- Meaningful ESOP so you share in the growth of Gridsight.
- Work-from-home allowance, health and wellness allowance, bi-annual in-person working weeks.
- A central London office and a flexible hybrid arrangement. We’re hiring founding team members in the region, so we do want you in the room with customers and with each other.
- Trips to co-work with colleagues in Australia and the US.
Learn more
- Brendan Banfield (CEO at Gridsight) in conversation with James Cameron (Partner at Airtree)
- Gridsight's work with Endeavour Energy to deliver flexible exports
- The problem space we're tackling