Commercial Lead

About the Role A fast-moving, pre-seed defense and industrial robotics startup is hiring its first dedicated Commercial Lead — a foundational go-to-market hire who will work hand-in-hand with the CEO to accelerate revenue, own strategic accounts, and shape how the company scales across private industry, municipal agencies, and defense sectors. This role is ideal for a commercially minded operator who thrives in early-stage environments, is comfortable with long and complex sales cycles, and wants real ownership and growing autonomy as the business scales. Visa sponsorship is available. What You'll Do Co-own top- and mid-funnel sales motions alongside the CEO across industrial, municipal, and defense customer segments. Lead discovery calls, outbound outreach, and in-field product demonstrations. Manage early accounts through pilots, deployments, and renewals — converting initial wins into multi-site, multi-year agreements. Track all touchpoints, follow-ups, and stakeholder progress in CRM tools (HubSpot / Notion). Use lead-generation and enrichment tools (e.g., Clay, Hunter, Apollo) to build and source pipeline. Build and manage relationships with municipal fire & police departments, distribution partners, and defense system integrators. Conduct market research and customer discovery; develop tailored value propositions aligned to buyer priorities and technical fit. Identify champions, influencers, and decision-makers across target organizations. Write proposals for RFPs, RFIs, and government grants; engage program managers and end-users to surface needs. Improve GTM workflows: CRM structure, sales playbooks, partner documentation, and pricing models. Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, product, and operations to translate customer feedback into product priorities. Coordinate logistics for trade shows, pilots, and field demo events. Contribute to product-market fit iterations and segment prioritization alongside the CEO. What We're Looking For Required: 5+ years of B2B enterprise sales experience in robotics, defense, or industrial sectors — with a proven track record selling into private industry, municipal agencies, and/or defense programs. Experience managing long, multi-pilot sales cycles involving multiple stakeholders and procurement processes. Hands-on experience with HubSpot and Notion for CRM tracking, pipeline management, and workflow standardization. Demonstrated ability to write proposals for RFPs, RFIs, and government grants. Experience engaging government and defense program managers and end-users to identify needs and inform solutions. Proven track record building, managing, and renewing multi-site, multi-year customer relationships and channel partnerships. Ability to design and improve GTM workflows including playbooks, partner docs, and pricing models. Strong cross-functional collaboration skills — comfortable translating customer needs into product priorities with engineering and product teams. Nice to Have: Experience with CRM systems such as Salesforce in addition to HubSpot. Familiarity with lead-generation tools such as Clay, Hunter, or Apollo. Background building or scaling channel/alliance programs with integrators and strategic partners. Prior experience in an early-stage or founder-led sales environment. Compensation & Benefits Salary: $90,000 – $140,000 USD annually Early-stage equity opportunity Visa sponsorship available Location This is a full-time, on-site role based in Austin, Texas, United States . Candidates should be based in or willing to relocate to the Austin area.