Head of Sales & Strategic Partnerships

Alvara; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

32 Hour Work Week

Medical, dental, vision

PTO

Founder-level access to planning

Job summary

Alvara is seeking a Head of Sales & Strategic Partnerships in San Francisco to define and execute our full revenue strategy across wholesale, retail, and digital platforms.

You will build our go-to-market systems from zero, close multi-million dollar partnerships, and translate product and brand innovations into real-world revenue.

Reporting to the CEO, you will lead investor conversations, shape the commercial playbook for a new category, and scale the platform across industries.

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years in enterprise sales, retail partnerships, or B2B platform commercialization.
• Proven track record of closing $1M+ enterprise/retail contracts and building $10M+ ARR pipelines.
• Experience launching or scaling products in frontier or regulated markets (CPG, supply chain, fintech, healthtech, etc.).
• Experience negotiating with senior buyers, brand executives, and external legal/compliance teams.
• Cross-functional fluency across product, operations, and finance.
• Experience building or managing a commercial team, even in lean startups.
• Exceptional communication and pitch ability: clear, authoritative, and human.

Responsibilities

• Close multi-million dollar partnerships and build scalable revenue streams.
• Develop go-to-market systems and partner sales infrastructure.
• Lead investor conversations on GTM and monetization.
• Launch or expand new verticals across retail, B2B, and digital platforms.
• Collaborate with CEO, product, and technology teams.

Skills

Enterprise sales

Retail partnerships

B2B platform

High-value deals

Contract negotiation

Job description

Alvara is a platform company reinventing how global trade, trust, and consumer intelligence come together. We’re building data infrastructure that connects source to shelf, enabling radically transparent supply chains, participatory commerce, and real-time behavioral insights across physical and digital environments.

Our first vertica, consumer wellnes, proves what this platform can do: track ethically sourced commodities from farm to shelf, verify integrity through smart packaging, and learn directly from customer interaction. But that’s just the beginning. Alvara is architected to scale into any industry where trust, data, and human behavior intersect.

With a blockchain-backed sourcing engine, an AI-native operating system (AlvaraAI), and a flagship retail lab launching globally, we’re not just launching a product, we’re building the next generation of intelligent, ethical infrastructure. We’re backed by leading partners and assembling a founding team that blends systems thinking, cultural fluency, and operational rigor.

If you're ready to build the future of commerce and redefine what companies owe their communities: this is your moment.

The Role

Alvara is hiring an elite commercial leader to serve as Head of Sales & Strategic Partnerships: one of the most critical hires we will make. This is not a functional role. This is a founding leadership position,

responsible for defining and executing our full revenue strategy across retail, B2B, and digital platforms.

You will build our go-to-market systems from zero and convert our infrastructure, brand, and product innovation into real-world revenue.

This is for a proven operator who has closed multi-million dollar partnerships, scaled global distribution, and built commercial playbooks in complex or regulated environments. You'll work side by side with the CEO, product, and technology teams to launch Alvara’s first verticals and then expand our platform across industries and enterprise SaaS. You’ll also be the commercial face of Alvara, representing the company to investors, retail partners, and the press.

Key Deliverables in the First 12–18 Months

• Build and close a $10M+ annualized commercial pipeline across wholesale, retail, and platform partnerships
• Secure 3–5 multi-market retail accounts, including one marquee partner by end of Year 1
• Launch physical retail presence in the U.S. with >85% sell-through of initial production volume
• Build and lead a scalable partner sales infrastructure (CRM, pipeline governance, sales enablement)
• Develop tiered partnership models (white-label, co-branded, data licensing) to grow non-retail revenue
• Design and implement an international channel strategy for ethical commodities and tech-enabled traceability
• Co-lead investor conversations on GTM and monetization during Series A preparation

Who You Are

You are an elite, full-stack commercial leader who sees around corners and builds systems that win. You thrive in zero-to-one environments, and have done this before - closing high-value deals, building

pipelines, and translating vision into revenue in the face of uncertainty.

You’re respected by teams and trusted by partners. You’re deeply strategic, brutally executional, and hungry to define a market from the

Minimum Qualifications

• 10–15+ years in enterprise sales, retail partnerships, or B2B platform commercialization
• Proven track record of closing $1M+ enterprise/retail contracts and building $10M+ ARR pipelines
• Experience launching or scaling new products in frontier or regulated markets (CPG, supply chain, fintech, healthtech, commerce infrastructure, etc.)
• Deep experience negotiating with senior buyers, brand executives, and external legal/compliance teams
• Strong cross-functional fluency across product, operations, and finance
• Experience building or managing a commercial team, even in lean startup environments
• Exceptional communication and pitch ability: clear, authoritative, and human

Preferred Experience

• Retail + platform + data + physical product hybrid experience (e.g. commerce infrastructure, brand preferred platform, AI/ML tech applied to physical markets)
• Exposure to blockchain, logistics, or traceability systems is a major advantage
• Familiarity with building commercial strategies that involve licensing, API integrations, or OEM/white-label models
• Experience in global commodity trade, retail innovation, and emerging markets

Compensation

Salary Range: Competitive + Commission

Equity: Founding team grant level

Full benefits: 32 Hour Work Week (Mon-Thu), Medical, dental, vision, PTO, and founder-level access to company planning and visibility

Reports to: CEO

Status: Active

Why This Role Matters

This is not just a job, this is a chance to write the blueprint for how ethical, intelligent systems go to market.

You’ll be defining the commercial playbook for a new category, building something that has never existed before, and helping a mission-driven platform scale with speed, purpose, and excellence.