Sales Director, Ford Energy

Ford-Motor-Company; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vehicle benefits

Job summary

Ford Energy is seeking a high-caliber Director of Sales to lead our expansion into grid-scale and large-scale commercial energy sectors. You will own the end-to-end sales strategy, from market entry to multi-gigawatt-hour MSAs, leveraging deep relationships with utilities, IPPs, integrators, and AI data center customers.

You will report to the Director of Commercial Sales and drive the commercial strategy, project coordination, and customer advocacy to ensure long-term partnerships and favorable

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, finance, or business; an MBA or advanced Engineering degree is highly preferred.
• 8+ years of sales experience.
• 4+ years experience in the Battery Energy Storage (BESS) or Renewable Energy sector.

Responsibilities

• Drive Revenue Growth: Execute the end-to-end sales strategy for Ford Energy's DC-block commercial systems, ensuring a robust pipeline that meets or exceeds targets.
• Pipeline Management: Manage the full sales lifecycle from lead generation to contract execution, using CRM tools for forecasting and market signals.
• Go-to-Market Implementation: Adapt and execute go-to-market plans for specific regions and customer segments, ensuring Ford Energy is positioned as the premier domestic BESS provider.
• Strategic Relationship Management: Act as the primary commercial lead for utilities, IPPs, and AI data center customers.
• Customer Advocacy: Understand customer pain points, uptime requirements, power density needs, and ESG goals to tailor Ford Energy solutions.
• Full Lifecycle Ownership: Oversee the customer journey from initial engagement through commissioning and long-term partnership health.
• Lead Complex Negotiations: Drive MSAs and LTSAs, balancing market entry with risk management and financial standards.
• Project Coordination: Collaborate with EPC partners to ensure project delivery and commercial alignment.
• Technical Liaison: Bridge customer engineering teams and Ford's R&D for EMS integration.
• Voice of the Customer: Influence product roadmap with feedback from manufacturing in Kentucky and engineering in Dearborn.
• Solution Engineering: Provide expertise on DC/AC power conversion, thermal management, and TCO optimization.

Skills

8+ years of sales experience

4+ years in BESS/Renewable energy

Strategic account management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering/finance/business

MBA or advanced Engineering degree

Job description

About Ford Energy

Ford Energy is a newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company dedicated to accelerating US energy independence. Leveraging Ford's century of manufacturing excellence and world-class battery energy storage systems (BESS) technology, Ford Energy designs, manufactures, and services grid-scale and commercial DC battery energy storage systems. Ford Energy is uniquely positioned to capture the growing demand for reliable, US-built energy storage systems. We are not just building batteries; we are building the infrastructure for the next generation of the American grid.

The Role

Ford Energy is looking for a high-caliber, visionary Director of Sales to lead our expansion into the grid-scale and large-scale commercial energy sectors. You will be responsible for the end-to-end sales strategy, from initial market entry to the execution of multi-gigawatt-hour Master Supply Agreements (MSAs.)

This is a hunter-leader role. You will be expected to leverage your existing deep-rooted relationships with major utilities, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), major integrators, and the growing AI data center hyper-scaler customer base. You will represent Ford Energy as a trusted American manufacturer of choice, providing technical expertise and commercial sophistication to the world's most demanding energy consumers. Building on a rapidly growing customer pipeline, the role is an exciting opportunity to combine your expertise with the brand aand industrial power of an iconic American company to lead the customer engagements to contract. You will report to the Director of Commercial Sales for Ford Energy.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Strategy & Execution

• Drive Revenue Growth: Execute the end-to-end sales strategy for Ford Energy's DC-block commercial systems, ensuring a robust pipeline that meets or exceeds corporate revenue targets and manufacturing capacity.
• Pipeline Management: Manage the full sales lifecycle from lead generation to contract execution, utilizing CRM tools to provide accurate forecasting and market demand signals to leadership.
• Go-to-Market Implementation: Adapt and execute go-to-market plans for specific regions and customer segments, ensuring Ford Energy is positioned as the premier domestic BESS provider.

Account Leadership & Customer Engagement

• Strategic Relationship Management: Act as the primary commercial lead for a portfolio of major utilities, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and AI data center hyper-scalers.
• Customer Advocacy: Deeply understand customer 'pain points,' including uptime requirements, power density needs, and ESG goals, to tailor Ford Energy solutions to their specific mission-critical needs.
• Full Lifecycle Ownership: Oversee the customer journey from initial engagement through commissioning, ensuring a seamless hand-off to the Service and Operations teams for long-term partnership health.

Deal Structuring & Contract Negotiation

• Lead Complex Negotiations: Drive the negotiation of high-value commercial arrangements, including Master Supply Agreements (MSAs) and Long-Term Service Agreements (LTSAs).
• Commercial Architecture: Work with Legal, Finance, and Treasury to structure deals that balance aggressive market entry with Ford's rigorous risk management and financial standards.
• Project Coordination: Collaborate with Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) partners and integrators to ensure comprehensive project delivery and commercial alignment.

Technical Consultation & Product Influence

• Technical Liaison: Bridge the gap between customer engineering teams and Ford's internal R&D. Facilitate technical deep-dives to integrate Ford Energy's hardware and Energy Management Software (EMS) into complex grid architectures.
• Voice of the Customer: Partner with manufacturing teams in Kentucky and engineering teams in Dearborn to influence the product roadmap, translating market feedback into actionable feature sets and product improvements.
• Solution Engineering: Provide subject matter expertise on DC/AC power conversion, thermal management, and battery degradation to help customers optimize their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Market Intelligence & Regulatory Compliance

• Policy Expertise: Monitor and leverage the evolving regulatory landscape, including Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives, FERC rulings, and ISO/RTO market shifts to create a competitive advantage.
• Domestic Content Strategy: Position Ford Energy as the preferred domestic provider by navigating complex 'Made in America' requirements and regional interconnection standards.
• Competitive Analysis: Maintain a deep understanding of the global BESS landscape to ensure Ford Energy's value proposition remains industry-leading.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, finance, or business; an MBA or advanced Engineering degree is highly preferred.
• 8+ years of sales experience.
• 4+ years experience in the Battery Energy Storage (BESS) or Renewable Energy sector.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven success in high-value industrial sales or commercial account management within the energy sector.
• Persuasive communication skills, clear written and verbal communications, ability to work cross-culturally with international colleagues.
• Deep understanding of energy storage product quoting, negotiation strategies, customary and market terms and conditions.
• Strong grasp of DC/AC power conversion, thermal management in BESS, LFP battery chemistry basics, and energy management software (EMS.).

Location & Travel

• Flexible Location: This position is remote-friendly for candidates with a proven ability to deliver results outside of a traditional office environment.
• Travel: Moderate domestic travel is required to meet with customers. Periodic travel to Dearborn, MI, for alignment and to our factory in Kentucky for product reviews is required.
• Note on Employment: As Ford establishes this wholly owned subsidiary, this role will initially be employed by Ford Motor Company and is expected to transition to the subsidiary within one year.

Why Ford Energy?

At Ford Energy, you have the backing of an industrial manufacturing powerhouse with the agility of a dedicated energy startup offering industry leading technology. We offer a competitive compensation package including performance-based bonuses, Ford vehicle benefits, and the opportunity to shape the energy strategy of one of the world's most iconic brands.