System Design & Comfort Advisor

Manatee Energy; Somerville (MA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Signing bonus

Job summary

Manatee Energy designs and installs affordable heat pump systems for Massachusetts homes. We’re hiring a System Design & Comfort Specialist to bring electrification to more homeowners. You’ll conduct in-home walkthroughs, size systems, and guide pricing and financing options.

Training on Manual J/D and our in-house tools is provided, with a path toward leadership as we scale. You’ll join a small startup focused on making heat pumps the default choice, with strong earnings potential and a

Qualifications

• Sales experience in any industry, or HVAC/trades background.
• Genuine curiosity about how heat pumps work and becoming technical.
• Strong communication and trust-building ability.
• Team player in a small startup environment.
• Valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle.
• Self-motivated with pay tied to performance.
• Interest in automating repetitive tasks.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-home walkthroughs evaluating HVAC, electrical, and building envelope.
• Perform Manual J and D load calculations and design properly sized systems with in-house tools.
• Guide homeowners through pricing, options, and financing/rebates.
• Coordinate handoffs to installation, project management and back-office teams; maintain records.
• Share field learnings to improve designs, tools, and products.
• Provide clear pricing and lead with financing options to reduce cost barriers.
• Ensure smooth handoff to installation and liaise with teams for seamless customer experience.
• Report results and areas for improvement to leadership.
• Follow up with customers by phone and email.
• Visit homes to assess spaces and recommend solutions.

Skills

Sales experience

Interest in heat pumps

Strong communication

Team player

Driver's license

Self-motivation

Automating tasks

Job description

Help make electrification the new normal

Manatee Energy designs and installs affordable, thoughtful heat pump systems for Massachusetts homes. We're hiring a System Design & Comfort Specialist to bring that to more homeowners.

Location: Greentown Labs, working mostly in the Boston metro area in 2027

Type: Full-time

Compensation: $50,000 base + performance-based incentive pay; on-target earnings exceed $100,000/year & full benefits

Our mission

We want heat pumps, and electrification more broadly, to be the default and affordable choice in the country. Manatee is different from most HVAC companies by being tech first on everything we do. We save homeowners money while still giving every home a rigorous system design and good project management.

Here’s how we pursue that:

• Software built in-house. We build our own tools to automate installs and run Manual J and Manual D analysis, so every system is engineered, not guessed.
• Research we publish. We test new systems, such as Midea window-unit heat pumps and Daikin Altherma air-to-water heat pumps, and publish what we learn on our blog at Laminar Collective, along with best practices. That helps consumers trust new brands and helps the rest of the industry move forward with us.
• Funding that backs the mission. We've received multiple grants totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, which help us deliver on this work across Massachusetts.

Our momentum

We started about three years ago, and we've doubled our growth every year since.

With this year's grant funding, we're building a team that can deliver 200 to 300 affordable installations a year. We'll keep publishing research and building internal tools that make us more efficient while we do it. We currently have a large wait list of customers and need your help to get customers across the finish line.

The role

You’ll be our first official sales hire and the face of Manatee in homeowners' homes: walking through the house, properly sizing the system, and guiding them through their options. Design and communication is the heart of this role. You decide whether a system is accurate and whether a system is right for the home.

You don't need to arrive with technical knowledge. We'll train you in everything we know, from Manual J and D fundamentals to the full range of equipment we install. Exceptionally strong performance is the direct path to becoming Manatee's Head of Sales.

What you’ll do

• Run in-home walkthroughs to evaluate existing HVAC, electrical capacity, the building envelope condition, and clearance for code compliance
• Run Manual J and D load calculations and design right-sized systems using our in-house design platform
• Walk homeowners through pricing, system options, and financing and rebate paths
• Initiate clean handoffs to the installation, project management and back-office teams, and keep accurate records
• Share what you learn in the field to improve our designs, tools, and products
• Quote quickly and accurately. Give customers clear pricing on systems that fit their needs, and lead with financing options so cost isn’t a barrier.
• Hand off smoothly to installation. Work closely with the design and install teams so customers have a seamless experience from first conversation to finished project.
• Report on results. Share regular updates with leadership on what’s working, what isn’t, and where to improve.
• Follow up with customers. Stay in touch with existing clients by phone and email.
• Meet customers at home. Visit homes in person to understand each space and recommend the right solution.

We capture and qualify homeowner details well before the walkthrough, so your time in the field goes to design, not gathering basics.

Expect about three to four days a week in the field and one in the office. HVAC is seasonal: you'll have work year-round, with the busiest stretches before summer and in the fall.

In your first 30 days, you'll shadow the team. By day 60, you'll run walkthroughs and designs for installs.

Who we’re looking for

• Sales experience in any industry, or an HVAC or trades background
• Genuine curiosity about how heat pumps work, and a real interest in becoming technical
• A strong communicator who builds trust quickly and stays organized and responsive
• A team player who’s comfortable at a small startup
• Comfortable in the field, with a valid driver's license and reliable vehicle (mileage reimbursed)
• Self-motivated and comfortable with pay tied to performance
• Loves automating the boring stuff.

Who this role is not for

You don't care about electrification.

You thrive in a hard-sell culture. Our limit is capacity, not leads, so we never need to manufacture urgency.

Life at Manatee

We're a small, lean startup of six to ten people, based at Greentown Labs alongside other climate and renewable energy startups. You'll work most closely with our head of operations, who handles procurement, and with the project managers who run installations after the sale.

Compensation & benefits

• $40,000-$50,000 base salary
• Performance-based incentive pay; on-target earnings exceed $100,000/year
• 10k signing bonus
• 2-3 weeks PTO plus holidays
• Vehicle: bring your own (mileage reimbursed), or a company vehicle is negotiable; EVs encouraged
• Health coverage
• 401(k) plan