Director, Business Development Boulder, Colorado, or Houston, Texas United States

We are looking for a Director of Business Development for Ascend’s short-term asset optimization team (SmartBidder), ideally based in our Boulder, CO office. If you are passionate about utility scale energy storage operations and have a proven track record of selling software and services to utilities and IPPs you may be an excellent fit.

Ascend Analytics is an innovative “climate tech” software and consulting company focused on energy analytics that are transforming the electric grid. Ascend's solutions provide the analytics to support critical power supply decisions from operating strategies, for short and long-term investment and resource planning decisions. For more information, visit www.ascendanalytics.com.

Job Description

You will be part of a team supporting the lead generation, pre-sales process, and sales process including identifying and conducting outreach with prospects, nurturing a sales pipeline, structuring proposals, and articulating the value-added unique capabilities of Ascend software relative to the competition during introductory and software demo sales calls. The position focuses on creating new business opportunities for our SmartBidder software to manage the optimal bidding and ISO scheduling services for storage and renewable assets. This position will report directly to the Managing Director of Business Develpment for SmartBidder.

Job Responsibilities

Drive top of funnel sales activities including lead generation, customer outreach and nurturing, initial pre-sales product introductory calls, and setting up software demonstrations

Coordinate with other product teams to leverage existing customer base as well as identify and prospect energy storage asset owner/operators and utilities to grow a pipeline of opportunities, with a particular focus on ERCOT and CAISO

Effectively communicate relative advantages of Ascend’s forecasting, bid optimization, trading strategies, and scheduling services for storage and renewable energy assets during client calls, and in-person at conferences and client visits.

Support sales management through forecasting, account resource allocation, account strategy, and planning

Develop solution proposals encompassing all aspects of SmartBidder including bid optimization software and scheduling services

Support identification of and negotiate new sales channel partnership agreements

Review and negotiate agreements and pricing proposals

Primary marketing coordination responsibilities include:

Lead development of customer/prospecting prior to and after events such as conferences, seminars, and webinars

Develop and maintain product marketing materials including brochures and customer pitch decks

Develop materials for the mass marketing channels and specific events

Enter timely and relevant data on opportunities and accounts in Salesforce

Support email marketing campaigns and follow-ups

Required Skills & Knowledge

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, or business

Minimum ten years of experience in the clean energy / climate tech market industry

Minimum of 4 years of business development, sales, or marketing experience

Familiarity with wholesale electricity market dynamics and energy trading

Excellent oral and written communication skills to interpret complex analytic solutions into value propositions

Professional attitude and presentation

Passion for clean energy, renewables, and the clean energy transition

Preferred Skills & Knowledge

Proven business development and marketing experience with regulated electric utilities in the Western United States.

A background in renewable project development, engineering, software, power markets, or generation scheduling.

Ability to identify, prospect, and contact high-level decision makers in large energy companies and to cultivate those relationships

Understanding of power price dynamics and settlements for markets run by Independent System Operators (ISOs). Experience with ERCOT and CAISO strongly preferred.

Master’s degree in business, economics, or equivalent experience

Base Salary: $140,000-$160,000

Total Compensation (base salary plus variable): $200,000 - $275,000

Negotiable based on qualifications and experience. Ascend highly values our employees and often pays above industry average. We offer flexible work hours with a relaxed environment and opportunities for domestic and international travel.

Excellent benefits are available, including medical, dental, vision, and short- and long-term disability insurance, parental leave, dependent care spending care account, and a 401k plan.

We are looking for talented individuals with a serious commitment to software development and power system optimization. Women and other minorities in the energy sector highly encouraged to apply!

Apply for this Job

* Required

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone *

Resume/CV *

Dropbox Google Drive

(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)

Cover Letter *

Dropbox Google Drive

(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)

LinkedIn Profile

Are you currently authorized to work for any employer in the United States? *

Do you now, or will you in the future, require Visa sponsorship to work in the United States? *

Are you physically based in the United States? *

In which U.S. state will you be working? *

Are you currently residing in the Boulder, CO area or able to relocate prior to starting this role? *

Tell us a little bit about why you are interested in working in the alternative energy industry.

How many years of experience do you have working in utility scale energy storage? *

How many years of experience do you have marketing to investor-owned electric utilities? *

How many years of experience do you have with wholesale electricity markets? *

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Ascend Analytics’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Gender

Are you Hispanic/Latino?

Please identify your race

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Veteran Status

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305

Page 1 of 1

OMB Control Number 1250-0005

Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
Blind or low vision
Cancer (past or present)
Cardiovascular or heart disease
Celiac disease
Cerebral palsy
Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
Diabetes
Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
Intellectual or developmental disability
Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
Short stature (dwarfism)
Traumatic brain injury

Disability Status

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Enter the verification code sent to to confirm you are not a robot, then submit your application.

Security Code *

This application was flagged as potential bot traffic. To resubmit your application, turn off any VPNs, clear the browser's cache and cookies, or try another browser. If you still can't submit it, contact our support team through the help center.