Business Development Executive

Commercial and Industrial Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

Johannesburg | Port Elizabeth | Cape Town - R60,000 to R80,000 a month basic, plus uncapped commission

Our client designs, engineers and supplies lithium battery energy storage systems, from small systems through to high voltage systems for factories, farms and large sites. They have their own research and development team, their own battery management systems and their own monitoring software, and they are owned by a large South African industrial group. They sell the whole project, not a box: one company from the first conversation to installation and handover.

Three of these roles are open, one in each city. The job is the same in each one. You find, build and close commercial and industrial business in your region.

Read this part before you apply

This is a new business role. Around 99 percent of your pipeline you will create yourself. There is no inbound list and no inherited account book.

You will be in front of customers every day. It cannot be done from a desk or from home.

Deals run from R200,000 to R10 million on systems from 160 kilowatt hours to 5 megawatt hours. If you have not sold at that value, this is not your role.

Commission is paid quarterly on the margin you realise, once the money is banked and the project is delivered.

You need your own vehicle and a valid driver licence. Business travel is covered by a company fuel card.

What you will do

- Find your own customers. Farmers, factory owners, producers, property owners and site managers, in person and in their own operations.

- Sell direct to the end customer and through installers and contractors, and reach past the contractor to the end customer.

- Build new installer and contractor relationships and turn them into repeat business.

- Work with the pre-sales and engineering team to read the data, size the system and build the proposal.

- Quote off the price list, hold the margin, and take anything outside the price range to the Head of Sales.

- Carry a monthly sales target of R3 million to R5 million, set with you and measured every quarter.

- Stay with the customer through installation and handover, with the project and after-sales teams behind you.

What you must have

• At least 3-5 years selling commercial and industrial solar, battery storage, generators or comparable capital equipment into factories, farms, mines, packhouses, warehouses or property groups.
• Experience at the size this business works at. Three phase, high voltage systems going into business premises, not single phase systems for homes and small backup. You should be able to talk about systems you have sold at 100 kilowatt hours and above.
• Your own closed deals, with the numbers. You must be able to give the customer type, the value, the system size and the time from first meeting to order.
• A record of generating your own leads and closing your own deals.
• A stable employment record. Several short stays will not get through screening.
• Enough technical understanding to read a basic load profile and explain payback to a customer. The technical team handles the detail.
• Own vehicle and a valid driver license.
• The energy for a high performance environment. You will be supported, but you will not be carried.

Do not apply if

x Your selling experience is retail, residential solar, insurance, telecoms or another consumer product.

x You have only worked an inbound enquiry list or an inherited account base.

x You want an office based or mostly remote role.

x You have had three or more employers in the last three years.

x You cannot put numbers to the deals you have closed.

What is on offer

• A full technical business behind every deal. Their own research and development team, their own battery management systems and their own monitoring software, plus pre-sales, engineering, projects and after-sales, all in the same company.
• You sell a solution, not a product somebody else has to make work. The engineers are a phone call away, not a support ticket.
• Sales people here deal straight with pre-sales, engineering and the technical leadership, and on a large proposal the technical leadership comes in personally to help win the work. One company from the first conversation to installation and handover.
• You can promise a customer support and know the business will keep it, instead of apologising for someone else's work.
• R60,000 to R80,000 a month basic, depending on the track record and network you bring. Total cost to company.
• Uncapped commission on realised margin, paid quarterly. The scale runs from 1 percent of margin at 60 percent of target up to 5 percent at target and above, with nothing capped above that.
• A build-up period while your pipeline fills, so you are not held to a full target in your first month.
• Company fuel card for business travel, a cell phone allowance, and all business expenses covered.
• Pre-sales, engineering, project and after-sales teams behind every deal, and a branch showroom to bring customers into.
• A region of your own, and a business that is growing and backs people who want to move up.

How to apply

Send your curriculum vitae together with the following. Applications without this detail will not be considered.

- Which city you are applying for.

- Your last three closed deals: customer type, rand value, system size, and how long each took from first meeting to order.

- What percentage of your current pipeline you generated yourself.

- Your current basic salary and your commission earnings for the past twelve months, separately.

This role is being placed exclusively by Energy Africa Recruitment. Apply through www.careers.energy-africa-recruitment.com

Should you not hear back from us within 14 days, your application has been unsuccessful.