Account Executive - Climate Tech (Consulting, Banking, or Waste Management BD Background)

Glacier
United States
RemoteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Consulting or banking professionals with business development experience and a climate tech focus will find this early-stage sales role in the West U.S. with high autonomy and impact.

Best fit for

  • Consulting or investment banking professionals with BD experience and a demonstrated climate tech commitment
    — “candidates based in the Western U.S. (PT or MT time zones)
  • Individuals who have owned outcomes in business development or partnerships, not just contributed
    — “Demonstrated ownership of a specific deliverable, deal, or partnership outcome

Things to consider

  • This role requires up to 50% travel within the U.S. in the near term
    — “Willingness to travel and work on-site up to 50% of the time
  • Candidates must be prepared to build a sales playbook from scratch with minimal oversight
    — “we're not expecting you to walk in with a finished sales playbook

How to stand out

  • Emphasize your ability to translate complex technical features into tangible client value
    — “Comfortable selling a complex, AI-powered product and translating technical features into customer value
  • Show your commitment to climate tech through specific projects or roles, not just general interest
    — “Genuine, demonstrated commitment to climate tech or sustainability, evidenced by specific past projects
  • Demonstrate eagerness to learn about recycling and MRF operations, even without prior experience
    — “Eager to learn the recycling process and how MRFs operate, even without prior industry background
  • Showcase experience in early-stage startups or as a founding team member if applicable
    — “Experience at an early-stage startup (<50 employees), or as a founding/early team member, strongly preferred
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Mid Level

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • build and nurture client relationships
  • develop strategic account plans
Typical background
management consultinginvestment bankingwaste management BD

Skills & requirements

Required

Business DevelopmentSales Cycle ManagementClient Relationship Building

Preferred

Climate TechWaste Management Industry Knowledge

Stack & domain

Business DevelopmentPartnershipsRecyclingAi-powered Business AnalyticsRelationship-drivenBusiness-mindedAmbitiousClimate TechWaste Management

About the role

Original posting from Glacier via Ashby

We're currently focused on candidates based in the Central, Mountain, or Pacific time zones, including California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Hey, we're Glacier! Series A startup based in San Francisco tackling one of the world's most pressing problems: trash. Did you know that in the US, we send over half of our recyclables to the landfill? We're working to fix that. In doing so, we'll also be reducing carbon emissions, energy consumption, and depletion of natural resources.

Glacier builds custom sorting robots designed to sort apart recyclables as well as AI-powered business analytics that enable recyclers to superpower their plants and improve our society's circularity. From major CPG companies like Colgate and Amazon https://www.packworld.com/sustainable-packaging/recycling/article/22953724/colgatepalmolive-amazon-glacier to municipal recycling facilities, our clients trust us to turn recycling data into actionable insights. Our technology has been recognized as one of TIME's Best Inventions https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025/7318523/glacier-recycling-robots/ and featured in a TIME documentary https://www.pmi.org/project-management-for-impact/sustainability-ai, TechCrunch, Fortune, and CBS.

We're looking for a relationship-driven, business-minded operator to join our founding sales team as an Account Executive.

This role is a great fit for someone coming from an intense, high-performance work environment like management consulting or investment banking, where business development or partnerships work was part of that experience, or someone with direct business development/partnerships experience in the waste management industry.

Either path, we're looking for someone genuinely obsessed with climate tech and ready to move from advising or supporting deals into owning outcomes directly. You won't be inheriting a playbook, you'll be building it alongside two other AEs. This role reports to our VP of Sales.

Why this role If you've spent your career advising others on strategy and partnerships, or driving BD relationships inside the waste management industry, and you're ready to own the outcome yourself, this is that opportunity. You'll build Glacier's sales function from the ground up, with real ownership, ambiguity, and the chance to shape how we go to market. We're not expecting you to walk in with a finished sales playbook, we're looking for someone with the judgment, relationship-building instincts, and drive to build one with us.

You will oversee our full sales cycle. Detailed responsibilities include:

  • Build and nurture client relationships, serving as a trusted advisor
  • Drive growth by managing full-cycle sales: prospecting, presenting, negotiation, and closing
  • Develop compelling presentations, demos, and proposals that address client objectives and objections
  • Develop strategic account plans to meet revenue targets
  • Collaborate with marketing, product, and support teams to ensure client satisfaction and retention
  • Maintain accurate pipeline data, forecast revenue, and deliver reports on performance metrics

Additionally, you will:

  • Work with our VP of Sales to establish our sales strategy and growth plan
  • Provide ongoing customer feedback as a core input to our engineering roadmaps

Experience requirements:

  • 3+ years of direct business development or partnerships work in an intense, high-performance work environment like management consulting or investment banking, OR 3+ years in business development/partnerships specifically within the waste management industry
  • Demonstrated ownership of a specific deliverable, deal, or partnership outcome, not just advisory or support work, we need to see you've owned a result, not just contributed to one
  • Genuine, demonstrated commitment to climate tech or sustainability, evidenced by specific past projects, volunteer work, prior roles, or a clear personal thesis on the space, not general interest
  • Experience at an early-stage startup (<50 employees), or as a founding/early team member, strongly preferred
  • Knowledge of budgeting, cost estimating, legal reviews, and contractual procedures
  • Proficiency with CRM tools (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) and pipeline management is a plus, not required

What traits will make you successful in this role:

  • Strong consultative instincts, ability to uncover needs, handle objections, and guide customers through trade-offs
  • Comfortable selling a complex, AI-powered product and translating technical features into customer value
  • Eager to learn the recycling process and how MRFs operate, even without prior industry background
  • Comfortable with ambiguity and building processes from scratch with minimal oversight
  • Creative in finding new ways to engage prospects (grants, conferences, industry news)
  • Ownership mentality, relentless drive to achieve results and proactively solve problems with minimal direction or supervision
  • Willingness to travel and work on-site up to 50% of the time. In the near term, travel will be within the United States

Bonus points:

  • Experience selling solutions in any of the following areas: Industrial automation/robotics, manufacturing, recycling/waste
  • Technical understanding of robotics, manufacturing, and/or automation solutions

The OTE cash compensation range for this role is $200,000-$300,000 (40% base - 60% commission). In addition to cash compensation, Glacier also offers competitive equity compensation and benefits. The final compensation for this role will depend on many individualized factors, including job-related skills and knowledge, experience level, interview performance, and other factors.

Source: Glacier careers (Ashby)

Similar roles