Dandelion is a home geothermal company offering affordable geothermal installations that provide heating, cooling and hot water to homes by exchanging heat with the ground beneath them. Dandelion became an independent company in Spring 2017, after getting started at X , "the innovation engine of Alphabet."
Job Summary:
We are seeking a strategic and experienced people manager to lead and grow a high-performing team of Sales Engineers for residential production new construction geothermal systems. This leader will oversee technical pre-sales support for enterprise opportunities, guide system design excellence, and ensure alignment with sales, engineering, and project execution teams. The ideal candidate brings a strong technical background in HVAC or renewable energy systems, along with a passion for team development and cross-functional collaboration.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead and Develop the Sales Engineering Team
- Recruit, mentor, and manage a team of Sales Engineers across multiple markets.
- Set clear goals and performance metrics, and provide coaching and professional development.
- Establish and enforce best practices for proposal development, system design, and customer engagement.
Strategic Support for Enterprise Sales
- Collaborate with Sales Leadership to align technical support with go-to-market strategy and enterprise revenue targets.
- Oversee the creation of geothermal system designs, technical proposals, and integration plans that balance performance, cost-efficiency, and regulatory requirements.
- Review and approve high-priority or complex proposals to ensure technical accuracy and competitive positioning.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Act as a liaison between Sales Engineering, Product, Engineering, and Project Management to drive continuous improvement and smooth handoffs.
- Work closely with rebate and regulatory teams to ensure proposals comply with local and national incentives.
- Partner with Marketing and Sales Enablement to develop technical sales materials, training, and tools.
Customer Engagement & Technical Leadership
- Support Sales Engineers in key client meetings and presentations as a senior technical expert.
- Serve as an escalation point for technical challenges and customer concerns.
- Help drive pre-sales and post-sales technical support strategy for home builders, developers, and large enterprise partners.
Market Intelligence & Process Optimization
- Stay ahead of industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitors to inform product strategy and team training.
- Identify opportunities to improve internal processes, tools, and workflows to scale technical sales support.
Qualifications:
- 7+ years of experience in technical sales, HVAC, renewable energy, or a related field.
- 2+ years of experience managing or leading technical teams, ideally within a high-growth environment.
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, environmental science, or equivalent technical field.
- Deep understanding of geothermal systems, construction technologies, and system design principles, or related technologies.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and manage competing priorities.
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in residential and/or multifamily HVAC projects.
- Familiarity with tax incentives, utility rebates, and compliance requirements in the clean energy sector.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
- Experience with CAD tools, energy modeling software, and CRM/Salesforce.
- Willingness (and excitement!) to work in-office (4 days/week) at our Arlington, VA headquarters.
- Ability to occasionally travel.
Benefits/Perks:
- Health, Dental, Vision and Pet insurance
- 401k plan
- Stock/Equity options
- Paid Sick and Vacation Time (PTO)
- Training support including on-the-job and virtual/online-based courses
You’ll love working at Dandelion because:
Since spinning out of Google X in 2017, Dandelion Energy has been electrifying home heating by building and installing innovative geothermal heat pump products. We both work directly with homeowners and count some of the nation’s largest home builders as our customers. Our team has raised the profile of geothermal heat pumps nationally, designed and built the nation’s most efficient residential heat pump, successfully advocated for electrification-friendly policy change on the local and national levels, and completed high-quality installations of thousands of geothermal heat pumps throughout the Northeast US.
Our talented team consists of experts in hardware engineering, HVAC installation, drilling, solar financing, behavioral economics, and high-growth operations amongst many other backgrounds. Motivated by the potential to catalyze and scale a widespread transition to sustainable and affordable heating and cooling, our work is both complex and rewarding. We are working to create a wholesale shift in how people heat and cool their homes — join us!