- Chief Executive Officer
- Location: United States
BSG has commenced an executive search for a Chief Executive Officer for our client, a venture-backed energy storage company that has raised significant equity capital to date. Large corporate and utility customers represent a meaningful and growing part of the company's target customer base, creating a mandate to scale manufacturing, secure substantial growth capital, and professionalize the commercial organization. The co-founder will remain with the company in a dedicated leadership role, and the incoming CEO will serve as the business-building counterpart who takes the company from early-stage to scaled commercial delivery.
Opportunity Overview
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
THE COMPANY
Our client is a venture-backed, U.S.-based company pioneering next-generation energy storage solutions for grid-scale and large commercial applications, with large corporate and utility customers representing a meaningful part of its target customer base. The company has developed a stationary storage technology platform and is entering a period of significant scale-up across manufacturing, capital formation, and commercial operations.
THE POSITION
The Chief Executive Officer will have full operating responsibility for the company and will report to a sophisticated venture-backed Board of Directors. Working in close partnership with the co-founder — who is stepping back from day-to-day business leadership into another important leadership role — the CEO will be accountable for scaling manufacturing and supply chain operations, leading a substantial growth capital raise, and serving as the credible commercial counterpart to large, sophisticated corporate customers.
This is a hands-on operating role for a builder. The CEO must be equally comfortable setting strategic direction with a venture board and rolling up their sleeves on manufacturing scale-up, supply chain build-out, and complex commercial negotiations with large corporate and utility-scale counterparties.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provide overall business leadership and strategic direction for the company, with full accountability for operating performance, commercial growth, and organizational culture.
- Scale manufacturing and supply chain operations to meet the volumes required by a rapidly growing commercial pipeline.
- Personally lead and close a significant institutional growth capital raise, managing a competitive, multi-investor process.
- Negotiate and manage complex, large-scale commercial and offtake agreements with sophisticated corporate counterparties, including large corporate customers and utilities.
- Serve as the trusted business partner to a technical co-founder, creating the operating structure and organizational space for the co-founder to focus on technology and science.
- Manage and cultivate a sophisticated, venture-capital-oriented Board of Directors.
- Build, coach, and professionalize a commercial and operating leadership team appropriate for a rapidly scaling hard-tech company.
- Represent the company externally as the primary face to investors, customers, and strategic partners.
Success in this role will be defined in the first 12 months by:
- Establishing and beginning execution of a credible manufacturing and supply-chain scale-up plan.
- Materially advancing or closing a significant growth capital raise.
- Advancing commercial relationships with large corporate, utility, and other large-scale customers, including securing new large-scale commercial agreements.
- Building out a senior commercial and operating leadership bench.
- Establishing a strong, trust-based working partnership with the co-founder and rest of the team.
QUALIFICATIONS
Requirements
- Prior operating (not advisory) experience scaling a hard-tech or hardware company through a period of significant manufacturing growth.
- Energy storage domain fluency, with a strong preference for stationary/grid-scale system experience over automotive or other mobile applications.
- A personal track record of leading and closing competitive, institutional-process venture or growth capital raises — not solely relationship-driven or strategic financings.
- Experience negotiating large, complex commercial or offtake agreements with sophisticated corporate counterparties such as large corporate customers or utilities.
- Demonstrated manufacturing and supply-chain operating discipline.
- A track record of succeeding as the business-focused CEO alongside a strong technical co-founder, rather than as the organization's sole visionary.
- Full-time availability for a single, all-consuming operating role.
General Competencies
- Strong executive presence and persuasive intensity, suited to a role with heavy external-facing demands across fundraising, customer acquisition, and partnership negotiation.
- Low-ego, execution-oriented leadership style capable of building genuine partnership with a scientist co-founder.
- Comfortable operating with the ambiguity and resource constraints typical of a scaling venture-backed hard-tech company.
- Strong board presence and fluency working with sophisticated venture investors.
Education/Experience
- Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA or technical/scientific) preferred.
- Significant progressive operating leadership experience within hard-tech, hardware, industrial, or energy-sector companies.
- Experience operating within venture- or growth-capital-backed environments.
- A technical or scientific educational background is a plus, though not required.
LOCATION
United States.
Ideal Candidate Profile
A summary of key competencies required to be successful include the following:
FUNCTIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Proven general management or P&L leadership within a hard-tech, hardware, or industrial-scale manufacturing environment.
- Personal, hands-on track record leading competitive, multi-investor institutional capital raises.
- Demonstrated success negotiating complex commercial or offtake agreements with large, sophisticated corporate customers.
- Direct experience scaling manufacturing and supply-chain operations.
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
- Energy storage or related power/grid-technology experience strongly preferred, with stationary/grid-scale systems valued over automotive or other mobile applications.
- Exposure to large corporate or utility-scale customers is a plus.
- Experience within venture-backed hard-tech or deep-tech companies.
STAGE OF COMPANY EXPERIENCE
- Experience operating within a venture-backed company transitioning from early-stage development toward scaled commercial manufacturing.
- A track record of success in a "co-founder remains, CEO added" leadership structure, distinct from a full founder replacement.
- Comfort with sophisticated, multi-stakeholder venture board governance.
MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
- Demonstrated ability to be the strong business partner to a technical co-founder, not a competing or sole visionary.
- Ability to build a commercial, operating, and manufacturing leadership team largely from the ground up.
- A persuasive, externally-facing leadership style suited to fundraising and customer-facing demands.
- Comfort operating in a fast-scaling, resource-constrained environment.
GENERAL COMPETENCIES
- High levels of intelligence, analytical strength, and conceptual ability.
- Strong presentation and team-leadership skills.
- Decisiveness when necessary, balanced with a willingness to build consensus with a sophisticated board.
- Unquestioned honesty and integrity, with the ability to inspire loyalty and trust.
- High energy and commitment, with enthusiasm for a fast-moving, high-stakes scale-up environment.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to articulate a compelling growth narrative to investors, customers, and employees.
- A strong sense of ownership for the performance and reputation of the company.
Compensation
Compensation will be competitive and aligned with venture-backed CEO roles at companies of similar scale and growth stage. The package will include a market-based base salary, a performance-driven annual incentive opportunity, and significant equity participation reflective of the company's early stage and growth trajectory.
For more information or to express interest in this opportunity, please visit the application page.
