Director of Host Engagement, Battery Storage

About Sparkfund

Sparkfund is an energy transition partner built to accelerate the energy transition by transforming the built environment into a productive, resilient, climate-adapted extension of the grid. We do this by partnering with utilities and building owners to provide program management, project implementation, and financing services and capabilities to our partners' customers. Together, we are creating a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable energy future. 

Position Summary 

Sparkfund is seeking a Host Engagement Director, Battery Storage to build and manage relationships with prospective and existing distributed energy resource (DER) hosts, including commercial property owners, tenants, neighbors, facility managers, and other critical stakeholders. As part of the Sparkfund deployment team, this role is essential in driving host participation, developing site pipelines, and ensuring smooth onboarding and long-term satisfaction across Sparkfund’s programs.

This role is ideal for a leader who thrives on relationship-building, has experience in customer success or business development in energy markets, and can think strategically while executing tactically. Your work will be instrumental in delivering trusted, reliable, and impactful partnerships that expand the reach and success of Sparkfund’s programs, from first-of-a-kind deployments to scaling up the approach across North America.

This role will be instrumental in positioning Sparkfund as a leader in customer-centric solutions within the energy transition sector. This role offers a unique opportunity for those who thrive on leading and delivering commercial growth, innovating on products and services, solving dynamic problems, embracing challenges, and are personally and professionally passionate about building and leading high-performing teams.

Location 

Sparkfund is a remote-friendly company with a digital workplace built around emerging hub-offices; however applicants for this role must be based in, or near, Minneapolis, MN. There will be required in-person meetings and travel up to 33% of the time, including meetings within the Minneapolis, Denver, and Washington, DC areas as well as meetings in other parts of the continental US to be determined. These meetings will include visits to utility customer offices and project sites as well as scheduled team and company gatherings to collaborate with other members of the team / company, learn the ins and outs of our business, and contribute to our company culture.

Please note that this role may require evening and weekend hours to ensure coverage at stakeholder meetings and events as necessary.

Key Responsibilities 

• Host Relationship Strategy: Develop and lead the strategy to attract, engage, and retain host partners that meet the requirements of Sparkfund’s programs.
  
  
• Pipeline Development: Identify prospects and move through the site host recruitment funnel by cultivating relationships and lead communication with prospective hosts to support deployment targets and program design needs.
  
  
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with marketing, legal, deployment, engineering, program management, project management, and regulatory teams to streamline host onboarding, contracting, and ongoing communications.
  
  
• Messaging & Value Propositions: Refine host-facing messaging, materials, and communications to convey the benefits of site host participation effectively.
  
  
• Market & Segment Analysis: Understand host personas, industry segments, easement contracting best practices, and regional trends to inform engagement strategy.
  
  
• Voice of the Customer: Serve as the internal champion of host needs and experiences, feeding insights back into product design, deployment planning, and utility coordination.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Experience: 8+ years of experience in customer-facing roles such as sales, partnerships, or customer success, ideally in the energy, infrastructure, or real estate sectors.
• Communication: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills; able to influence and inspire a diverse range of stakeholders.
• Relationship Building: Proven track record of building trust-based relationships and managing complex partnerships over time.
• Strategic Thinking: Strong analytical and market understanding; able to assess and prioritize segments and geographies.
• Technical Literacy: Familiarity with DER technologies and utility-hosted programs.
• Tra