Commercial Lead

Paradigm Robotics is looking for an experienced, high performing sales and business development leader to drive market penetration across three verticals: oil and gas, defense, and municipal fire departments. As Commercial Lead, you’ll join us at a pivotal moment in our growth — supporting and accelerating founder-led sales while owning high-leverage partnerships, pilots, and customer relationships. You’ll work closely with the CEO to identify high-impact opportunities, lead strategic accounts, and help shape how we scale go-to-market across private industry, municipal agencies, and government (defense) sectors. This is not a solo hunter role, and you won’t be operating in the dark. You’ll be embedded in high-context customer conversations, looped into technical priorities, and deeply connected to field needs. Over time, you’ll take on increasing autonomy — running discovery, managing demos and deployments, and building scalable systems for repeatable growth. Our GTM motion is multifaceted. We sell to industrial enterprises, emergency response teams, and defense programs — but we often reach them through indirect channels like municipal fire departments, environmental response orgs, or strategic program offices. We also work closely with distributors, partner agencies, and grant-funded initiatives. You’ll need to navigate complexity, build trust across multiple levels of an organization, and craft tailored solutions for each stakeholder. You’ll support the entire commercial lifecycle — from early outreach to pilots, field trials, contracting, and long-term deployments. You’ll also help us improve our sales infrastructure: CRM workflows, sales collateral, partner playbooks, and customer success operations. This is a foundational commercial hire, and the scope of the role will expand as the company scales. Who we are: Paradigm Robotics is an Austin, Texas based robotics startup building rugged, scalable robots for situational awareness in hazardous environments. We serve firefighting, emergency response, public safety, oil & gas, defense, and industrial markets. Our mission is to create a new paradigm of scalable, reliable, and useful robots for real-world hazardous operations - providing critical solutions to the most dangerous problems out there. We've raised an oversubscribed round from top-tier venture firms. We’re working directly with over 80 of the largest fire departments, law enforcement agencies, industrial teams, and military units across the U.S., including the Air Force, Army, and SERDP. Our robots are built with and for firefighters, first responders, warfighters, and emergency crews. Why this will be challenging, meaningful, and fun work We are solving problems that matter. Building robots that operate in fire, heat, debris, water, and chaos is incredibly hard, and building them to scale is even harder. That is why we focus on engineering rigor, rapid iteration, and deep user feedback. We ship real robots into real fires for real customers, which means everyone on the team takes ownership, talks to users, and builds. We value curiosity, autonomy, and low-ego collaboration, and we celebrate wins while owning mistakes. At the same time, we know how to have fun. From stargazing trips, go-kart races, and off-sites to Tulum, to goldfish pranks that turned into a full aquarium, we work hard and enjoy the ride together. This is a place where you can do your best work, learn a ton, build cool things, and make lifelong friends. Role Type: Full-Time Start Fall 2026 KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Own and co-own top-of-funnel and mid-funnel sales motions alongside the CEO Lead discovery, outreach, and field demos across industrial, municipal, and defense customers Manage early accounts and support pilots, deployments, and renewals Help convert early wins into multi-site, multi-year agreements and long-term relationships Track all touch-points, follow-ups, and stakeholder progress in CRM (HubSpot/Notion) Use tools like Clay, Hunter, Apollo to build, enrich, and source leads Partnerships & Strategic GTM Build and manage relationships with municipal fire & police departments, distribution partners, and defense integrators Conduct market research, customer discovery, and develop tailored value propositions based on buyer priorities and technical fit Identify key champions, influencers, and decision makers across orgs Structure and write proposals to respond to RFPs, RFIs, and government grant programs (e.g. SBIR PI, Prize Challenges for primarily DoD, NASA, DHS programs) Research and understand government/end-user needs by meeting with program managers, program executive offices, and end-users → supporting government solicitation drafting Structure and write proposals, close contracts, and support programs for government solicitations (e.g. SBIR PII, OTA/OTP, IDIQ, FFP for primarily DoD, NASA, DHS programs) Improve GTM workflows: CRM structure, sales playbooks, partner docs, pricing models Work cross-functionally with engineering, product, and ops to ensure the voice of the customer is heard and acted on Coordinate pre/during/post logistics for trade shows, conferences, pilots, and demo events Contribute to product-market fit iterations and segment prioritization Brainstorm, iterate, and develop with CEO on GTM, product market fit, & long-term business strategy This Role Might Be for You If You Are A resourceful, detail-oriented commercial operator who thrives in complex, unstructured environments Comfortable owning long sales cycles with multiple stakeholders, and influencing both field operators and executive sponsors Excited by technical products, field deployments, and building real-world solutions with measurable impact Equally strong at storytelling and follow-through — great at pitching, but also loves CRM hygiene Motivated to build GTM from the ground up and eventually grow into a commercial leadership role Someone who gets energy from partnering with founders and working side-by-side to win Who we are looking for QUALIFICATIONS 3–6 years of experience in business development, partnerships, or strategic sales (B2B and/or B2G) Proven ability to close complex deals or strategic partnerships across multi-stakeholder environments Experience working with industrial or government buyers, preferably in robotics, fire service equipment, law enforcement equipment, or defense technology Excellent communication skills — written, verbal, and interpersonal Strong organizational skills with high attention to detail and ability to juggle multiple deals, pilots, follow ups, and timelines simultaneously Fluency in CRM tools (e.g. HubSpot, Airtable, Notion or similar) and outbound ops workflows (Hunter, Apollo, Clay or similar) Willingness to travel up to 15–25% of the time for demos, tradeshows, field visits, and customer deployments Comfortable interfacing with customers, partners, team members and external stakeholders High agency, low ego, and a startup mindset - bias toward action, accountability, and continuous iteration PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Experience selling into one or more of the following: fire and rescue, public safety, defense, emergency response, utilities, industrial services Background with government contracting, proposal development, or public-sector grant programs Familiarity with SBIR/STTR pipelines, DoD acquisition pathways, or municipal procurement Experience with live demonstrations, tradeshows, or pilot coordination Exposure to robotics, embedded systems, or field-deployed technical products ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS Willing to work long hours or weekends during high-stakes pushes (demos, grant deadlines, travel) Open to providing guidance to other team members when needed Eager to implement best practices, and fast to communicate needs and desired process changes Austin, Texas In-Person Monday - Friday (occasionally Saturday) 40-60+ hours a week including field work or travel as needed Compensation and Benefits: $90,000-$140,000+/yr. (Depending on experience) 0.25%–1.0% based on ownership level Healthcare (Medical, Dental, Vision) Unlimited PTO Relocation Support Offered Free meals, swag, and more! Contact: Please contact View email address on click.appcast.io with any questions. Do not send an application through this email - it will not be screened. At Paradigm Robotics, we believe the best ideas come from working side by side. We're an office-first team because building breakthrough tech that rolls into burning buildings takes tight feedback loops, fast iteration, and real-time collaboration. That said, we trust our team with autonomy. If you need to work from home once in a while, that's totally fine. What matters is that we deliver together. We\'re building robots to keep first responders safe and change how emergency response works. To do that, we need a team with a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and lived experiences. We\'re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and committed to a culture where everyone feels ownership, respect, and belonging. If our mission resonates with you, we’d love to meet you. #J-18808-Ljbffr Paradigm Robotics