CCO – Climate Technology
Chief Commercial Officer, ClimateTech
The Opportunity
Our client is an innovative, venture-backed Canadian technology company developing a fundamentally different approach to wildfire mitigation. Combining advanced AI, weather science and proprietary technology, the company has developed solutions that can identify high-risk lightning events before they occur and help reduce the likelihood of lightning-driven wildfires. The technology has progressed from experimentation to real-world deployment with government wildfire agencies in Canada and the United States, with growing independent validation and paying customers
The next challenge is commercial:
How do you build a market for something customers have never been able to buy before?
How should it be packaged and priced?
Which markets have the greatest need?
How do you navigate complex government and enterprise purchasing environments when the procurement category may not yet exist?
We are searching for a Chief Commercial Officer who wants to answer those questions and build the commercial organization around them.
The Role
Reporting directly to the CEO and joining the executive leadership team, the CCO will own the strategy and execution required to turn proven technology into a scalable commercial business. This is broader than a traditional sales leadership position. You will define and package new offerings, develop pricing and business models, identify the highest-value markets, lead major opportunities personally and build the commercial team as the business scales.
You will inherit some active opportunities and established relationships while having considerable freedom to determine how the company goes to market. Potential customers extend beyond government wildfire agencies into areas such as utilities, insurance, forestry, energy, aviation and other industries where lightning creates significant cost or operational risk.
What You Will Do
Develop and execute the company's overall commercial and go-to-market strategy.
Translate sophisticated technology and demonstrated results into compelling products, solutions and customer value propositions.
Create pricing, packaging and contracting models for offerings that have little or no established market precedent.
Define ICP - Identify and prioritize the industries, customers and geographies offering the strongest paths to revenue.
Personally lead major strategic opportunities from initial discussion through signed contract.
Navigate complex enterprise and government purchasing environments and develop creative approaches to shortening sales cycles.
Build strategic partnerships across government and private-sector organizations.
Lead and expand the commercial organization across business development, sales, marketing and customer success.
Establish commercial KPIs, revenue forecasts and the processes required to build a scalable business.
Bring the voice of the customer into product, operational and corporate strategy.
The successful CCO will ultimately be responsible for everything between proven technology and a signed customer contract.
The Ideal Candidate
We are looking for an entrepreneurial commercial executive and business builder. You have experience taking complex technology, data, software or technology-enabled services into new markets. You understand how to identify a customer's underlying economic or operational problem, build the business case, develop the commercial model and navigate a sophisticated buying process.
Your background could come from technology, AI/data analytics, climate or clean technology, aerospace and defence, infrastructure, energy/utilities, financial or risk analytics, enterprise software, consulting/professional services, or another complex market.
Industry experience is less important than what you have built and how you operate.
You Will Likely Bring
10+ years of progressive commercial leadership experience, including senior responsibility for revenue and business growth.
A track record of building new markets, products, offerings or commercial organizations.
Experience selling complex, high-value solutions with multiple stakeholders and longer sales cycles.
The ability to understand and navigate government or other institutional purchasing and approval processes.
Experience developing pricing, commercial models and compelling ROI/business cases.
Success personally developing and closing significant strategic opportunities.
Experience building and leading high-performing commercial teams.
Strong financial and business acumen, including forecasting, budgeting and executive/Board-level communication.
The intellectual curiosity to quickly understand sophisticated technology and work credibly with scientists, engineers, operators and customers.
We are particularly interested in executives who have created something rather than simply managed something.
Leadership Style
This is a hands-on executive role in an entrepreneurial company. The successful candidate will be comfortable moving between the boardroom and the field developing strategy one day and personally working a customer opportunity the next. You can make decisions with incomplete information, test assumptions quickly and adjust as the market responds. You listen well, learn quickly and can translate complex technology into language that resonates with executives, technical specialists, government decision-makers and investors.
Above all, you are a builder and a doer. You enjoy creating structure where none exists and are motivated by the opportunity to build a meaningful business around technology capable of addressing a significant global problem. The company's culture expects leaders to lead by example and places a premium on execution over hierarchy.
What We Offer
A unique opportunity to commercialize a technology that protects the environment and communities.
Competitive compensation package, including equity.
Flexible working conditions with remote work opportunities.
A dynamic and supportive team culture that values innovation, performance, and fairness.
Location: Vancouver strongly preferred. Significant travel across Canada and the United States should be expected.
Contact: Darrell Bowman darrell@corporate.bc.ca or Tim Swanson tim@corporate.bc.ca