Director, Business Development

About the Role

Treehouse is hiring a Director, Business Development to build new partner programs across our four core channels: auto OEMs, equipment OEMs, utilities, and fleet/fleet management companies. The right person can walk into a complex, multi-stakeholder sales process, figure out what a partner actually needs, design a program that works for both sides, and close it. The bar is intellectual horsepower and builder instinct. Utility and energy experience is a strong plus, not a gate. We expect to find great candidates at both ends of the experience range. The right person brings a combination of commercial instinct and structured, strategic thinking. We’re looking for the ability to think clearly about complex deals, move without hand-holding, and bring real rigor to every stage of a sale.

Responsibilities

The Director, Business Development will:

• Source and develop new partner opportunities across all four channels (auto OEMs, equipment OEMs, utilities, fleet/fleet management), from initial outreach through signed partnership
• Navigate complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles involving procurement, program managers, executives, and close
• Design program structures and commercial frameworks for new partnerships, working internally on feasibility, pricing, and delivery
• Maintain pipeline discipline: CRM hygiene, deal forecasts, stage progression, and consistent internal reporting
• Contribute to GTM strategy: help build the frameworks, playbooks, and market maps that sharpen how Treehouse approaches each vertical
• Represent Treehouse externally at relevant industry events, conferences, and partner meetings
• Collaborate cross-functionally with operations, solutions engineering, product, and marketing to structure deals that Treehouse can deliver against

Minimum Qualifications

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• 5-10+ years of experience in sales or business development, with meaningful time spent selling into utilities or an adjacent energy sector
• A concrete track record including specific partnerships or programs personally originated and closed
• Experience navigating long, complex sales cycles (6-12 months+) with multiple buyer personas (procurement, demand-side management leads, program managers, fleet operators, executives) and closing

Preferred Qualifications

Additionally, candidates may demonstrate:

• Relationships you can name and activate in relevant verticals, such as utility program management, commercial fleet, EV/energy infrastructure, or adjacent
• Meaningful exposure to market-creation or early-stage environments, not just selling a well-defined product to a well-defined buyer
• Self-directed and organized; follows through and does not drop balls
• Able to think operationally and put together a process flow or program design when needed
• AI-curious at minimum; already using tools to work faster and smarter
• A strong communicator, both written and oral; able to craft compelling storylines and translate that into visual mediums like mocks and presentations

This role may be based in Chicago or the San Francisco Bay Area; for a significantly experienced candidate, this role may be remote. This role will have an annual salary, plus equity and benefits. The on-target earnings range for this position is $175,000 - $200,000. This is a good faith estimate of what Treehouse may pay for a new hire; actual pay may vary based on prevailing wages in geographic location and a candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, related experience, education, certifications, and ability to meet required job qualifications.

Featured benefits include:

• Medical insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• 401(k)
• Unlimited paid time off