Vice President, Sales

📋 Description

• • Fuel Cycle empowers leading organizations with agile research solutions that deliver decision-ready insights — fast, flexible, and fully integrated.
• • As a market research disruptor, our AI-powered Insights Platform is built for speed, precision, and scale.
• • With cutting-edge tools and seamless audience connectivity, we help brands ditch the guesswork and make smarter, customer-led decisions at lightning speed.
• • Join a high-growth team where curiosity is valued, ownership is encouraged, and your work drives real-world impact.
• • Whether you’re based at our Los Angeles HQ, New York City hub, working remotely across the U.S., or part of our global team in India, you’ll help shape the future of decision intelligence for some of the world’s most iconic brands.
• • Fuel Cycle is an AI-native SaaS market research company that puts real-time consumer intelligence at the center of enterprise decision-making.
• • We serve Fortune 1000 brands, help business teams synthesize information at scale, and operate a proven platform with a strong installed base of enterprise customers.
• • The company is at a genuine inflection point.
• • A significant shift to an AI-first product strategy — including new platform capabilities and expanded solution offerings — is underway, and the commercial opportunity ahead of it is material.
• • This is a rebuild mandate with real upside.
• • The new-logo pipeline has not been the company's primary commercial focus, and the motion upstream of sales needs to be reconstructed alongside the sales function itself.
• • Reporting directly to the CEO, the VP, Sales will own the sales function end-to-end: strategy, team, pipeline, and quota attainment.
• • This leader will present to the board quarterly, partner closely with the Chief Strategy Officer on GTM direction, and serve as the primary commercial voice at the leadership table.
• • Key Responsibilities:
• • Own and exceed annual quota — with full accountability to the CEO and board.
• • Diagnose and rebuild the top-of-funnel: redefine the ICP, sharpen outbound motion, and establish a pipeline generation engine capable of producing consistent new-logo opportunities.
• • Define and execute a go-to-market sales strategy grounded in insight-led selling: commercial insight → reframe → consensus-building → close.
• • Build sales playbooks and competitive positioning that lead with insight, not product features — equipping the team to challenge how enterprise buyers think about market research and AI.
• • Develop territory design, headcount plans, and sales operating budgets in partnership with the CEO and CSO; present pipeline, forecast, and strategy at quarterly board meetings.
• • Leverage Fuel Cycle's Insight-Lab capability to generate commercial insights — industry analyses, consumer data, and thought leadership that open doors and reframe buyer conversations.
• • Stay current on Fuel Cycle's AI-first product evolution and translate new capabilities into updated commercial narratives as the platform expands.
• • Travel to prospects, clients, and Fuel Cycle headquarters regularly; expected travel 25-40%.
• • Team Leadership & Coaching Culture:
• • Inherit and lead a sales team that includes newer enterprise sellers — establishing clear expectations, a structured coaching cadence, and a performance culture from day one.
• • Lead the team's execution of the Challenger Sale and SPICED methodology — coaching the behaviors of commercial teaching, stakeholder tailoring, and constructive tension rather than simply naming the framework.
• • Foster accountability, continuous learning, and servant leadership — removing blockers, celebrating disciplined wins, and developing sellers who are early in their Fuel Cycle tenure.
• • Establish rigorous cadences: weekly deal reviews that map the buying committee and identify mobilizers; pipeline hygiene, forecast calls, and QBRs tied to clear metrics.
• • Enterprise Deal Execution:
• • Serve as executive sponsor on strategic AI platform deals — engaging directly with C-suite and VP-level Mobilizers to accelerate consensus and close complex, multi-stakeholder opportunities.
• • Translate Fuel Cycle's AI and ML capabilities — including new platform offerings emerging from the company's AI-first evolution — into commercial insights that connect platform ROI to specific business consequences the buyer hasn't yet quantified.
• • Identify Mobilizers (Go-Getters, Teachers, Skeptics) within prospect accounts and equip them with insight-led narratives that build internal consensus without the VP in the room.
• • Operational Excellence & Cross-Functional Collaboration:
• • Own accurate revenue forecasting using data-driven pipeline analysis, buying committee mapping, and weekly deal intelligence — with ±10% quarterly accuracy as the standard.
• • Drive productivity through scalable sales practices, insight-led enablement programs, and a streamlined technology stack (Salesforce CRM preferred).
• • Partner with Marketing to co-develop commercial insights that seed the reframe narrative early in the buyer journey; hold a shared pipeline number with Marketing regardless of reporting structure.
• • Work closely with Customer Experience and Client Solutions to maximize net revenue retention and create a seamless, trust-building buyer-to-customer handoff.
• • Collaborate closely with the Chief Strategy Officer on GTM strategy, territory planning, and cross-functional alignment.
• • Your Success Metrics:
• • New Logo Growth: First new-logo acquisition within 90 days; sustained cadence by end of Q1 tenure
• • Pipeline Generation: Top-of-funnel rebuilt; 3–4× quota coverage within 6 months
• • Buying Committee Quality: Deals advancing with mapped mobilizers; not reliant on single champion sentiment
• • Challenger Execution: Team consistently delivering reframe-and-teach insights at discovery; constructive tension evident in deal reviews
• • Team Development: Coaching cadence active monthly per rep; newer sellers given appropriate runway and structured development plans
• • Forecast Accuracy: Within ±10% of committed number each quarter
• • Net Revenue Retention: Strong NRR supported by tight Sales ↔ CX handoffs; expansion motions disciplined
• • Board Reporting: Quarterly board presentation delivered on time with accurate pipeline, forecast, and strategic deal narrative