Chief Executive Officer

BSG has commenced an executive search for a Chief Executive Officer for our client, a venture-backed energy storage company that has raised significant equity capital to date. Large corporate and utility customers represent a meaningful and growing part of the company's target customer base, creating a mandate to scale manufacturing, secure substantial growth capital, and professionalize the commercial organization. The co-founder will remain with the company in a dedicated leadership role, and the incoming CEO will serve as the business-building counterpart who takes the company from early-stage to scaled commercial delivery.

Opportunity Overview

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

THE COMPANY

Our client is a venture-backed, U.S.-based company pioneering next-generation energy storage solutions for grid-scale and large commercial applications, with large corporate and utility customers representing a meaningful part of its target customer base. The company has developed a stationary storage technology platform and is entering a period of significant scale-up across manufacturing, capital formation, and commercial operations.

THE POSITION

The Chief Executive Officer will have full operating responsibility for the company and will report to a sophisticated venture-backed Board of Directors. Working in close partnership with the co-founder — who is stepping back from day-to-day business leadership into another important leadership role — the CEO will be accountable for scaling manufacturing and supply chain operations, leading a substantial growth capital raise, and serving as the credible commercial counterpart to large, sophisticated corporate customers.

This is a hands-on operating role for a builder. The CEO must be equally comfortable setting strategic direction with a venture board and rolling up their sleeves on manufacturing scale-up, supply chain build-out, and complex commercial negotiations with large corporate and utility-scale counterparties.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide overall business leadership and strategic direction for the company, with full accountability for operating performance, commercial growth, and organizational culture.
• Scale manufacturing and supply chain operations to meet the volumes required by a rapidly growing commercial pipeline.
• Personally lead and close a significant institutional growth capital raise, managing a competitive, multi-investor process.
• Negotiate and manage complex, large-scale commercial and offtake agreements with sophisticated corporate counterparties, including large corporate customers and utilities.
• Serve as the trusted business partner to a technical co-founder, creating the operating structure and organizational space for the co-founder to focus on technology and science.
• Manage and cultivate a sophisticated, venture-capital-oriented Board of Directors.
• Build, coach, and professionalize a commercial and operating leadership team appropriate for a rapidly scaling hard-tech company.
• Represent the company externally as the primary face to investors, customers, and strategic partners.

Success in this role will be defined in the first 12 months by:

• Establishing and beginning execution of a credible manufacturing and supply-chain scale-up plan.
• Materially advancing or closing a significant growth capital raise.
• Advancing commercial relationships with large corporate, utility, and other large-scale customers, including securing new large-scale commercial agreements.
• Building out a senior commercial and operating leadership bench.
• Establishing a strong, trust-based working partnership with the co-founder and rest of the team.

QUALIFICATIONS

Requirements

• Prior operating (not advisory) experience scaling a hard-tech or hardware company through a period of significant manufacturing growth.
• Energy storage domain fluency, with a strong preference for stationary/grid-scale system experience over automotive or other mobile applications.
• A personal track record of leading and closing competitive, institutional-process venture or growth capital raises — not solely relationship-driven or strategic financings.
• Experience negotiating large, complex commercial or offtake agreements with sophisticated corporate counterparties such as large corporate customers or utilities.
• Demonstrated manufacturing and supply-chain operating discipline.
• A track record of succeeding as the business-focused CEO alongside a strong technical co-founder, rather than as the organization's sole visionary.
• Full-time availability for a single, all-consuming operating role.
• Strong executive presence and persuasive intensity, suited to a role with heavy external-facing demands across fundraising, customer acquisition, and partnership negotiation.
• Low-ego, execution-oriented leadership style capable of building genuine partnership with a scientist co-founder.
• Comfortable operating with the ambiguity and resource constraints typical of a scaling venture-backed hard-tech company.
• Strong board presence and fluency working with sophisticated venture investors.

Education/Experience

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA or technical/scientific) preferred.
• Significant progressive operating leadership experience within hard-tech, hardware, industrial, or energy-sector companies.
• Experience operating within venture- or growth-capital-backed environments.
• A technical or scientific educational background is a plus, though not required.

LOCATION

United States.

Ideal Candidate Profile

A summary of key competencies required to be successful include the following:

FUNCTIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Proven general management or P&L leadership within a hard-tech, hardware, or industrial-scale manufacturing environment.
• Personal, hands-on track record leading competitive, multi-investor institutional capital raises.
• Demonstrated success negotiating complex commercial or offtake agreements with large, sophisticated corporate customers.
• Direct experience scaling manufacturing and supply-chain operations.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

• Energy storage or related power/grid-technology experience strongly preferred, with stationary/grid-scale systems valued over automotive or other mobile applications.
• Exposure to large corporate or utility-scale customers is a plus.
• Experience within venture-backed hard-tech or deep-tech companies.

STAGE OF COMPANY EXPERIENCE

• Experience operating within a venture-backed company transitioning from early-stage development toward scaled commercial manufacturing.
• A track record of success in a "co-founder remains, CEO added" leadership structure, distinct from a full founder replacement.
• Comfort with sophisticated, multi-stakeholder venture board governance.

MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrated ability to be the strong business partner to a technical co-founder, not a competing or sole visionary.
• Ability to build a commercial, operating, and manufacturing leadership team largely from the ground up.
• A persuasive, externally-facing leadership style suited to fundraising and customer-facing demands.
• Comfort operating in a fast-scaling, resource-constrained environment.

GENERAL COMPETENCIES

• High levels of intelligence, analytical strength, and conceptual ability.
• Strong presentation and team-leadership skills.
• Decisiveness when necessary, balanced with a willingness to build consensus with a sophisticated board.
• Unquestioned honesty and integrity, with the ability to inspire loyalty and trust.
• High energy and commitment, with enthusiasm for a fast-moving, high-stakes scale-up environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to articulate a compelling growth narrative to investors, customers, and employees.
• A strong sense of ownership for the performance and reputation of the company.

Compensation

Compensation will be competitive and aligned with venture-backed CEO roles at companies of similar scale and growth stage. The package will include a market-based base salary, a performance-driven annual incentive opportunity, and significant equity participation reflective of the company's early stage and growth trajectory.