How to apply for Head of Direct Sales

About Haven Energy

Haven Energy is a mission-driven company accelerating the deployment of solar and battery storage to create a stable, climate-resilient electric grid. Unlike many cleantech firms, they focus on direct-to-consumer sales, empowering homeowners to take control of their energy future. You'll join a team committed to sustainability and innovation in a rapidly growing market.

About the role

As Head of Direct Sales, you'll lead and scale a remote sales team, driving revenue growth through data-driven strategies and process optimization. Your impact will be direct: you'll own the sales dashboard, refine CRM tooling, and partner with leadership to set aggressive targets. This role is critical to Haven Energy's mission of democratizing clean energy access.

A typical day

Start your day reviewing the sales dashboard for key metrics (e.g., conversion rates, pipeline velocity) and identify coaching opportunities. Mid-morning, you'll lead a stand-up with your regional managers, reviewing last week's results and adjusting tactics. Afternoons are reserved for deep work: refining CRM workflows, analyzing lead source performance, and collaborating with marketing on campaign strategies. You'll wrap up by checking in with individual reps via Slack or 1:1s.

Who Haven Energy is looking for

• A proven leader with 8+ years in direct-to-consumer sales, having built and managed high-performing teams in a remote environment.
• Deep solar/energy storage expertise (5+ years) with a network in the industry and understanding of residential solar economics.
• Data-obsessed: can independently pull SQL reports, build Tableau dashboards, and use metrics to diagnose team performance.
• A builder who has created sales playbooks, CRM workflows, and onboarding programs from scratch—not just maintained existing processes.

Tips for this application

• Quantify your past team's performance: include metrics like team quota attainment, revenue growth %, and rep ramp-up time.
• Highlight specific CRM and data tools you've used (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot, Looker) and how you've customized them.
• Showcase solar industry knowledge: mention any experience with solar financing (PPA, loan), battery storage products, or utility regulations.
• Demonstrate remote leadership: describe how you've built culture, managed performance, and coached reps across time zones.
• Tailor your resume to emphasize 'builder' achievements: list processes you created from scratch, not just managed.

What to cover in your cover letter

["Your passion for clean energy and alignment with Haven Energy's mission of grid resilience.", 'Specific examples of building and scaling a direct sales team, including revenue impact and team development.', 'How you use data to drive decisions—mention a time you turned around underperformance using analytics.', 'Your experience with solar/energy storage and any relevant industry connections.']

Research before applying

• Read Haven Energy's blog and press releases to understand their product offerings (e.g., battery-only vs. solar+battery) and target markets.
• Check their Glassdoor reviews to gauge company culture and any common management themes.
• Look up their leadership team on LinkedIn to understand their backgrounds and priorities.
• Research recent trends in residential solar/storage policy (e.g., NEM 3.0 in California) that impact their business.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you diagnose and fix a sales team that is missing quota by 20%? Walk us through your data analysis process.
• Describe a time you built a sales process from scratch. What were the key steps and how did you measure success?
• How do you motivate a remote team? Share specific tactics for engagement and accountability.
• What is your experience with solar battery storage products? How do you sell the value proposition to homeowners?
• How would you partner with marketing to improve lead quality and conversion rates?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Don't focus on B2B sales experience—this role is strictly direct-to-consumer; highlight residential sales wins.
• Avoid generic leadership platitudes; instead, provide concrete examples of coaching, hiring, and firing decisions.
• Don't ignore the remote aspect—if you haven't managed a distributed team, acknowledge it and share transferable skills.