Account Executive, Business Development
About the role
Vital Lyfe is a tech company redefining water autonomy through innovation, creating a new category of personal water-making technology built to scale where infrastructure can't. We've built the go-to-market foundation: a proven GTM motion, a disciplined sales process, and our first distributor contracts across key markets. Now we need an Account Executive to run it and grow it.
Responsibilities
- Own the full outbound motion, prospecting, cold outreach, qualification, and early business development, to build and grow a consistent pipeline across maritime, humanitarian, military, and retail markets.
- Identify customer pain points and establish first relationships with new distributor, retailer, and channel partner opportunities.
- Own the entire sales cycle end to end: discovery, demos, proposals, negotiation, contract redlines, and final signature, coordinating with legal or leadership on terms so deals close without unnecessary handoffs, across distributors, retailers, and end customers.
- Consistently deliver against quarterly and annual revenue and quota targets across assigned market segments, with accountability for pipeline coverage sufficient to hit target.
- Maintain rigorous pipeline hygiene, accurate forecasting, and reporting.
- Develop tailored proposals, presentations, and outreach that speak to the needs of each market segment.
- Feed market intelligence back to the team on customer needs, objections, competitor activity, and new opportunities.
- Represent Vital Lyfe at industry events and trade shows to build networks and generate demand.
- Partner with the Head of Sales to sharpen the outbound playbook, messaging, and qualification criteria as we learn.
Requirements
- 3+ years of experience in sales, business development, or account management, with meaningful outbound/prospecting experience.
- Proven track record of building pipeline from scratch and meeting or exceeding targets.
- Full-cycle experience: comfortable prospecting cold and closing deals.
- Strong written and verbal communication. You craft outreach that gets replies and presentations that land.
- Disciplined and process-driven: you follow a sales process, keep the CRM clean, and forecast honestly.
- Self-starter who thrives with autonomy in a fast-paced, early-stage environment.
Preferred Skills & Experience
- Experience selling hardware, consumer technology, or into water treatment, desalination, maritime, defense, or humanitarian markets.
- Existing network of distributors or channel partners in relevant markets.
- Experience with modern outbound tooling (CRM, sequencing, enrichment).
- Experience as an early sales hire at a startup.
Why Join Vital Lyfe?
- Work on high-impact problems with global relevance.
- Help scale breakthrough technology in water security and climate resilience.
- Scale a proven sales motion with real traction, first distributor contracts already signed.
- Clear growth path as the sales team's founding AE.
- Join a tight-knit, mission-driven team in a fast-paced environment.
Location Requirement: Ability to work 100% onsite in Torrance, CA (remote or hybrid work will not be considered)
Vital Lyfe is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vital Lyfe is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.