Sales Lead - SoCal / LA
The Opportunity
Focal is the world's first autonomous personal comfort platform: an AI-enabled robotic heating system that delivers individualized warmth to each guest in real time. Key achievements include up to 80% in energy savings, a 25% increase in patio seating capacity, two hours of labor savings per shift, and a 25% jump in five-star reviews for our restaurant partners. Focal was named one of Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies of 2026, alongside Waymo, Boston Dynamics, and Toast.
What You'll Do
Own the Southern California market. Build our pipeline from scratch: identify the right restaurant groups, hospitality operators, and multi-unit chains, and run account-based campaigns to open and close them.
Drive account-based strategy. Develop a target account list, research key stakeholders, build multi-threaded relationships within priority accounts, and execute a disciplined approach to winning new business, not just working the warmest leads.
Represent Focal on the ground. Attend industry events, build a local network in hospitality and food & beverage, and make sure the right operators know who we are and what we've built.
Lay the foundation for a team. Contribute to hiring decisions, onboarding future reps, and helping define the playbook for how we sell in new markets.
What We're Looking For
4–8 years of B2B sales experience, with a track record of owning complex, multi-stakeholder deals from prospecting to close.
Proven experience in account-based selling: you know how to build a target list, map an org, and run a disciplined outreach motion.
Deep familiarity with the Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego market; existing relationships in hospitality, food & beverage, or real estate are a strong plus.
Comfort with ambiguity: you've built pipeline in a new territory or for a new product before, and you didn't wait for leads to come to you.
Early management instincts: you care about developing others and want to build something, not just hit a number.
Genuine enthusiasm for what Focal is building: you understand why the product matters and can convey that authentically to operators.
Why Focal
Named to Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies of 2026 alongside Waymo, Boston Dynamics, and Toast.
Proven, measurable results: customers capture up to 80% energy savings, 25% more seating capacity, and a 25% jump in five-star reviews.
Backed by Collaborative Fund, Third Sphere, Brainstorm Ventures, and leading angels across hospitality and energy.
Founded by a team with deep technical and operational chops: Tesla, Zoox, Stanford, Harvard, and Carnegie Mellon robotics.
First-mover advantage in one of the most important hospitality markets in the country, with full support from the founding team.
About Focal
Focal is a San Francisco-based robotics company creating a world where comfort is personal, effortless, and sustainable. Through AI-enabled hardware, our personal comfort system delivers targeted, autonomous warmth while eliminating the energy and cost inefficiencies of traditional heating systems. We've raised $5M in funding and logged 30,000+ hours of live operation across Michelin-star restaurant groups, regional chains, and independent operators. Learn more at focalheat.co or reach out at hello@focalheat.co.
Compensation Range
$160K - $250K