Vice President, Sales
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.
Why work at Fuel Cycle?
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.
About the role
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 and growing installed base of enterprise customers. The company is at a genuine inflection point with a significant shift to an AI-first product strategy, including new platform capabilities and expanded solution offerings. This role is a growth mandate for someone energized by the opportunity to build a new-logo growth engine, define how Fuel Cycle goes to market, and turn a strong and evolving product into a consistent revenue machine.
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.
Location & Schedule
New York, NY. This is an onsite role requiring five days per week in the office.
Sales Philosophy at Fuel Cycle
The CEO has adopted the Challenger Sale framework as the company's go-to-market philosophy. The sales team currently operates on SPICED (Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event, Decision). These frameworks are complementary: SPICED governs discovery structure and deal lifecycle; Challenger governs differentiation and how the team teaches customers to see their problem differently. The VP, Sales will lead the team's execution of this methodology through:
- Teach — Reframe how buyers think about research ROI and AI-native intelligence
- Tailor — Navigate 5–12 person buying committees across Insights, Product, Procurement, IT & Finance
- Take Control — Drive the buying process forward with commercial insight, not feature demos
Responsibilities
Sales Strategy & New Logo Growth
- Own and exceed annual quota — with full accountability to the CEO and board.
- Build and execute a go-to-market sales strategy grounded in insight-led selling: commercial insight → reframe → consensus-building → close.
- 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.
- Develop 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 Chief Strategy Officer; 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 approximately 40–50%.
Team Leadership & Coaching Culture
- Lead and develop a growing enterprise sales team — 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.
- Foster accountability, continuous learning, and servant leadership — removing blockers, celebrating disciplined wins, and investing in the development of each seller on the team.
- 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.
Success Metrics
- New Logo Growth: Consistent new-logo acquisition driven by insight-led pipeline and mobilizer strategy
- Pipeline Quality: 3–4× quota coverage built through buying committee engagement; deals advancing beyond single champion
- 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
Who you’ll work with
- CEO: Direct report — strategic alignment, board prep, and executive deal support
- Chief Strategy Officer: Close collaboration on GTM strategy and cross-functional alignment
- Marketing: Shared pipeline number; VP input on ICP & campaign strategy
- Customer Experience: Retention, expansion & mobilizer relationships
Requirements
Core Skills & Competencies
Sales Leadership Competencies- Strategic sales vision & full-funnel pipeline ownership
- Enterprise consultative sales mastery
- Multi-stakeholder buying committee navigation
- New logo growth & pipeline development
- Cross-functional GTM collaboration (Sales + Marketing + CX)
- Servant leadership & high-performance team development
- Insight-led sales philosophy (Challenger, SPICED, Command of Message, or equivalent)
- Commercial insight development & delivery
- Mobilizer identification & consensus-building strategy
- Constructive tension as a deliberate sales tool
- SaaS metrics fluency (ARR, NRR, CAC, LTV, quota attainment)
- CRM governance & revenue intelligence (Salesforce preferred)
Experience & Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive sales leadership, with at least 4 years in a VP Sales, Regional VP, or equivalent role at a SaaS or AI/ML technology company.
- Demonstrated track record of building enterprise sales organizations that close complex, multi-stakeholder deals — consistently meeting or exceeding $20M+ revenue targets.
- A history of driving new logo growth in enterprise markets — you know how to open new accounts, build pipeline from the ground up, and create repeatable motion where one didn't exist before.
- Deep fluency in insight-led sales philosophy — whether Challenger Sale, SPICED, Command of Message, or equivalent frameworks. You can teach, coach, and model the behaviors, not just name the methodology.
- Proven ability to navigate 5–12 person buying committees: identifying Mobilizers, building consensus strategy, and managing Talkers across Insights, Research, Product, Marketing, Procurement, IT, and Finance stakeholders.
- Experience selling AI-powered platforms, data/analytics solutions, or enterprise SaaS to Fortune 1000 companies — with fluency in translating evolving ML capabilities into measurable business outcomes.
- Fluency in revenue operations: pipeline governance, forecasting accuracy, cadence design, and CRM hygiene (Salesforce preferred).
- Comfort presenting to boards and C-suite stakeholders — clear, credible, and capable of holding the room.
- Willingness and ability to travel approximately 40–50%, including regular travel to Los Angeles and to enterprise prospect and client locations.
Nice to Have
- Experience with market research, consumer insights, data platforms, or adjacent enterprise analytics industries.
- Familiarity with Fuel Cycle's Insight-Lab or comparable research technology ecosystems.
- Background in generative AI, LLM-based, or custom AI solution selling to enterprise buyers.
- Experience building a commercial insight library or thought leadership program as a sales enablement asset.
- MBA or equivalent advanced degree.
What makes you stand out
- You are energized by building — you see a growth opportunity ahead of you and you know exactly what to do on day one.
- You have internalized insight-led selling — you naturally lead with a reframe, challenge buyer assumptions respectfully, and build constructive tension as a deliberate tool, not an accident. <