Head of Public Sector Sales

Who we are

The problem: Every minute matters in fire response.  As climate change amplifies the intensity of wildfires—with longer fire seasons, dryer fuels, and faster winds—new ignitions spread faster and put more communities at risk. Today, most wildfires are detected by bystanders and reported via 911, meaning it can take hours to detect a fire, verify its exact location and size, and dispatch first responders. Fire authorities need a faster way to detect, confirm, and pinpoint fires so that they can quickly respond—preventing small flare-ups from becoming devastating infernos.

About Pano: Pano AI is a 90-person growth stage start-up, headquartered in San Francisco, that is the leader in early wildfire detection and intelligence, helping fire professionals respond to fires faster and more safely—with the right equipment, timely information, and enhanced coordination—so that they can stop a new ignition before it grows.  Pano AI combines advanced hardware, software, and artificial intelligence into an easy-to-use, web-based platform. Leveraging a network of ultra-high-definition, 360-degree cameras atop high vantage points, as well as satellite and other data feeds, Pano AI produces a real-time picture of threats in a geographic region and delivers immediate, actionable intelligence.

Fast Company named Pano AI one of the Top 10 most innovative companies in AI of 2023. Pano AI has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NBC News, and a national TV commercial produced by strategic partner T-Mobile. With dozens of government and enterprise customers, its reach extends across 10 states in the U.S., five states in Australia, and BC, Canada, helping protect more than 20 million acres of land. Backed by $45M in venture capital funding, investors include Congruent Ventures, Initialized Capital, Salesforce Ventures, T-Mobile Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners. Learn more at https://www.pano.ai/.

The Role

Pano AI seeks an experienced Head of Public Sector Sales to help drive full-cycle sales initiatives with new and existing accounts within our public sector (federal, state, and local), during an exciting early growth phase of the business. You will be driven, well-versed in climate tech, safety, and/or disaster relief, passionate about supporting government agencies to address the growing threat of wildfires, and able to navigate the complexities of public sector sales. 

You will focus on developing and executing strategies to work with government agencies at all levels - Federal (e.g. BLM, USFS, DoD), State (Washington DNR, Texas A&M, Colorado DFPC) and cities/counties.  You will work hand in hand with Pano AI’s North America VP of Sales and the broader Go-To-Market team (which includes members vertically focused on Pano’s other segments, including utilities and private land owners). As we continue to scale our business and product, your work will be invaluable in setting the future trajectory of the commercial team.  This is an opportunity for a qualified candidate to be a key contributor to driving early-stage success for Pano AI, all while working on a meaningful and urgent issue.

• Lead and scale our Public Sector sales organization, driving revenue within both new and existing accounts.
• Develop go-to-market strategies to access all levels of government (federal, state, and local.)
• Structure and negotiate new business relationships including key pricing, commercial, and operational terms as part of complex contracting processes.
• Bring government contracting expertise to ensure Pano is best situated to contract at all levels of the government.
• Work closely with our Government Affairs VP (and broader team) to develop and execute against lobbying strategies to create long-term business opportunities.
• Manage senior-level relationships with customers and key partners.
• Leverage domain expertise to plan and execute sales tactics in the following areas: territory planning, prospecting, proposal development and RFP responses, relationship development, pricing, presentation and delivery (finalist or other), negotiations, closing and executing contracts.
• Drive ongoing account management in partnership with Customer Success to ensure customer satisfaction and drive additional expansion opportunities.
• Partnering with internal stakeholders in Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations, and Finance, you will own an assessment of the competitive landscape and technologies to help formulate and refine product/ GTM/ service/ support strategies unique to the Public Sector vertical.
• Ensure swift execution of new Pano Station installations during a challenging short pre-fire season purchasing window, by partnering closely with the internal ops team and facilitating necessary actions with customer operations teams, often in parallel with closing the contract.

• 10+ years of Public Sector and technology sales experience selling enterprise software, networking, infrastructure, managed hosting services, and/or cloud computing services, etc.
• 5+ years of sales leadership experience, with a focus on building and scaling sales organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically about aligning go-to-market strategies to the varying needs of the different segments of the public sector market (federal, state, and local).
• Excellent writing and verbal skills with an attention to organization, detail, and quality presentation.
• A track record of navigating multi-stakeholder and complex sales cycles, with an emphasis on engagement at the executive level.
• Highly competitive, ramp quickly, extremely adaptive, high sense of urgency, and pride yourself on exceeding production goals.
• Strong bias towards coaching and development of your team.
• Travel expectations at least 25%

Pano is an equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and supporting our team-members regardless of where they come from. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.