Sales Director

Director of Sales – Academic & Research Institutions

Location: United States (Hybrid/Remote with travel)

Department: Sales & Business Development

Reports to: VP of Sales / Chief Commercial Officer

About the Role

We are seeking a strategic and results-driven Director of Sales to lead our expansion into the U.S. academic and research institution market. You will be responsible for driving revenue growth by establishing partnerships with top-tier universities, national laboratories, and research centers for our cutting‑edge high‑DOF dexterous hands and brain‑computer interface (BCI) products.

This is a high‑impact individual contributor role with significant growth potential, ideal for someone with deep existing relationships in the robotics, AI, and neuroscience research ecosystems.

Key Responsibilities

• Market Development: Identify, prioritize, and penetrate target accounts across leading U.S. universities (R1 institutions), federally funded research centers, and private research institutes with active programs in robotics, AI, human‑machine interaction, and neural engineering.
• Relationship Cultivation: Leverage and expand your established network within principal investigator (PI) labs, robotics institutes, and BCI research consortia to generate qualified opportunities and accelerate deal cycles.
• Solution Selling: Articulate complex technical value propositions to researchers, lab managers, and procurement officers; translate customer research needs into tailored product configurations and service packages.
• Revenue Ownership: Own the full sales cycle from prospecting to close, consistently meeting or exceeding quarterly and annual revenue targets. Maintain accurate pipeline forecasting in CRM.
• Strategic Partnerships: Collaborate with academic grant offices and institutional procurement to navigate funding cycles (NSF, NIH, DARPA, DOE) and position our solutions within major research initiatives.
• Voice of Customer: Gather technical feedback and market intelligence from the research community to inform product roadmap discussions with engineering and product teams.
• Brand Building: Represent the company at top‑tier academic conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICRA, IROS, EMBC, SFN) and workshops, establishing thought leadership in the research community.

Qualifications Required

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Neuroscience, Business, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years of demonstrated sales success in B2B/institutional sales within the robotics, AI, automation, or scientific instrumentation sectors.
• Verifiable track record of selling complex, high‑value hardware/software solutions into academic or government research environments.
• Established network with decision‑makers at top U.S. research universities and national laboratories—candidates must demonstrate existing relationships that can be activated immediately.
• Deep understanding of academic procurement processes, grant funding mechanisms, and the long‑cycle nature of institutional sales.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to engage credibly with PhD‑level researchers and C‑level administrators alike.
• Willingness to travel 30‑40% domestically.

Preferred

• Direct experience selling robotic manipulation systems, neurotechnology/BCI hardware, AI/ML research platforms, or high‑precision laboratory instrumentation.
• Existing relationships within leading robotics labs (e.g., MIT CSAIL, Stanford AI Lab, CMU RI, Berkeley BAIR) and/or BCI research centers (e.g., Brown, UCSF, Emory, Mayo Clinic).
• Background in artificial intelligence, robotics, neural engineering, or biomedical engineering—enabling authentic technical dialogue with researchers.
• Experience with government contracting or selling into federally funded research programs (SBIR/STTR familiarity a plus).
• Prior startup or scale‑up environment experience; comfortable operating with autonomy in a high‑growth, resource‑constrained setting.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary + uncapped commission structure
• Equity participation in a venture‑backed company at the forefront of humanoid robotics and neural interface technology
• Direct access to world‑class engineering and research teams
• Opportunity to shape the commercial strategy of breakthrough technologies transforming human‑machine collaboration

To Apply

• Submit your resume along with a brief cover letter highlighting:
• Three specific university or laboratory relationships you have cultivated that would be relevant to this role
• Your largest single academic/research institution sale (value and product category)

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our team.

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