Founding Account Executive at HyLight in Paris

Job description

Founding Account Executive — HyLight About HyLight Power lines, gas pipelines and railways are still inspected the way they were 50 years ago: by helicopter. Expensive, noisy, and up to a tonne of CO₂ per flight hour. We built the alternative. The HyLighter is a 12-metre autonomous airship running on hydrogen. It flies for up to 10 hours, almost silently, and spots a 1 mm defect from 25 metres up. But the airship is only half the story. Every flight brings back massive amounts of LiDAR, imagery and methane data, and that’s where the value is. Our AI turns it into what operators act on: 50+ types of defects detected automatically, and leaks pinpointed across their network. It’s not a prototype. HyLighters already fly missions for France’s largest energy and rail operators and have flown over the Palace of Versailles. Backed by Y Combinator, we just raised €13M to go from 4 airships to 15. Working at HyLight We design, build and fly every HyLighter, and turn its data into insight, all under one roof on a former airbase. Which means: You own it all the way. At a big aerospace company, you’d own a small piece of one subsystem. Here, you design it, test it, stand on the airfield when it flies, and see the client act on the data it brings back. Weeks, not years. Ideas go from whiteboard to flight test in weeks. Responsibility from day one. The founders’ average age is 27. Nobody here waits for permission. We don’t care about titles or ticking every box. We care about what you build and the perspective you bring, so if your profile is different, apply anyway. Job Summary As a Founding Account Executive , you will play a central role in accelerating HyLight's commercial growth. Working closely with our CBO, you will own the full commercial pipeline for a defined set of accounts and territories — from prospecting through to closing — engaging directly with senior stakeholders at Europe's largest infrastructure operators. This is not a support role. You'll be given real ownership over revenue targets, account strategy, and go-to-market decisions, while helping build the commercial foundations of a fast-growing climate tech company from the ground up. The Mission Reporting to the CBO, you will: Own and grow a portfolio of target accounts across our key industries (gas, power, and other infrastructure operators). Build, qualify, and prioritize pipeline through outbound prospecting, market research, and commercial intelligence. Lead the full sales cycle: outreach, discovery, technical/commercial qualification, proposal, negotiation, and close. Manage and deepen relationships with key infrastructure operators, from first contact through to contract renewal. Define and execute account and territory strategy, including identifying new markets and expansion opportunities. Analyze customer needs, market trends, and competitive dynamics to sharpen HyLight's commercial strategy. Partner closely with technical and product teams to translate customer challenges into HyLight's value proposition and roadmap input. Build and improve scalable commercial processes (CRM hygiene, playbooks, forecasting) as the team grows. Represent HyLight at industry events, conferences, and client sites. Profile Sought Experience 4+ years of B2B business development, sales, or account management experience, ideally in infrastructure, energy, industrial services, deep tech, or a related B2B technical sales environment. Track record of owning and closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals with enterprise or utility-scale customers. Experience building outbound pipeline and managing a sales cycle end-to-end, not just account management. Technical Skills Strong analytical and research skills; comfortable building business cases and ROI arguments for technical buyers. Excellent written and verbal communication, including with senior/executive stakeholders. Fluent with CRM tools (HubSpot, Salesforce, or similar) and comfortable owning pipeline reporting and forecasting. Profici