Founding Commercial Lead

Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Role Type: Full-Time, Contract-to-Hire

Compensation: Meaningful equity, market-rate salary as funding progresses

Sector: Energy Infrastructure / ClimateTech / Enterprise Software / Artificial Intelligence / Industrials / Finance

Daylight is a market infrastructure company accelerating the commercialization of clean energy and industrial technologies. We help scale solutions in clean firm power, fuels, industrial heat, cement, and steel — sectors responsible for over one-third of global emissions.

We're building an AI-native platform that connects energy suppliers with hyperscalers and data center developers. Our tools automate diligence, structure deals, and help both sides move from evaluation to signed agreements faster.

Our first vertical and product, Daylight Power, focuses on clean, reliable power for data centers — the binding constraint today. The same platform will expand to other critical industrial inputs over time.

We believe the bottleneck in scaling energy infrastructure isn't the tech — it's capital flow, coordination, and contracting.

• High-ceiling climate impact: Industrial decarbonization is responsible for over one-third of global emissions, and energy systems are the shared constraint underneath it. Daylight is going after the intersection: powering industry and data centers with clean, reliable electricity.

• True founding ownership: This is a founding role with high leverage. You will shape what we build and how we build it.

• Work on the real constraint: Power is the binding constraint for data centers today. You’ll build the tooling that turns messy infrastructure reality into decision-grade diligence.

• Meaningful upside: Get meaningful equity and compensation that scales with funding and traction.

• World class backers and community: We’re backed by leading climate investors and advised by individuals from the DOE and leading energy infrastructure investment firms.

• Strong Early Traction: We’ve closed deals and facilitated connections between leading data center developers and clean energy projects.

• Lead Offtake & Power Purchase Agreement Strategy

  Own strategy and execution for corporate offtake agreements, fuel contracts, and innovative procurement structures—bridging the gap between early buyer conversations and contract-ready deal terms, timelines, and requirements.
  

• Shape GTM Strategy, Originate & Close Deals

  Build relationships with sustainability teams, project developers, and investors. Bring deals from sourcing to signature.

• Standardize Project Diligence

  Help define the templates, data rooms, and commercial terms that unlock bankability for new tech.

• Bridge Commercial Background and Product Management

  Translate buyer pain points into product requirements that streamline contracting and de-risk transactions. Stay plugged into product management and operations work so we ship what customers need and execute reliably.

• Be a Founding Operator

  Exhibit an 'owner's mindset', ready to pivot quickly from executive-level strategy to granular operational tasks or customer-facing support in a fast-paced environment.

• Have led or supported PPA, offtake, or long-term fuel contract negotiations (corporate or developer side)

• Bring commercial structuring experience, including shaping terms, risk allocation, and bankability for complex deals

• Understand the building blocks of project finance and how investors evaluate risk

• Have worked at the intersection of commercial strategy and energy project development

• Have an investment and/or operations background (e.g., infra investing, project development ops, strategy & ops) that helps you execute end-to-end

• Thrive in ambiguous, early-stage environments and want to build something from scratch

• Excited to be a founding member or very early team member at a mission-driven startup

• Maintain a ‘player-coach’ mindset, balancing high-level strategic leadership with a willingness to execute day-to-day operations and resolve customer escalations as needed to ensure team and customer success.

• Strong network in the decarbonization ecosystem (corporate buyers, project developers, infrastructure funds)

• Experience on the legal or commercial side of large, complex transactions; if legal, experience working with or across from top-tier firms (ie. Orrick) and/or hyperscaler counterparties

• Strong product instincts

• Understanding of marketplace infrastructure and business models

We’re looking for someone who is deeply motivated by climate impact and energized by the challenge of building from zero to one. You might be a fit if you are:

• Wildly driven and curious, and excited to throw yourself into the fire of an early-stage startup.

• The kind of person who keeps building and learning outside of work because you genuinely cannot help it.

• Someone with deep, niche intellectual obsessions. You love going down rabbit holes until you understand the thing better than almost anyone else.

You will thrive at Daylight if you:

• Exhibit high agency and take ownership end-to-end.

• Are highly collaborative and bring a low-ego, team-first approach.

• Bring compassion and deep care for the people you work with, and help create a supportive, high-trust community.

• Have real comfort with ambiguity, and can create structure where none exists.

📬 Apply by Sunday, February 8th, 2026

Referred candidates will be prioritized. If you know someone at Daylight or in our community please mention their name in your application. Bonus points dm us or email [email protected] a fun fact about you. :)

Opportunity begins as a three-month contract role. Successful performance during the contract period will lead to conversion into a full-time, permanent position.