AHT CleanTec Sales/Commercial Engineer

Title: Sales/Commercial Engineer (m/f/d) 
Location: Overath, Germany (Bonn/Overath area)
Employment: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: €45,000–€60,000 gross + commission structure
Travel: 30–40% (customer sites, tradeshows, prospecting)

About This Role

You'll be our first in-house Sales/Commercial person—not just handling orders, but building our sales organization and growing into Sales Director over 3 years as we scale from 25 to mid-size company.

This is not a generic sales job. This is a founding position for someone who builds a sales organization from scratch.

Your Responsibilities
Year 1: Build the Pipeline

• Independently manage RFQ (Request for Quotation) from identified prospects
• Follow up on customer inquiries and relationship building over long sales cycles (6–18 months)
• Cold outreach and prospecting across Germany and Europe
• Technical support in customer conversations (with our Engineering team)
• Participation in tradeshows and industry events
• Pipeline management and forecasting

Year 2–3: Team Building & Strategy

• Build and lead a small sales team (2–3 people)
• Define sales strategy for hydrogen and syngas markets
• Customer representation on major projects
• Negotiation and deal closing
• Training development for new sales staff

Your Profile
Required:

• Minimum 5 years sales experience (B2B preferred, technical background advantageous)
• Independent & proactive: You work well without constant supervision
• Resilient: You can handle rejection and stay motivated over long sales cycles
• Communicative: Fluent English; German (min. B2 to C2 German spoken and written)
• Fast learner: You can quickly understand technical products
• Willing to travel: 30–40%

Preferred:

• Sales engineering or technical sales background
• Experience with long sales cycles (industrial projects, not SaaS)
• Knowledge in renewable energy, energy systems, or power plant technology
• CRM experience (Salesforce, Pipedrive, etc.)

Why AHT CleanTec?

• Market opportunity: Hydrogen economy ramp-up in Germany & Europe.
• Decentralized energy solutions. Sustainability is non-optional.
• Technology: Twin-Fire Gasification—patented, proven, with real orders 
• Small team, big impact: 25 employees means your decisions shape company direction.
• Career path: Start as individual contributor, grow with the company to Sales Director.
• Stability + growth: Publicly listed, proven technology, strategic partnerships, upcoming projects.

How Application Works

This is NOT a standard application process. We filter on sales mindset & initiative, not just CV.

Step 1: The Sales Mindset Challenge

Answer in 2–3 paragraphs (English or German):

Scenario: You've just been hired as our first in-house Sales/Commercial person. You have a list of 20 identified prospects in Germany and Europe. Sales cycle is 6–18 months.

Your Tasks:

1. First 30 days: How would you build your pipeline?
2. Handling rejection: What do you do when prospects say no?
3. Staying motivated: How do you stay driven over long cycles?

Steps 2-6: Teams call / 3 steps interview / Culture fit / Offer

Clean Energy is not an Option – It is the Foundation!