Job Description
About Lumen
Lumen Energy is building the transaction platform for the electric era. We partner with commercial real estate owners to turn underutilized rooftops into reliable, long-term income. We do this by delivering investment-grade analysis powered by our proprietary Lux Engine, securing transparent competition among top solar and battery developers, and providing white-glove service throughout. Owners unlock predictable ancillary revenue, advance sustainability goals, and scale clean energy across their portfolios without distraction from their core business.
We work with the largest names in institutional commercial real estate, including Nuveen, KKR, JP Morgan Asset Management, Apollo, and Hines. Backed by Lowercarbon Capital, Designer Fund, and Moxxie VC, our team comes from Google X, Arcadia, Stripe, and leading CRE and finance firms, united by a mission to power the built world with profitable clean energy.
We are a remote-first company with quarterly in-person offsites.
The Role
Lumen’s direct sales team has proven that the nation’s largest CRE owners want what we offer. The next lever is a referral channel that delivers qualified leads to our growing account executive team.
As Growth Partner Manager, you will design and run Lumen’s referral partner program from scratch. Your mandate: activate professionals who already have trusted relationships with CRE owners — brokers, sustainability consultants, property managers, lenders, and investors — and turn those relationships into a steady flow of qualified leads that Lumen AEs then engage directly to qualify and close.
This is not a partner management role, though you will manage partners. It’s a channel hunting + GTM process design role. You’ll identify the right partners, make the case for Lumen, and hold yourself accountable to a pipeline quota sourced through your channel.
What You’ll Own
The Referral Partner Program
Identify, recruit, and activate referral partners across three categories: CRE brokers (JLL, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Newmark, and regional boutiques); sustainability and ESG consultants (Big 4 practices, Verdani, GRESB advisors); and CRE services firms such as property management firms and roofers.
Design the partner value proposition and build the enablement library
Request and execute warm intros weekly
Run structured activation sequences
Attend and host industry events targeting referral partners.
Channel Pipeline Quota
Own the quarterly channel pipeline quota — deals sourced from referral partners and handed off to Lumen AEs at signed marketplace agreement.
Maintain active partner conversations at all times.
Report weekly on channel health: active partners, co-sell opportunities sourced, conversion to ROFO, and downstream booking value attributed to channel.
Where You’ll Be a Critical Collaborator
With Sales:
Translate channel market intelligence into actionable sales guidance for things like what owners care about, what objections referral sources hear, where the competition is showing up. Keep tight feedback loops on lead quality, handoff SLAs, and message-market fit.
With Marketing:
Brief on what each partner category needs to refer with confidence: broker-facing content, sustainability case studies, deal economics. Scope and prototype requirements for collateral you need for the Partner to be successful. Partner on events and co-marketing activations.
With Product and Engineering:
Advocate for partner-facing capabilities: on-demand property analysis, a broker portal, and embedded Lumen distribution into CRE SaaS platforms (Yardi, VTS, MRI, ESG tools). Translate partner friction into crisp product requirements.
Who You Are
5–8 years in partnerships, channel business development, or enterprise sales with a track record of building programs from scratch, not just inheriting them.
You’ve built referral or channel partnerships before: recruited partners, designed the value exchange, built enablement, and tracked performance rigorously.
Comfortable in the institutional CRE world where you can hold your own with a broker at JLL, a VP of Sustainability at a REIT, or a managing director at a PE firm. You build credibility through substance.
Operator first: you write the email, build the list, schedule the intro calls, prepare the brief, and follow up three times. Manager second: you can hire, brief, and direct support once the program proves out.
Numbers-native: you track conversion by partner, make data-driven decisions about where to invest time, and build the dashboard if it doesn’t exist.
High agency: figures out what to do when no one tells you, ships before it’s perfect, owns outcomes.
Strong written instinct demonstrated in compelling partner outreach, co-marketing briefs, internal updates that get read.
Nice to Have
Existing relationships with CRE brokers, sustainability consultants, or property managers in Lumen’s key markets (IL, NJ, NY, MA, MD, CA).
Experience with adjacent platforms in ESG, proptech, or sustainability (Watershed, Audette, GRESB, Measurabl, etc.).
Background in solar, clean energy, onsite energy, or proptech.
Experience building co-marketing programs with channel partners: landing pages, co-branded assets, joint events.
Working knowledge of HubSpot, data enrichment tools, and deal attribution practices.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary: determined by experience and location
Variable compensation: Uncapped commission on channel pipeline sourced. On-target variable earnings of $130K–$200K, with significant upside. At 20% above quota, total variable exceeds $325K. Commission earned on deals sales team closes that you source through partner channel.
Equity: Meaningful equity in a Lowercarbon-backed company at an inflection point
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
401(k)
Flexible PTO
Remote-friendly with optional Bay Area hub
Professional development budget
Equipment and home office stipend
Why Lumen
Mission with urgency. Every rooftop we convert accelerates decarbonization at scale. You’ll build the channel that makes commercial onsite energy obvious and inevitable.
High ownership. This is a build role. Design the program, run the plays, and see the results directly.
Exceptional team. Builders from Google X, Arcadia, Stripe, and top CRE and finance firms. Fast-moving, clear-thinking, low on hierarchy.
Competitive compensation. Competitive base, uncapped variable tied to your outcomes, equity, and full benefits.
How to Apply
Send a resume and a brief note about why you’re excited about this role. We’re especially interested in:
A channel or referral partner program you’ve built from scratch — who you recruited, how you structured it, and the pipeline impact it produced
Your experience in or adjacent to commercial real estate, energy, sustainability, or a similarly relationship-driven B2B sale
Lumen Energy is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diverse perspectives and are committed to building an inclusive workplace. US work authorization required. We are unable to sponsor H1B visas at this time.
