Job description
SolarAPP is cutting the costs of the clean energy transition, making it so that everyone can afford to power their lives with clean energy. Our automated plan review and permitting software saves money by turning a weeks-long bureaucratic process into instant approval. We're already deployed in over 350 jurisdictions across 19 states, with more than 150,000 permits issued, representing over 1.2 GW of clean energy. We're growing fast to expand our impact, developing capabilities to conduct virtual inspections and adding more permit types. Join a team building tools that enable safe, automated, and instantaneous permitting and inspections for solar, storage, EV charging, and other clean energy technologies.
About the Role
As our Customer Success Manager, you'll manage the accounts in your portfolio (local governments) from onboarding through launch and into ongoing success. This is a hands-on, individual-contributor role with no direct reports: you're accountable for making each jurisdiction you serve, and the base of contractors who operate there, genuinely successful on SolarAPP+.
You'll manage your account portfolio, working independently with minimal day-to-day oversight and building trusted relationships with the local governments you support. Jurisdictions are your primary accounts, but you'll also support end-user adoption within them, driving contractors and installers who work in your jurisdictions to use the platform, both at initial launch and any time we roll out new product capabilities.
This role is intentionally flexible: like most account-management functions, balancing a portfolio at different lifecycle stages, your time will shift between a heavy new-account onboarding push and a heavy end-user activation and utilization, depending on where the business needs you most. Driving adoption of new product capabilities with both your accounts and their end users is a big and growing part of this job.
Who you'll report to: Stacie Varian, Senior Manager for Product Operations, who oversees jurisdiction and installer onboarding strategy, execution, and ongoing operational success for SolarAPP.
Who you'll work closely with: The SolarAPP Technical Support Specialist, who directly supports our contractors on projects they are submitting to SolarAPP+. Customer Support also reports to Stacie as part of Product Operations.
Our Go-to-Market team, which helps build and manage relationships with jurisdictions nationwide and works closely with onboarding to ensure a strong handoff, consistent engagement, and long-term success for every partner.
What You'll Do
Success in this role's department is measured by core metrics: portfolio utilization (permits submitted per live jurisdiction), time from launch to first permit submitted, opt-in rate for new product offerings, such as Virtual Inspections, and performance against predetermined metrics.
Independently Manage Assigned Portfolio Lifecycle
- Independently manage an active jurisdiction portfolio end-to-end: kickoff, onboarding, go-live, and ongoing success, executing the defined process and owning relationship health for every account in your book.
- Shift your focus as priorities evolve, whether that be jurisdiction-heavy one stretch, installer/utilization-heavy the next, without losing ownership of either.
Drive Jurisdictions to Go-Live and Unlock Installer Use
- Own the go-live launch for each jurisdiction, and treat go-live as the start of the relationship.
- Lead installer outreach as part of a jurisdiction going live, focused on getting installers onto the platform and through their first project.
- Hand off day-to-day installer questions to our Customer Support team once installers are up and running, if needed, so you stay focused on unlocking new usage rather than fielding tickets.
Drive Adoption of New Product Capabilities
- Drive account expansion within your portfolio: get fluent in the value proposition and talking points for each new release (Virtual Inspections, EV chargers, and others as we ship them), and proactively open conversations with the jurisdictions and installers you already manage, rather than waiting for clients opt-in.
- Within the pilot criteria and target segments GTM and Product Operations define for each rollout, identify which specific accounts in your portfolio are the best fit, and guide them from first conversation through live adoption.
- Treat every new capability as a reason to re-engage your existing relationships. Frequently go back to jurisdictions and installers you've already onboarded and make the case for why this next feature is worth adopting.
- Feed usage and adoption blockers back to Product and GTM, so both product design and future rollout strategy reflect what you're seeing in the field.
Build Trust and Manage the Relationship Proactively
- Check in proactively with jurisdictions throughout their lifecycle, and with installers specifically around go-live and new product rollouts.
- Anticipate blockers before they stall progress, and drive them to resolution.
Capture Feedback and Improve the Product
- Translate what you hear from jurisdictions and installers into structured, actionable product feedback.
- Flag patterns across your portfolio to help the team address root causes.
What You Bring
Essential
- Strong ownership mindset, self-directed, and comfortable driving outcomes with minimal oversight.
- 2-4 years in a customer success, account management, or client-facing implementation role, with a track record of owning outcomes for a portfolio of accounts.
- Proven ability to work independently and drive a process to completion with minimal oversight.
- Strong written and verbal communication, with the composure to navigate tense or high-stakes conversations professionally.
- Highly organized, with the judgment to prioritize across multiple accounts at different stages at once.
- Comfortable driving the adoption of new tools or workflows with external stakeholders.
- Confidence leading live walkthroughs, adapting in real time, and serving as a professional representative of SolarAPP+ in jurisdiction meetings.
Nice to Have
- Solar and/or permitting experience (residential solar preferred), or closely related experience in clean energy.
- Experience working directly with local government officials and contractors.
- Experience in mission-driven or fast-growing organizations.
- B2B Sales.
Compensation and Benefits
This is a full-time role with a competitive salary ranging from $74,000-$91,000, commensurate with experience.
We offer a competitive benefits package, including:
- Medical, dental, and vision.
- 401(k) with employer match.
- Employer-paid disability and life insurance.
- Unlimited paid time off (PTO).
- Parental leave.
- Monthly internet stipend.
- Work-from-home stipend.
Hiring Process
Application period: this role will remain open until filled.
Screening call (15 min):
A brief conversation covering your communication style and how you think about owning outcomes for an account.
Skills + scenario interview:
This round will focus on real-world scenarios in driving adoption and managing an account relationship - how you manage timelines, resolve blockers, and follow up consistently to keep momentum.
Final interview:
This conversation will focus on judgment under ambiguity and how you'd independently manage a portfolio of accounts.
Reference checks: required for final candidates.
Basic background check and signed agreement: after offer acceptance.
Pay & benefits
About this role
About SolarApp Foundation
Company Overview
SolarAPP Foundation, a nonprofit organization
HeadquartersSan Carlos, United States
Founded2019
SizeApproximately 50 employees ranged in recent years and estimated annual revenue of $1,882,210 (source: prospeo.io).
What They Do
SolarAPP Foundation operates SolarAPP+, an automated permitting platform designed specifically for residential rooftop solar and energy storage projects (source: gosolarapp.org). Originally developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and involvement from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the platform transitioned to the Foundation's management under a software license agreement in December 2024 (source: docs.nrel.gov). The core technology automates plan review and permitting by allowing licensed installers to input system specifications and instantly receive permits and inspection checklists for participating jurisdictions, effectively replacing manual code-review steps for qualifying systems (source: help.gosolarapp.org). The platform is offered free to jurisdictions, with the Foundation providing the permitting review tool and ongoing support infrastructure (source: gosolarapp.org). Rather than focusing on renewable energy generation, SolarAPP Foundation emphasizes permitting automation, code compliance screening, and workflow integration to streamline local government and contractor processes (source: gosolarapp.org). The system supports both residential solar and energy storage permitting, with recent pricing adjustments introducing an add-on fee for energy storage permits alongside the base solar permit product (source: help.gosolarapp.org). SolarAPP+ was developed collaboratively with local governments, solar installers, standards organizations, and industry partners such as Sunrun, Tesla, SunPower, Vivint, Mosaic, and the California Solar Energy Association, ensuring alignment with model building, electrical, and fire codes as well as national simplified permit guidelines (source: help.gosolarapp.org).
Projects & Track Record
SolarAPP+ has been deployed by over 300 local governments across the United States and is fully adopted in communities spanning 11 states (source: help.gosolarapp.org). Notable recent adoptions include Rockville, Maryland, which implemented the platform in September 2025 to automate residential rooftop solar permitting, enhancing plan review automation, code compliance, and reducing wait times for homeowners and installers (source: rockvillemd.gov). Similarly, Palm Beach County, Florida launched SolarAPP+ for its unincorporated areas in 2025, enabling instant self-issued permits through the county portal and streamlining the permitting process for residents (source: bocanewsnow.com). The platform has demonstrated significant operational impact, reducing permit processing times by an average of 14 business days and saving local permitting officials more than 15,400 hours of staff time in 2023 alone (source: help.gosolarapp.org). The transition of software development, management, and outreach from NREL to the SolarAPP Foundation was completed in December 2024, ensuring continuity through a period of parallel operations to maintain user experience and release schedules (source: docs.nrel.gov).
Recent Developments
In August 2024, SolarAPP Foundation announced a pricing adjustment for SolarAPP+, increasing the solar permit fee from $25 to $35 and introducing a $25 add-on fee for energy storage permits, reflecting the platform's evolution from a lab-originated tool to a nonprofit-managed service (source: help.gosolarapp.org). The formal transition of the platform's ownership from NREL to SolarAPP Foundation was finalized in December 2024 through a software license agreement, marking a significant milestone in operational independence (source: docs.nrel.gov). Throughout 2025, new government adopters such as Rockville, Maryland and Palm Beach County, Florida went live with the platform, expanding its reach and impact (source: rockvillemd.gov, bocanewsnow.com). In September 2026, release notes documented the migration of email addresses from nrel.gov to gosolarapp.org, further evidencing the platform's operational independence and the Foundation's ownership of the gosolarapp.org site (source: help.gosolarapp.org).
Working There
SolarAPP Foundation hires professionals across product management, engineering, customer support, code interpretation, and operational roles, reflecting the diverse expertise required to maintain and evolve the SolarAPP+ platform (source: linkedin.com). The organization maintains support and privacy contact functions, such as [email protected] and [email protected], indicating active customer-facing and compliance-related workflows (source: gosolarapp.org). Publicly available information highlights a mission-driven culture focused on collaboration with local governments and industry stakeholders to reduce permitting friction and accelerate clean energy adoption (source: gosolarapp.org). Leadership communications emphasize the Foundation's role in saving time for permitting officials and enabling communities to deploy more solar energy at scale, underscoring a strong commitment to impactful, community-oriented work (source: help.gosolarapp.org).
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