Automation Advisor - Public Sector

Tennant Company•Plymouth, MN

6d•$104,000 - $156,000•Remote

About The Position

The Public Sector Automation Advisor is a strategic commercial leader and government-market expert responsible for setting strategy and developing autonomous cleaning opportunities across K-12 and higher education, Federal civilian agencies, state and local government, and the Department of Defense. The role combines enterprise automation selling with deep knowledge of public budgeting, acquisition, contracts, and stakeholder alignment. The Public Sector Automation Advisor will build Tennant Robotics into a trusted automation partner across education and government by creating a procurement-native, repeatable public-sector growth motion.

Requirements

Minimum 7 years of complex B2B sales or business-development experience involving public entities, regulated procurement, or capital equipment.
Demonstrated ability to navigate multi-stakeholder opportunities, formal acquisition processes, and long sales cycles.
Strong consultative discovery, executive communication, account planning, and commercial judgment.
Ability to travel at least 25% nationally for customer development, field enablement, evaluations, and industry events.
Government-market fluency and procurement judgment.
Ability to convert complexity into practical field direction.
Executive credibility, constructive candor, and disciplined opportunity management.
Operational curiosity and sufficient technical credibility to guide evaluations without overstating expertise.

Nice To Haves

SLED, Federal, DoD, education, public infrastructure, or government-contracting background.
Experience selling capital equipment, facilities solutions, technology, security, automation, or operational services to public entities.
Working knowledge of cooperative purchasing, schedules, state contracts, solicitations, bids, RFPs, and public budgeting.
Existing relationships with public-sector buyers, contract partners, integrators, distributors, or prime contractors.

Responsibilities

Define the national public-sector robotics strategy, priorities, target accounts, and routes to market.
Help local sales teams navigate government and education buying structures, contract vehicles, funding cycles, bids, and formal procurement requirements.
Develop agency, system, campus, installation, and multi-site opportunities that can scale beyond a single facility.
Build and maintain a focused portfolio of high-potential targets, including new customers, existing Tennant customers not yet using robotics, and installed-base expansion opportunities.
Research target organizations, stakeholders, operating environments, business priorities, and automation maturity.
Create informed outreach and account-based pursuit strategies with field sales, strategic accounts, channel partners, Marketing, and leadership.
Understand the customer's cleaning operation, labor model, workflow, facility conditions, performance, requirements, and business objectives.
Evaluate automation fit, identify readiness risks, and translate customer challenges into clear use cases and measurable outcomes.
Design the evaluation pathway, including site assessments, demonstrations, testing, pilots, success criteria, and multi-site validation.
Translate capabilities into operational and financial value, including labor optimization, consistency, safety, data visibility, service support, and scalability.
Develop credible ROI assumptions and adapt the value proposition for operations, facilities, procurement, finance, IT, security, and executive stakeholders.
Position automation as a long-term operating capability rather than a stand-alone equipment purchase.
Serve as commercial quarterback when designated, maintaining the opportunity strategy, stakeholder map, risks, next actions, and path to decision.
Coordinate account teams, technical resources, Customer Success, Service, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Pricing, and executive sponsors.
Maintain accurate CRM information and provide a reality-based view of timing, customer commitment, deployment readiness, and deal risk.
Map buying groups and influencers, including facilities, public works, education operations, procurement, contracting, finance, IT/security, sustainability, and executive leadership.
Identify viable purchasing pathways and coordinate with Tennant legal, contracts, pricing, strategic accounts, and channel resources.
Create directive training and practical pursuit guides for local teams covering prospecting, qualification, contracting pathways, stakeholder mapping, and opportunity advancement.
Represent Tennant Robotics with government agencies, education systems, public-sector associations, partners, and industry forums.