Paula Bejarano

Commercial and operational executive with 17+ years serving in first-of-kind deep-tech businesses across autonomous vehicles, electrification, and mobility. Consistently placed in roles with full business accountability — P&L ownership, multi-function org leadership, and direct CEO reporting. Track record of building businesses from zero to scale: designing go-to-market strategies, closing enterprise partnerships, navigating federal regulation, and leading cross-functional teams for Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups.

SVP Business Development & Sales – HOLON Autonomous Vehicle (AV) at BENTELER MOBILITY (2024-05 – Present)

• Responsible for the US business unit — owned P&L and oversaw commercial, operational, policy, and marketing functions, reporting directly to the CEO
• Generated $350M pipeline across a 2–5 year deal cycle representing 1,000+ vehicles; closed strategic partnerships with global transportation companies including Lyft and Transdev —negotiated complex pilot and commercial agreements
• Built and aligned high-performing, cross-functional teams (13 people across 3 regions – US, Europe, GCC)
• Owned federal regulatory strategy: led Washington DC lobbying efforts to secure commercial deployment approvals, and policy changes, navigating U.S. DoT and NHTSA stakeholders
• Leveraged deep industry senior relationships across OEMs, Transport Network Companies, and L4 self-driving system providers to unlock strategic opportunities, accelerate deal cycles, and secure early revenue

Director of Business Development – Autonomous Vehicles & E-Mobility at NAVISTAR – TRATON (VW COMMERCIAL ARM) (2022-04 – 2024-05)

• Managed commercial operations of ~$1B Autonomous Truck Program by overseeing relationship with Autonomous Driving Software (ADS) provider, logistics customers, and Traton R&D (homologation/ARBV)
• Negotiated 5-year Joint Development Agreement including L4 production requirements, pricing, milestones, operational RASIC, and fleet customer engagement
• Realized go-to-market strategy including customer segmentation, voice of customer (11 fleets) with carriers/shippers, ODD expansion plan and business model to accelerate commercial piloting and adoption
• Built financial model to analyze capex, opex, ROI, revenue, and profit margin for a 10-year roadmap
• Led EV Charging Strategy team of 10+ cross-functional individuals, working on charging depot RFPs, signing HW/SW partnerships and testing new revenue streams (to increase International BEVs >20K by 2030)

Senior Business Development Manager – B2B SaaS Startup for Fleets at ANDGO BY GOODYEAR (2020-01 – 2022-04)

• Negotiated $1M ARR contract with electric OEM, Rivian, for passenger & light commercial vehicles
• Signed deal with EV ridesharing fleet ($30K MRR) to service 100 Tesla Model Ys in NYC
• Led team of 5 people for lead generation, opportunity development & customer success functions
• Achieved 50% MoM growth in new services with nationwide vehicle rental company
• Managed $150K electrification Proof-of-Concept, installing L2 chargers at retail stores for car-sharing fleet

Autonomous Vehicles & Electrification at INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT (2019-07 – 2019-12)

• Consulted on go-to-market strategy to electric charging startup focused on e-fleet load balancing SW product
• Advised in-vehicle human expression recognition software startup on product roadmap plan & fundraising
• Provided expertise to setup $100M corporate venture capital fund including thesis, deal-flow sourcing

Business Operations Manager – Electric charging software startup at THE MOBILITY HOUSE (2019-01 – 2019-06)

• Enabled end-to-end fleet electrification journey from use case energy modeling, interoperability testing, EVSE selection/installation/operation to infrastructure optimization by leveraging proprietary CMS SaaS offering
• Performed business development tasks including lead generation via conferences, trade exhibitions, and technology demos, along with lead management in Salesforce's Customer Relationships Management platform

Investment Associate – Autonomous & Electric Vehicles Investments at HEMI VENTURES (2018-07 – 2018-10)

• Delivered due diligence of new B2B SaaS opportunities to inform 6 Investment Committee go/no-go decisions
• Aggregated portfolio companies fundraising, valuation, and exit data for venture capital reports (Pitchbook)

Global Supply Manager – Model 3 Program Capex Team at TESLA MOTORS (2017-05 – 2017-08)

• Led the requirement specification, design, and sourcing of components for battery charging system of Autonomous Guided Vehicles for General Assembly area. Negotiated contract pricing down by 20%
• Supported the Autopilot, manufacturing engineering, electrical and robotics teams to build/install computer vision cameras in Model 3 production line. Sourced hardware, drew RFQs, and interfaced daily with Tier-1 suppliers

Technical Program Manager – Offshore Hardware Deployment at ROYAL DUTCH SHELL (2010-04 – 2016-07)

• Managed the product lifecycle of equipment including design, testing, manufacturing, deployment ($11m in capex)
• Led cross-functional engineering teams of 5-15 in size in onshore/offshore drilling rigs
• Coordinated teams across operational units in Stavanger (Norway), Aberdeen (UK), and Assen (Netherlands)

Space Satellite Systems Engineer – European Space Agency Missions at NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE OF APPLIED SCIENCE (TNO) (2008-01 – 2010-04)

• Coordinated the testing/verification of high-precision optical systems for the GAIA Satellite (launched in 2013)
• Verified satellite sub-assembly mechanical and stress design using ProE CAD modeling

Human Space Flight Program Co-op – United Space Alliance at NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) (2004-01 – 2005-05)

• Directed manufacturing process improvement for Space Shuttle's thermal protection system
• Performed predictive testing on Ground Support Equipment (motors, high pressure pumps, and cranes)

Deal Flow Analyst at KLUZ VENTURES (2018-01 – 2018-05)

• Sourced a pipeline of 50+ early-stage startups, advancing 5+ high-potential deals to the due diligence stage

Investment Team Analyst at NEXTGEN VENTURES PARTNERS (2017-08 – 2017-12)

• Analyzed market landscape and industry trends in 4 verticals to build investment hypothesis for senior leadership

Financial Analyst at 1776 VENTURES (2017-01 – 2017-05)

• Tracked KPIs of 35 seed-stage portfolio companies including MRR/fundraising/cap table

Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship Concentration – GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, McDonough School of Business (2018-05)

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering – NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, School of Graduate Engineering (2007-05)

Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering – UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA, College of Engineering (2005-05)