Founding Account Executive
At a glance
Mid-level Account Executive role at Zania. San Francisco · full-time.
Pay not stated
Growth Roles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Run enterprise deals end to end, from outbound outreach and discovery through demonstrations, negotiation, and close
- Research target accounts, launch outbound campaigns, and create your own enterprise prospect pipeline
- Work with the founders to sharpen the ideal customer profile, test messaging, and document the sales playbook
- Coordinate complex purchases involving GRC leaders, CISOs, and IT procurement teams
- Turn customer problems into useful product direction for Product and Engineering
What you bring
- At least five years selling B2B SaaS, including successful end-to-end closes of six-figure enterprise deals
- A demonstrated ability to build pipeline independently through outbound prospecting rather than depending mainly on inbound leads
- A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
- Strong written and spoken communication for explaining complex AI ideas credibly to multiple enterprise stakeholders
Who this fits
This suits a self-directed enterprise seller who enjoys creating pipeline, shaping an early sales process, and working through ambiguity with founders. You'll work in person five days a week in Palo Alto, or need to relocate there. The role focuses on individual contribution across the full sales cycle, with immigration and relocation support stated.
From the employer
Founding Account Executive
Why Zania Every enterprise spends millions of dollars on Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). It's one of the most critical, yet universally painful, parts of running a business. For decades, this industry has been dominated by legacy systems with notoriously low NPS scores, making it totally ripe for disruption.
Zania is building agentic AI for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) to solve this massive problem. We are on a rocketship trajectory, creating intelligent agents that automate and augment the most complex risk and compliance workflows. We have found exceptional product-market fit and are scaling our team very quickly. Some reasons to join Zania are:
Dream Customers: Our customers are the most notable enterprises in the world, including FAANG, Big 4 firms and a portfolio of top customers.
Tier 1 Backing: Funded by a leading Tier 1 venture capital fund, giving us the resources to build a generational company.
World-Class Team: Zania is hiring the best. Our team includes AI and Security leaders from Airbnb, Microsoft, Bain & Company, Deloitte, PwC, Brex, and Instacart.
Pioneering Technology: Our engineers and GRC experts work at the absolute forefront of applied AI, building the next generation of agentic systems that will define the future of compliance.
Hyper-Growth: We have seen 10x ARR growth in the last year and are rapidly expanding.
Competitive Compensation & Equity.
Role Overview As our Founding Account Executive, you will be the driving force behind our early revenue engine. You will work directly with the founders to transition from founder-led sales to a scalable Go-To-Market motion. This is a true 0-to-1 role: you won't be handed a neatly packaged pipeline. You will be responsible for full-cycle sales—from hunting and generating your own leads to navigating complex enterprise procurement processes and closing six-figure deals. If you are a builder who thrives on the thrill of the hunt and wants to shape the sales playbook of an AI rocketship, this is for you.
What You'll Do
Drive Full-Cycle Sales: Own the entire sales process from outbound prospecting and lead generation to discovery, demo, negotiation, and closing.
Generate Your Own Pipeline: Act as your own SDR by researching target accounts, executing outbound campaigns, and building a robust pipeline of enterprise prospects.
Define the Playbook: Partner with the founders to refine our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), test different messaging, and build the foundational sales playbook for future hires.
Navigate Complex Deals: Manage multi-stakeholder enterprise deals involving GRC leaders, CISOs, and IT procurement teams.
Voice of the Customer: Act as a critical feedback loop to our Product and Engineering teams, translating customer pain points into actionable product insights.
What You Have
Experience: 5+ years of B2B SaaS sales experience, with a proven track record of closing complex, six-figure enterprise deals.
Hunter Mentality: Demonstrated success in generating your own leads and building pipeline from scratch without relying heavily on inbound marketing.
Domain Knowledge: Previous experience selling into Security, Compliance, Risk, or AI domains is a massive plus.
Startup DNA: Comfortable operating in a highly ambiguous, fast-paced Series A environment where you must build the parachute on the way down.
Location: Based in (or willing to relocate to) Palo Alto, working in-person with the team five days a week.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
5+ years of B2B SaaS sales experience, with a demonstrated track record of closing six-figure enterprise deals end-to-end
Proven ability to independently generate pipeline through outbound prospecting — not solely reliant on inbound leads
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — you will navigate multi-stakeholder enterprise deals with GRC leaders, CISOs, and IT procurement teams and must articulate complex AI concepts with credibility
Compensation And Benefits
Flexible PTO policy.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
Meals and snacks in the office
Relocation and immigration support
Zania is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.
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