Enterprise Account Executive

IBM; Perth; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM in Perth seeks an experienced enterprise sales professional to acquire new enterprise customers across Western Australia and build executive and technical relationships to advance data and AI initiatives. You will operate across IBM, Confluent, and partners to turn opportunities into outcomes and lay a foundation for long-term growth.

In this role you will own the full sales cycle—from first engagement through solution design, business case, negotiation, and close—while aligning data

Qualifications

• A track record of success in quota-carrying sales within enterprise or strategic accounts.
• Proven ability to generate pipeline and advance opportunities from first contact to close.
• Experience leading complex multi-stakeholder sales cycles with senior executives and technical teams.
• Consultative, value-based selling connecting data, cloud, and AI to outcomes.
• Strong territory planning, forecasting, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Experience selling SaaS, cloud, data infrastructure, or enterprise tech solutions.
• Familiarity with Kafka, data streaming, event-driven architectures, or distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an acquisition plan for your territory to win new enterprise customers.
• Build pipeline through proactive prospecting and executive outreach with IBM/Confluent partners.
• Identify organisations aligned with Confluent’s data streaming platform and AI priorities.
• Own full sales cycle—from first engagement to close with business case development and negotiation.
• Build executive, business, architecture, engineering, and developer relationships to drive outcomes.
• Collaborate with Solutions Engineering, IBM Consulting, Customer Success, and partners to create strong customer experience.
• Lead opportunity strategy, maintain CRM forecasts, and communicate progress and risks.
• Develop land strategy for new customers and ensure smooth adoption and growth.
• Represent IBM and Confluent credibly in engagements; travel within Western Australia and beyond as needed.

Job description

Now part of IBM, Confluent brings its data streaming platform—built on Apache Kafka and Apache Flink—into IBM’s broader data and AI strategy. Together, IBM and Confluent help organisations connect, process, and govern trusted, real-time data across hybrid environments, giving AI models, agents, and applications the current context they need to operate at scale.

Based in Perth, you’ll focus on acquiring new enterprise customers across Western Australia. You’ll create opportunities, build executive and technical relationships, and show how real-time data streaming can help customers advance their data and AI ambitions. Working across IBM, Confluent, and the partner ecosystem, you’ll help turn those opportunities into customer outcomes and a foundation for long-term growth.

Your role and responsibilities

• Develop and execute an acquisition plan for your assigned territory, prioritising high-potential organisations and creating a clear path to net-new customer wins.
• Build pipeline through proactive prospecting, customer and market research, executive outreach, and collaboration with IBM, channel, and technology partners.
• Identify organisations whose data, application modernisation, and AI priorities align with Confluent’s data streaming platform.
• Own the full sales cycle—from first engagement and discovery through solution design, business case development, negotiation, and close.
• Build relationships across executive, business, architecture, engineering, and developer communities; connect technical capabilities to strategic priorities and measurable business outcomes.
• Partner with Solutions Engineering, IBM Consulting, Customer Success, Professional Services, Marketing, and the broader partner ecosystem to develop compelling solutions and create a strong customer experience.
• Lead opportunity strategy and qualification, maintain accurate CRM records and forecasts, and communicate progress and risks clearly throughout the deal cycle.
• Build a thoughtful land strategy for each new customer, setting up a smooth transition and future opportunities for adoption and growth.
• Represent IBM and Confluent with credibility in customer and partner engagements; travel within Western Australia and elsewhere as business needs require.
• Willingness to travel for customer and partner engagements as needed.We ha

Required technical and professional expertise

• A track record of success in quota-carrying sales, with experience winning new customers in enterprise or strategic accounts.
• Demonstrated ability to generate pipeline through proactive prospecting and develop opportunities from first contact to close.
• Experience leading complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles and building relationships with both senior executives and technical teams.
• A consultative, value-based selling approach, with the ability to connect data, cloud, and AI capabilities to business outcomes.
• Strong territory planning, account research, opportunity qualification, forecasting, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Experience selling SaaS, cloud, data infrastructure, integration, analytics, or other enterprise technology solutions.
• Familiarity with Apache Kafka, data streaming, stream processing, event-driven architectures, or distributed systems.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with IBM and Confluent colleagues, systems integrators, cloud providers, and other partners.
• Familiarity with structured sales methodologies such as MEDDPICC is an advantage.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Integration Agreement Knowledge: Deep understanding of integration agreements and their associated incentive plans, including terms and conditions, to inform management and oversight of the unique incentive plan.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Experience working with various stakeholders to ensure compliance and effective execution of incentive plans, driving seamless execution and communication.
• Incentive Plan Optimization: Deep expertise in optimizing incentive plans to achieve business objectives, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and strategic priorities.

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.