Account Executive — France

Arlq; Paris; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity stake

On-site central Paris

Job summary

Arlequin AI in Paris is hiring its first Account Executive to own and close new business across France. This on-site role focuses on strategic, high-value deals in security, defense, financial services and government sectors.

You will build a greenfield pipeline, navigate 9–12 month cycles, and manage deals from €100K up to €1M+ ARR. This is an early-stage environment with equity option and rapid GTM evolution.

Qualifications

• Experience selling in an AI-native startup environment
• Experience selling software or strategic services to security/defense/intelligence/financial services/media
• Comfortable selling complex products with emerging category
• Comfortable closing both strategic smaller deals and large enterprise/public-sector deals (€500K–€1M+ ARR)
• Able to work without a fully established playbook with evolving GTM

Responsibilities

• Own and close new business in the assigned territory
• Build pipeline in a largely greenfield environment, focusing on France
• Sell into public sector and private sector accounts, especially security/defense, financial services, strategic communications, intelligence-oriented teams, and audit or investigations teams
• Navigate complex deal cycles ranging from fast-moving opportunities to enterprise/public-sector cycles (9–12 months)
• Work on deal sizes from around €100K up to €500K, €1M+ ARR

Job description

Own and close new business across France for Arlequin AI

Full-time

Paris

About Arlequin

Arlequin is building the sovereign European alternative to Palantir: an AI platform capable of processing massive data volumes without bias, with high-impact use cases such as fighting disinformation. Founded in late 2024 by Hugo Micheron (researcher in geopolitics and systemic risk) and Antoine Jardin (CNRS research engineer).
~30 people, post-seed, Series A in progress. On-site in Paris.

Context

We are hiring our first Account Executives focused on expanding Arlequin AI in key European markets. This is an early-stage, high-impact role in a company that has built strong early momentum and is now preparing for its next stage of growth.

The company is selling an AI-native platform designed to help customers analyze massive structured, semi-structured, and unstructured datasets, extract meaningful patterns, and support high-stakes decision-making. Typical environments include security, defense, financial services, strategic communications, compliance, audit and investigations.

This is not a classic volume-sales role. We need people who can operate in ambiguous environments, sell complex solutions, and work credibly with customers on strategic, sensitive, and sometimes highly technical use cases.

What this person will do

Own and close new business in the assigned territory

Build pipeline in a largely greenfield environment, focusing on France

Sell into public sector and private sector accounts, especially security / defense, financial services, strategic communications, intelligence-oriented teams, and audit or investigation-oriented teams

Navigate complex deal cycles ranging from fast-moving opportunities to enterprise/public-sector cycles that can sometimes take 9–12 months

Work on deal sizes that may range from around €100K up to €500K, €1M+ ARR

Help shape go-to-market feedback loops in an early-stage company where product positioning, packaging, and targeting are still evolving

Ideal profile

We are likely looking for a senior enterprise seller who combines strong closing ability with startup adaptability. Candidates coming from consulting partner roles could be a good fit if they have experience specifically in the verticals we’re targeting.

Strong fit signals:

Experience selling in an AI-native startup environment

Or experience selling software or strategic services into security, defense, intelligence, financial services and media accounts

Comfortable selling complex products where the technology and category are still emerging

Comfortable closing both strategic smaller deals that open important accounts, and larger enterprise/public-sector deals in the €500K–€1M+ ARR range

Able to work without a fully established playbook, with limited historical sales data and an evolving GTM structure

We should consider candidates coming from a consulting background, especially if they have strong credibility in security, defense, public sector, financial services, or other complex enterprise environments, and can translate strategic problem-solving into commercial impact.

Likely customer personas

Depending on segment and country, the role may sell to:

Procurement teams in defense / interior / security environments

Police, intelligence, or investigation-related teams

Internal audit / compliance teams in financial services

Strategic communications teams monitoring external narratives and risks

What makes this role interesting

Early-stage company with a promising full first GTM year

Strong exposure to high-value, strategic use cases

Opportunity to join right after Series A (to be announced end of August / early September) and help define the commercial motion of your territory

Market tailwinds around sovereignty and European alternatives in sensitive sectors

Success expectations

Annual quota expected around €1.2M for year 1

Ability to generate and close pipeline in a new territory

Strong judgment on which opportunities are strategic vs. distracting

Process (~2 weeks)

Screening (15 min)

Fit interview (30 min)

Case / business discussion (1h)

Founder culture fit (45 min)

Reference calls

Offer

Package

Competitive compensation including equity stake

On-site central Paris