Commerical Account Executive

Kong; Milano; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc. is seeking an experienced Account Executive to drive new business in mid-market enterprise accounts in Italy. You will be the face of Kong for prospects, selling the Kong Konnect Platform and owning a robust book of business in a fast-growing startup environment.

The role offers uncapped commission, the chance to influence growth, and collaboration across pre-sales, channel partners, and customer success. Fluency in English and Italian is highly valued, with additional languages a plus.

Qualifications

• Direct sales experience selling enterprise software to mid-size to large customers.
• Experience with open source, APIs or infrastructure software is a plus.
• Strong negotiation, presentation and closing skills.
• Ability to build and manage a book of business and forecast accurately.

Responsibilities

• Sell Kong Konnect Platform as part of Commercial sales team.
• Meet or exceed quota, objectives and KPIs.
• Own your pipeline, document buying criteria and close deals.
• Collaborate with pre/post sales, channel partners, customer success and leadership.

Skills

Enterprise software sales

Open source experience

Negotiation & closing

Territory planning

English Italian fluency

Communication skills

Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence?

Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

About the Role:

We are looking for an experienced sales professional, ideally with open source experience who will be selling into mid market enterprise accounts. The ideal candidate has been a part of the sales efforts for other early-stage enterprise products in an entrepreneurial setting. The Account Executive will be integral to our growth plan and in acquiring new customers. Kong’s Account Executive will be the primary point of contact and the face of Kong for our prospects.

The role provides an opportunity to have real impact in a company scaling within a high-growth market plus uncapped commission and earnings potential.

Kong has the tech, the timing and the territory. Come and join our talented team!

What You’ll be doing:

• Sell Kong Konnect Platform as a member of Kong’s Commercial sales team.
• Meet and/or exceed individual quota, objectives and KPIs.
• Take ownership to build and manage your book of business, which includes understanding and documenting the buying criteria and process, determining the appropriate motion and patterns, ensuring pipeline accuracy based on evidence, and working the leads to closure.
• Collaborate and leverage an ecosystem of resources including pre sales, post sales, channel partners, customer success and leadership to promote Kong and drive new business.

What You’ll bring:

• A true desire to see customers benefit from the investment they make with Kong.
• Direct sales experience selling enterprise software to small to mid-size organisations ideally with open source, APIs, and/or infrastructure software.
• Effective communicator and strong interpersonal skills.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation and closing skills.
• Experience with fast growing startups is a plus.
• Strong background in territory planning and revenue generated from outbound pipeline.
• You have a measurable track record in new business development and over achieving sales targets.
• Knowledge of MEDDIC and Challenger methodologies is a plus.
• Fluent English and Italian, Spanish and/or French is a big plus

Preferred:

• A top performer with experience hunting and closing net new logos.
• Experienced with creatively sourcing companies outside of your CRM.
• Structured approach to sales and pipeline generation
• You have previously worked in an early-stage company and you know how to navigate and be successful in a fast-growing organization.
• Motivated, collaborative, driven and results oriented.

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About Kong:

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com.