Head of AI Startups, EMEA

Stripe; Stockholms kommun; On-site; SEK 2,803,000 - 4,205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Sales commissions/bonuses

Retirement plans

Health benefits

Wellness stipends

Job summary

Stripe is seeking a Sales Manager for the EMEA Startup team to lead Account Executives and expand Stripe’s footprint with AI-native European customers. You will drive growth across payments, billing, and related products while developing consultative sales strategies.

You will coach the team, collaborate with Product, Marketing, and User Operations to align roadmaps with AI monetization needs, and build deep knowledge of AI industry dynamics. 8+ years in SaaS leadership required.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of sales leadership experience launching and growing teams/products.
• 10+ years in hyper-growth SaaS or tech environments.
• Proven ability to manage existing/growth customer portfolios and drive revenue expansion.
• Self-starter with minimal supervision who can deliver results.
• Ability to understand complex technical requirements and craft multi-stakeholder solutions.
• Deep understanding of AI industry dynamics, business models, and monetization strategies (usage-based pricing, API-first distribution, agentic commerce).
• Strong product acumen to learn and articulate complex product capabilities and connect them to user needs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, with strong in-person presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale the AI GTM team across Europe, expanding AI accounts and driving revenue growth.
• Develop consultative, solution-based sales strategies and mentor Account Executives.
• Collaborate with Product, Marketing, Product Marketing and User Operations to execute go-to-market plans.
• Drive revenue, improve product attach rates, and grow existing clients.
• Influence product roadmap through close internal and customer collaboration.
• Serve as a Stripe product expert for AI-native business models (usage-based billing, embedded finance, etc.).
• Build relationships with customer executives (CEO, CFO, CTO) and act as a trusted advisor.

Skills

Sales leadership

SaaS sales

Enterprise sales

Strategic account management

Negotiation

AI industry knowledge

Product knowledge

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

APIs

Webhooks

Developer tools

Job description

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career.

Who we are

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career.

About The Team

Stripe is building the economic engine for AI – and it’s working. Today, 88% of the Forbes AI 50 are building on Stripe (and most of the remaining 12% are pre-monetization).

The AI GTM team is focused on helping AI-native businesses monetize and scale. We're in a unique position—partnering with the world's most ambitious AI companies (like OpenAI, Anthropic, ElevenLabs, and NVIDIA) to help them grow. This is one of the fastest growing parts of the business, and we need more great people to help us continue to accelerate.

What you'll do

As a Sales Manager on the EMEA Startup team at Stripe, you will leverage your sales leadership and product expertise to drive growth through existing strategic AI customers. Reporting to the Regional Sales Lead for Startups, you will lead a team of Account Executives responsible for expanding Stripe's relationship with some of the most important European AI companies in the world—across payments, billing, and beyond.

You will be instrumental in leading in-depth product discussions with customers, developing consultative and solution-based sales strategies, and building deep knowledge of the AI industry and its unique monetization challenges. You will collaborate closely with Product, Marketing, Product Marketing, and User Operations teams to develop and execute against our go-to-market strategy.

Responsibilities

• Develop the long-term vision for a growing AI GTM team and scale day-to-day operations.
• Lead and manage a team of Account Executives managing existing AI accounts (driving revenue expansion, product attach, and retention) and looking for new business opportunities. Establish strategic plans and objectives to drive growth across the AI GTM business line, guiding execution to KPIs.
• Build and develop a high-performing team, fostering a strong culture of energized and engaged Stripes while investing in the growth and development of your team. Coach and guide the team in developing consultative and solution-based sales skills throughout the sales cycle.
• Be accountable for driving revenue, increasing product attach rates, and growing existing clients at high rates.
• Engage with Product, Marketing, and User Operations teams to influence our product roadmap (you are on the frontier!) and accelerate our growth trajectory for our AI industry users.
• Serve as both an internal and customer-facing expert on Stripe's products, particularly as they apply to AI-native business models (usage-based billing, marketplace payments, embedded finance, agentic commerce).
• Build strong relationships with customer executives (CEO, CFO, CTO) and serve as a trusted advisor on how Stripe can support their growth.
• Create best practices and improve the business and customer engagement model.

Who you are

Sales leader: You are an adept sales leader, capable of engaging in business-level and technical conversations at multiple levels of the organization. You see value in competitive situations and enjoy working on products that require both deep product understanding and technical knowledge, especially for AI industry users.

People developer: You are a strong people leader who builds high-performing teams through coaching, accountability, and culture. You're as comfortable working with clients as with internal stakeholders (including executives) and are excited to become an expert and share your knowledge. You possess an organized, self-starter mindset and excellent communication skills, with a track record for improving the processes and organizations around you.

AI enthusiast: You have deep context in the AI industry and are energized by keeping up with new developments in the space. You bring a user-first mindset— you approach every customer interaction as a consultative partner rather than a transactional seller.

Technically curious: You understand APIs, webhooks, and modern developer tools—and you can hold credible conversations with engineering leaders about how Stripe's infrastructure fits into their stack.

Minimum Requirements

• 8+ years of sales leadership experience, launching and growing high-functioning sales teams/products.
• 10+ years of experience in hyper-growth SaaS or technology environments
• Demonstrated success managing existing/growth customer portfolios and driving revenue expansion.
• Proven ability to be a self-starter, capable of driving business results without significant supervision.
• Ability to understand complex technical requirements and craft solutions across multiple stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of AI industry dynamics, business models, and monetization strategies (usage-based pricing, API-first distribution, agentic commerce).
• Strong product acumen—ability to learn and articulate complex product capabilities, understand how they work technically, and connect them to user needs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including strong presentation skills for in-person meetings with multiple stakeholders.
• An enthusiastic "roll up your sleeves" mentality.
• Proven ability to lead complex negotiations involving bespoke agreements with commercial and enterprise businesses.

Preferred Qualifications

• Industry experience in payments, financial infrastructure, developer tools, or AI/ML platforms.
• Existing relationships within the AI ecosystem (AI labs, AI-native SaaS companies, developer platforms).
• Experience selling complex platform solutions involving multiple products.
• Prior experience at a growth-stage software company or a leading payments/fintech company.
• Familiarity with Stripe's product suite and how AI companies leverage financial infrastructure to scale.

In-office expectations

Office-assigned Stripes in most of our locations are currently expected to spend at least 50% of the time in a given month in their local office or with users. This expectation may vary depending on role, team and location. For example, Stripes in Stripe Delivery Center roles in Mexico City, Mexico, Bengaluru, India, and Dublin, Ireland work 100% from the office. Also, some teams have greater in-office attendance requirements, to appropriately support our users and workflows, which the hiring manager will discuss. This approach helps strike a balance between bringing people together for in-person collaboration and learning from each other, while supporting flexibility when possible.

Pay and benefits

The annual salary range for this role in the primary location is €252,000 - €378,000. This range may change if you are hired in another location. For sales roles, the range provided is the role’s On Target Earnings (“OTE”) range, meaning that the range includes both the sales commissions/sales bonuses target and annual base salary for the role. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Stripe and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors, including the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and specific location. Applicants interested in this role and who are not located in the primary location may request the annual salary range for their location during the interview process.

Specific benefits and details about what compensation is included in the salary range listed above will vary depending on the applicant’s location and can be discussed in more detail during the interview process. Benefits/additional compensation for this role may include: equity, company bonus or sales commissions/bonuses; retirement plans; health benefits; and wellness stipends.

We look forward to hearing from you.

At Stripe, we're looking for people with passion, grit, and integrity. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. Your skills and passion will stand out—and set you apart—especially if your career has taken some extraordinary twists and turns. At Stripe, we welcome diverse perspectives and people who think rigorously and aren't afraid to challenge assumptions. Join us.

Please find our EU applicant personal information notice here.