Account Executive

Formal; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% medical, dental & vision insurance

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Formal is hiring an Account Executive to generate leads and develop go-to-market strategies in San Francisco. The ideal candidate has over five years in sales, preferably in early-stage startups, with a strong ability to engage in technical discussions regarding data security products. Responsibilities include managing leads and collaborating with teams for customer satisfaction. The position includes competitive compensation, including stock options, and 100% healthcare coverage.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in a Sales role at an early-stage startup.
• Ability to understand technical conversations with security teams.
• Experience in driving product adoption and client retention.

Responsibilities

• Generate leads through cold calling, research, and networking.
• Manage and convert inbound leads.
• Implement full sales cycle strategies.

Skills

Sales experience

Understanding of technical ecosystems

Communication skills

Analytical ability

Tools

CRM tools

Job description

About Formal

Formal is a data security platform designed to help teams understand and control their data on autopilot.

We're building a modern protocol‑aware reverse‑proxy for datastores and APIs that helps organizations understand their data in real‑time. This allows teams to see how sensitive data is stored, consumed, and used in order to enforce least privilege through masking, filtering, or anonymization policies.

We are trusted by leading companies such as Ramp, Gusto, and Notion to solve problems across data security and compliance, data quality management, and infrastructure access.

Formal is backed by top‑tier VCs including Thrive Capital and Y Combinator, with angel investors that include executives and founders from Datadog, Clickhouse, Plaid, and Vanta.

About The Role

We're looking for account executives who want to roll up their sleeves and help close deals and develop our go‑to‑market motion. You’ll need to iterate on positioning, lead generation, and closing processes, and develop our GTM strategy to close key customer accounts as we build the sales process.

What You’ll Do

• Generate leads through cold calling, research, networking, and driving your territory
• Manage and convert inbound leads to drive revenue growth
• Develop and implement full sales cycle strategies for driving product adoption, net new product sales, and client retention at scale among existing Formal customers
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure customer satisfaction and successful onboarding
• Track and report on sales performance metrics
• Gather client feedback to inform product improvements and enhancements
• Chat with potential customers, understand their business challenges, and explain how Formal can help them protect their sensitive data

What You Need

• 5+ years of experience in a Sales role at an early‑stage startup (seed to Series B) with a technical product
• Ability to understand complex technical ecosystems and build great relationships with technical customers
• Drive and willingness to go deep on our product to carry a technical conversation with security teams
• Analytical ability to manage complex sales cycles
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work well within a team

Nice‑to‑Haves

• Experience in a fast, high‑growth startup environment
• Experience using tools like Temporal and Render
• Extensive knowledge of datastore protocols (Postgres, S3, Kafka)
• Familiarity with cloud computing platforms such as AWS or GCP
• Fastidious approach to CRM hygiene and experience utilizing thorough sales forecasting metrics on a weekly/quarterly basis and communicating them in a succinct manner

Compensation

• This role offers cash compensation and a stock options grant.
• The positioning of offers within a certain range depends on various factors, including candidate experience, qualifications, skills, business requirements, and geographical location.

Benefits (for U.S.-based full‑time employees)

• 100% medical, dental & vision insurance coverage for you
  • Partially covered for your dependents
• Flexible PTO