Activations Manager, Startups

Vercel Inc.; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 280,000 - 330,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Flexible time off

WFH budget

Job summary

Vercel is seeking a leader to build and grow the Startups Activations team. You will recruit former founders, developers, and early-career sellers, turning them into trusted advisers for technical founders.

You’ll design a high-velocity motion using outbound, signals, and partners to deploy startups on Vercel. You will coach relentlessly, set operating rhythms, and turn wins into scalable playbooks for the entire Startups org.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in SaaS sales or GTM, including 2+ years managing quota-carrying sellers.
• Proven record of hiring and developing early-career talent.
• Comfort speaking with technical founders about architecture and tradeoffs.
• Experience with AI-native development or AI tools is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Hire, onboard, and ramp a diverse team of early-stage sellers.
• Coach 1:1s, call reviews, and skill-building sessions.
• Design high-velocity activation motion using outbound and product signals.
• Be the voice of Vercel to startups, explaining infra and agent stack.
• Use AI and automation to expand team impact and repeat wins.
• Own activation, conversion, and bookings targets.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Product, Growth, RevOps.

Skills

SaaS sales

Quota management

Team leadership

Hiring experience

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Vercel is the agentic infrastructure company, freeing people and agents to ship what's next. For more than a decade we've helped builders move from idea to production with speed, security, and exceptional developer experience.

Now we're scaling our products for both agents and people to ship and run software, built in the open and trusted by OpenAI, PayPal, Ramp, Supreme, and millions of developers worldwide.

About the Role:

We're looking for a leader to build and grow the Startups Activations team. This team is the voice of Vercel to the earliest-stage startups, helping founders make great infrastructure decisions from day one and land on Vercel before they ever need to migrate.

You'll hire and develop up-and-coming talent from a wide range of backgrounds, including former founders, developers, and early-career sellers, and turn them into trusted advisors for technical founders. You'll build the machine: a high-velocity, repeatable motion that uses AI, automation, and product signals to reach thousands of early startups at the right moment. You'll set the operating rhythm, coach relentlessly, and turn what works into playbooks the rest of the Startups org can scale.

If you’re based within a pre-determined commuting distance of one of our offices (SF, NY, London, or Berlin), the role includes in-office anchor days on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. If you're located beyond that distance, the role is fully remote. For location-specific details, please connect with our recruiting team.

What You Will Do:

• Hire & Grow Talent: Recruit, onboard, and ramp a diverse team of former founders, developers, and early-career sellers. Build a bench that grows into future AEs and leaders across Vercel.
• Coach & Develop: Run 1:1s, call reviews, and skill-building sessions that turn new sellers into credible, technical advisors for founders.
• Build the Activation Machine: Design a high-velocity motion that combines outbound, product-led signals, community, and ecosystem partners (accelerators, VCs, AI tooling) to get early startups deployed on Vercel.
• Be the Voice of Vercel to Startups: Make sure every early founder understands how Vercel's platform and Agent Stack help them build, ship, and scale, and why starting here is the right infra decision.
• AI, Automation & Playbooks: Use AI and automation to multiply team impact, spot patterns in usage and signups, and turn winning plays into repeatable motions.
• Pipeline & Execution: Own activation, conversion, and bookings targets. Define the leading indicators that predict long-term customer growth and hold the team to them.
• Forecasting & Performance Management: Inspect pipeline health, own forecast accuracy, and manage performance against activity, conversion, and quota.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Marketing, Product, Growth, RevOps, Solutions Engineering, and the Greenfield and Install Base teams to make handoffs seamless as startups scale.

About You:

• 5+ years of experience in SaaS sales or startup go-to-market, including 2+ years managing quota-carrying sellers.
• A track record of hiring and developing early-career talent and people from non-traditional backgrounds into top performers.
• Experience building or running a high-velocity sales motion with volume, speed, and discipline.
• Comfort talking with technical founders about architecture and tradeoffs. You don't need to be an engineer, but you need credibility with engineers.
• Real curiosity about AI-native development and the tools shaping how startups build and ship.
• A builder's mindset: you like creating systems, not just running them, and you balance strategy with hands-on execution.
• A growth mindset, resilience, and strong shared ownership.

Bonus If You:

• Have been a founder, early-stage operator, or developer.
• Have built a team or motion from zero inside a high-growth company.
• Have experience with startup ecosystems: accelerators, VCs, founder communities, or developer communities.
• Have sold developer tools, infrastructure, or AI products to startups.
• Competitive compensation package, including equity.
• Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
• Flexible Time Off.
• We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.

The San Francisco, CA base pay range for this role is $280,000 - $330,000. Actual salary will be based on job-related skills, experience, and location. Compensation outside of San Francisco may be adjusted based on employee location. The total compensation package may include benefits, equity-based compensation, and eligibility for a company bonus or variable pay program depending on the role. Your recruiter can share more details during the hiring process.

• Equal Opportunity:Vercel is committed to fostering and empowering an inclusive community within our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Vercel encourages everyone to apply for our available positions, even if they don't necessarily check every box on the job description.

At Vercel, we value belonging and believe in fostering an environment where a diversity of perspectives can thrive. As part of this commitment, we invite you to voluntarily provide demographic information. Your responses will be used (in aggregate only) to help us better understand the diversity of our applicants and identify areas of improvement in our recruitment and hiring process. Your responses, or decision not to respond, will be kept confidential and will only be used in aggregate form for diversity and inclusion efforts. This information will not be associated with your specific application and will not be disclosed to the hiring team or used in the hiring decision in any way.
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