Commercial Associate

Encord; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & equity

Accelerated growth opportunities

4 days/week in-person culture

Daily team meals

Job summary

Encord is seeking a Commercial Associate to be an early commercial hire with ownership across the top and middle of the funnel. You’ll identify, engage, and convert the right customers as we scale, while building a long-term commercial career.

From day one you’ll think like a seller: prioritising accounts, crafting thoughtful outreach, and partnering with Account Executives to move opportunities forward. This role is a launchpad for future selling leadership within 12-18 months.

Qualifications

• 1-3 years of professional experience in a commercial, customer-facing, or high-performance role.
• Exposure to outbound prospecting, pipeline generation, or client engagement is strongly preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Evidence of discipline, resilience, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Identify, research, and prioritise high-potential accounts across Encord's core verticals and regions
• Develop strong points of view on who to target and why
• Execute thoughtful, multi-channel outbound (email, LinkedIn, calls, creative plays)
• Craft messaging that resonates with technical and commercial buyers
• Partner with Growth and Sales to test campaigns, refine targeting, and improve conversion
• Own outcomes, not just activity — quality opportunities matter more than volume
• Work directly with Account Executives to progress live opportunities
• Support discovery, demos, trials, and follow-ups
• Help shape business cases and stakeholder mapping
• Ensure a high-quality, consistent prospect experience
• Learn how complex, technical B2B deals actually get done

Skills

Outbound prospecting

Pipeline generation

Account-based outreach

Strong written and verbal comms

Job description

About us

We're solving AI's hardest problem: alignment.

Encord is the data layer for Physical AI and enterprise, serving as core infrastructure for 300+ of the world's leading AI teams, including Woven by Toyota, Hitachi, Skydio, AbbVie and Dyna, Walden and Agility Robotics. From autonomous vehicles and robotics to sports and healthcare, we're solving AI's hardest problem: turning complex, real-world data into production-ready intelligent systems.

We're a team of founders, scientists, quants, researchers, and former Olympians, who’ve helped build some of the most successful companies in Silicon Valley, and alumni of MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial. We've raised $110M from legendary technology investors, early backers of companies like Databricks, ElevenLabs and Vercel, and we're growing at an extraordinary pace.

We're looking for exceptional people who want to help build a category-defining company, operating with high-urgency and taking real ownership to help shape the future of AI.

The role

As a Commercial Associate at Encord, you'll be an early commercial hire with real ownership across the top and middle of the funnel. You'll help shape how we identify, engage, and convert the right customers as we scale — while building the foundations of a long-term commercial career.

You'll sit at the intersection of outbound strategy, customer discovery, and deal execution. From day one, you'll be expected to think like a seller: prioritising the right accounts, crafting thoughtful outreach, and partnering closely with Account Executives to move real opportunities forward.

This role is designed to identify future sellers early. We optimise for trajectory over polish. High performers typically progress into closing, leadership, or specialist roles (Sales, Solutions, Growth) within 12-18 months, often sooner.

What you'll do

• Identify, research, and prioritise high-potential accounts across Encord's core verticals and regions

• Develop strong points of view on who to target and why

• Execute thoughtful, multi-channel outbound (email, LinkedIn, calls, creative plays)

• Craft messaging that resonates with technical and commercial buyers

• Partner with Growth and Sales to test campaigns, refine targeting, and improve conversion

• Own outcomes, not just activity — quality opportunities matter more than volume

• Work directly with Account Executives to progress live opportunities

• Support discovery, demos, trials, and follow-ups

• Help shape business cases and stakeholder mapping

• Ensure a high-quality, consistent prospect experience

• Learn how complex, technical B2B deals actually get done

Who we're looking for

• You've consistently performed in the top percentile of what you've done — academically, professionally, or competitively

• You're motivated by ownership, learning, and long-term growth, not just title or short-term compensation

• You enjoy figuring out why something works, not just following a script

• You're comfortable operating with ambiguity and high expectations

• You can engage with technical concepts without losing sight of business outcomes

• You want to be part of building something — not just maintaining it

Experience requirements

• 1-3 years of professional experience in a commercial, customer-facing, or high-performance role

• Exposure to outbound prospecting, pipeline generation, or client engagement is strongly preferred

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Evidence of discipline, resilience, and continuous improvement

Why Encord

• Competitive salary, commission, and meaningful equity in a high-growth startup

• Clear, accelerated growth opportunities as the company scales rapidly

• Strong in-person culture: 4 days/week

• Daily team lunches & dinners

• Flexible PTO to fully recharge

• 18 paid vacation days in the U.S. plus federal holidays

• Annual learning & development budget

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage

• Frequent travel opportunities across the U.S., London, and Europe

• Bi-annual company offsites & monthly socials

Operating principles

High agency

You see something broken, you fix it or find the person who can. We celebrate the people who solve 90% of a problem before anyone asks.

Build with care & urgency

We bear-hug the customer. Former founders and people from fast-moving, high-stakes environments thrive here.

Self-aware & hungry

We stay warm, self-aware, and genuinely hungry. We elevate our peers, and ego doesn't last long.

Invent in real time

We move toward the ambiguity. We’re pragmatic, resourceful, energized by the fact that there's no playbook.

If you're looking to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who push you to be better, we'd love to meet you!