Founding Account Executive

StudyStash Limited; Sacramento (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Uncapped commission

Hybrid working

Founding sales hire path to leadership

Job summary

StudyStash Limited is seeking a Founding Account Executive to build our US higher education sales motion from the ground up. You will own the full sales cycle end-to-end and shape the playbook for success in the university market.

You’ll work closely with the CEO and product team, generate your own pipeline through proactive outbound to US university prospects, and develop leadership opportunities as the company scales.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in a full-cycle sales or AE role, Edtech or education sector preferred.
• Proven ability to build and manage a pipeline and hit targets.
• Comfortable prospecting, demoing, and closing without a large marketing engine.
• Organised, process-driven, and able to follow up over long sales cycles.

Responsibilities

• Closing new business (60%).
• Own the full sales cycle from outreach to close and implementation.
• Lead discovery calls and remote demos tailor-made for university stakeholders.
• Lead RFP responses and support pilot programs through to rollout.
• Sales support & process (25%).
• Build demo environments, manage CRM data in Apollo, contribute to materials.
• Shaping the motion (15%).
• Test approaches, learn fast, and help build a repeatable playbook.
• Provide market feedback to product and marketing.

Skills

Full-cycle sales

Pipeline development

Outbound prospecting

CRM data management

Remote collaboration

Stakeholder management

Tools

Apollo CRM

Job description

Reports to: CEO

Contract: Full-time, permanent

Travel: Regular travel across the territory, plus occasional national travel for conferences and customer meetings

About the role

StudyStash is looking for a Founding Account Executive to build our US higher education sales motion from the ground up. This is an early-stage role with real ownership: you'll help establish our sales process and playbook rather than inherit a finished one, generate your own pipeline, and own the full sales cycle end-to-end. You'll have the freedom, and the expectation, to develop and implement your own ideas about how StudyStash wins in the university market.

It's a role for someone energised by building. You'll work closely with the CEO and product team, with plenty of scope to make the role your own and a genuine path into leadership as we scale.

What you'll do

Closing new business (60%)

• Own the full sales cycle end-to-end, from first outreach through to close
• Generate your own pipeline through proactive outbound across US university prospects
• Book and lead discovery calls and remote demos, tailoring the pitch to Provosts, Student Success leaders, Centre for Teaching & Learning teams, instructional designers, faculty, librarians, procurement, and IT stakeholders
• Carry deals through to close and help customers to the point of implementation, rather than handing off immediately
• Lead RFP and procurement responses, and support pilot programmes through to institutional roll-out

Sales support & process (25%)

• Build compelling demo environments and evidence-based pitches
• Manage pipeline and opportunity data accurately in the CRM (Apollo)
• Contribute to marketing materials, proposals, and key deal communications

Shaping the motion (15%)

• Test approaches, learn fast, and help build the repeatable playbook
• Feed prospect and market intelligence back into product and marketing

What we are looking for

• Around 3+ years in a full-cycle sales or AE role, ideally in Edtech, higher ed, or the broader education sector
• A track record of carrying and hitting a sales target
• Comfortable prospecting, demoing, and closing without a large marketing engine behind you
• Comfortable with ambiguity: happy to test, learn, and iterate in an early-stage environment
• Organised and process-driven, with strong follow-up over a long sales cycle
• Builds relationships by asking questions and listening, and comfortable saying "I'll go find the answer"
• Confident presenter to mixed academic, technical, and commercial audiences
• Self-motivated, independent, and easy to work with remotely
• Happy as an individual contributor first, but keen to grow into leadership over time
• Based within commuting distance of Sacramento and comfortable with a hybrid pattern

What we offer

• Competitive base $100k-120k
• Uncapped commission on ARR closed (roughly 60/40 base-to-OTE split)
• Hybrid working (typically 3 days/week in the Sacramento office)
• The chance to be our founding sales hire in a fast-growing, AI-first, mission-driven Edtech company, with a real path to leadership as we scale