Founding Account Executive

Zania; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible PTO policy

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Meals and snacks in the office

Relocation and immigration support

Job summary

A leading AI firm in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Account Executive to spearhead sales efforts and drive revenue growth. This role involves full-cycle sales, including lead generation, negotiation, and closing high-value deals. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of B2B SaaS sales experience and a proven track record in complex sales environments. Competitive compensation, flexible PTO, and a dynamic work environment are offered.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in B2B SaaS sales with a proven track record.
• Ability to generate leads and build a pipeline independently.
• Experience in the Security, Compliance, or Risk domains is advantageous.
• Startup DNA; thrives in a fast-paced Series A environment with ambiguity.
• Location: Based in (or willing to relocate to) Palo Alto, in-person five days a week.

Responsibilities

• Drive the entire sales process from prospecting to closing.
• Generate your own pipeline through targeted research and campaigns.
• Refine the Ideal Customer Profile and construct a sales playbook.
• Manage complex multi-stakeholder enterprise deals.
• Provide customer feedback to Product and Engineering teams.

Skills

B2B SaaS sales experience

Lead generation

Complex deal negotiation

Domain knowledge in Security or Compliance

Relocation to Palo Alto

Job description

Why Zania

Every enterprise spends millions of dollars on Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). It's one of the most critical, yet universally painful, parts of running a business. For decades, this industry has been dominated by legacy systems with notoriously low NPS scores, making it totally ripe for disruption.

Zania is building agentic AI for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) to solve this massive problem. We are on a rocketship trajectory, creating intelligent agents that automate and augment the most complex risk and compliance workflows. We have found exceptional product‑market fit and are scaling our team very quickly. Some reasons to join Zania are:

• Dream Customers: Our customers are the most notable enterprises in the world, including FAANG, Big 4 firms and a portfolio of top customers.
• Tier 1 Backing: Funded by a leading Tier 1 venture capital fund, giving us the resources to build a generational company.
• World‑Class Team: Zania is hiring the best. Our team includes AI and Security leaders from Airbnb, Microsoft, Bain & Company, Deloitte, PwC, Brex, and Instacart.
• Pioneering Technology: Our engineers and GRC experts work at the absolute forefront of applied AI, building the next generation of agentic systems that will define the future of compliance.
• Hyper‑Growth: We have seen 10x ARR growth in the last year and are rapidly expanding.
• Competitive Compensation & Equity.

Role Overview

As our Founding Account Executive, you will be the driving force behind our early revenue engine. You will work directly with the founders to transition from founder‑led sales to a scalable Go‑To‑Market motion. This is a true 0-to-1 role: you won't be handed a neatly packaged pipeline. You will be responsible for full‑cycle sales—from hunting and generating your own leads to navigating complex enterprise procurement processes and closing six‑figure deals. If you are a builder who thrives on the thrill of the hunt and wants to shape the sales playbook of an AI rocketship, this is for you.

What You’ll Do

• Drive Full‑Cycle Sales: Own the entire sales process from outbound prospecting and lead generation to discovery, demo, negotiation, and closing.
• Generate Your Own Pipeline: Act as your own SDR by researching target accounts, executing outbound campaigns, and building a robust pipeline of enterprise prospects.
• Define the Playbook: Partner with the founders to refine our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), test different messaging, and build the foundational sales playbook for future hires.
• Navigate Complex Deals: Manage multi‑stakeholder enterprise deals involving GRC leaders, CISOs, and IT procurement teams.
• Voice of the Customer: Act as a critical feedback loop to our Product and Engineering teams, translating customer pain points into actionable product insights.

What You Have

• Experience: 5+ years of B2B SaaS sales experience, with a proven track record of closing complex, six‑figure enterprise deals.
• Hunter Mentality: Demonstrated success in generating your own leads and building pipeline from scratch without relying heavily on inbound marketing.
• Domain Knowledge: Previous experience selling into Security, Compliance, Risk, or AI domains is a massive plus.
• Startup DNA: Comfortable operating in a highly ambiguous, fast‑paced Series A environment where you must build the parachute on the way down.
• Location: Based in (or willing to relocate to) Palo Alto, working in‑person with the team five days a week.

Compensation And Benefits

• Flexible PTO policy.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Meals and snacks in the office
• Relocation and immigration support

Zania is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.