Founding Account Executive

Cardless; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Start-up equity

Health, vision & dental coverage

Catered lunches

Commuter benefit

Parental leave

Flexible PTO

Apple equipment

401k

Job summary

Cardless seeks a Founding Account Executive to drive new business in Travel & Hospitality across US-based airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and related partners. This remote role, with options for San Francisco presence, will own the pipeline from discovery through signed agreements, collaborating with leadership to shape product economics and partnerships.

You will build relationships with loyalty, partnerships, and finance leaders, manage multi-year cycles, and travel ~50% to meet prospects and

Qualifications

• 10+ years of quota-carrying enterprise sales or business development experience.
• Experience selling to airlines, hotel groups, cruise lines, or loyalty programs.
• Proven track record of meeting or exceeding quota and building pipeline in new markets.
• Comfort with program economics and executive conversations.
• Payments, co-brand, or loyalty experience is a plus.
• Willingness to travel at least 50% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Build and prioritize a target list across airlines, hotels, cruise, gaming, and vacation ownership; generate pipeline via outreach, network, and events.
• Learn travel loyalty program economics and how Cardless improves economics.
• Lead full cycle from discovery to signed agreement and present program economics to leaders.
• Coordinate product, risk, finance, legal, and marketing teams; be the partner's main contact.
• Share market feedback to shape product, pricing, and positioning; maintain pipeline and forecast.

Skills

Enterprise sales

Quota attainment

Relationship building

Negotiation

Strategic thinking

Travel industry knowledge

Executive communication

Tools

CRM

Job description

Founding Account Executive - Travel & Hospitality

Department: Business Development

Location: Remote US, San Francisco, CA or Remote US

Employment Type: FullTime

About Cardless

Cardless is building the infrastructure for the world's best companies to design, build, and launch financial products. Companies like Coinbase and Bilt use Cardless to create credit cards that feel entirely their own. In an industry where branded financial products usually mean shared logos and shared control, Cardless is built to disappear. Our APIs and components shape the journey from the first application to every purchase, reward, and moment of support that follows, while we handle lending, compliance, and operations behind the scenes.

In September 2025, we raised a $60 million Series C led by Spark Capital, bringing our total funding to $170 million. The team is over 70 people and scaling toward profitability by year-end 2026.

We're looking for kind, humble people with high standards and low egos. We take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. We see what could be improved, make it so, and leave every product, system, and team better than we found it.

About the Role

Airlines, hotel groups, cruise lines, casino operators, and vacation ownership companies run some of the world's largest loyalty programs, and the co-brand card behind them is often one of their most profitable assets. Most of those programs sit inside long, inflexible bank agreements. Cardless offers a better path and already powers cards for Qatar Airways, LATAM Airlines, Avianca, TAP, and Avelo.

We're hiring an Account Executive to grow this market, focusing on companies large banks underserve: international airlines seeking a US card, mid-size and low-cost US carriers, hotel and lifestyle brands, cruise lines, gaming operators, vacation clubs, and any travel brand with a card agreement nearing renewal.

This is a new-business hunting role. You'll build the pipeline from the ground up, lead each opportunity from first meeting to signed agreement, and work directly with our leadership team. With product-market fit, fresh capital, and far more market than people to pursue it, you'll help shape how Cardless approaches travel and hospitality, and the multi-year programs you sign will reach millions of travelers and guests. This role is a great fit if you have a proven track record of opening new relationships with long, multi-stakeholder sales cycles, and closing new logos that benefit both parties.

What You Will Do

• Build and prioritize a target list across airlines, hotels, cruise, gaming, and vacation ownership, and generate pipeline through outreach, your network, and industry events.

• Learn how travel loyalty programs make money (mile and points sales, redemption costs, breakage, co-brand structures) and where Cardless improves the economics.

• Lead the full cycle, from discovery and business case through RFP, term sheet, and signed agreement, presenting program economics to finance and executive leaders.

• Coordinate our product, risk, finance, legal, and marketing teams, and serve as the partner's main point of contact.

• Share market feedback that shapes product, pricing, and positioning, and keep an accurate pipeline and forecast.

What We Are Looking For

• 10+ years of quota-carrying enterprise sales or business development, including large, multi-year financial services agreements.

• Experience selling to, or working within, airlines or hospitality companies, with relationships among their loyalty, partnerships, and finance leaders.

• A consistent record of meeting or exceeding quota and of building pipeline in a new market.

• Comfort with program economics and executive conversations

• Payments, co-brand, or loyalty experience is a strong plus.

• Willingness to travel at least 50% of the time regularly to meet partners and attend industry events.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation plan designed to reward closing: a base salary, variable compensation tied to signed agreements, and meaningful equity in an early stage startup. The base salary range for this role is $140,000 - $170,000. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skills, experience, and specific work location.

Benefits

We're proud to offer our team excellent benefits:

Meaningful Start-up equity

100% health, vision & dental primary coverage

75% health, vision & dental dependent coverage

Catered lunches

$250/month Commuter benefit

Parental leave

Team building events & happy hours

Flexible PTO with a minimum of 15 days off per year

Apple equipment

401k plan

Location

We're headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with a beautiful office in Jackson Square. We’re in the office at least three days a week, and most of us are there more than that, because we do our best thinking and building together in person. We’re looking for someone who’s genuinely excited to be there alongside the team.

Cardless is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.