Head of Associate AE

SERVAL; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office in SF or NY (five days)

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Serval is building an early-career sales engine, creating the Associate AE Program to train the next generation of account executives. You'll design, recruit, and run the cohort from day one, partnering with founders and sales leadership to deliver real pipeline and measurable results.

This role is based in San Francisco or New York with office access five days a week, and demands a track record of leading and growing SDR/BDR teams, plus the ability to teach and scale curricula.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of B2B SaaS sales experience.
• 2+ years leading and developing SDR/BDR or early-career sales orgs.

Responsibilities

• Design and launch the Associate AE Program from the ground up, defining cohort structure, hiring profiles, curriculum and graduation.
• Recruit and hire each cohort with an uncompromising bar: early-career talent with exceptional intellectual horsepower, grit, coachability and a track record of excellence.
• Run a 6-9 month, three-phase program to build pipeline and develop Associates into top AE talent.
• Coach Associates through call reviews, mock discovery, objection handling, demo certification and deal strategy, driving qualified pipeline targets.
• Own pipeline results across segments: intent coverage, speed-to-lead, outbound into unassigned accounts, and follow-through on field and ABM programs.
• Pair Associates with top AEs and sales managers to run discovery, deliver demos and eventually own smaller deals end to end.
• Get the whole company teaching: recruit AEs, marketers, product leaders and executives to own curriculum modules and build a training library.
• Partner with sales leadership on graduation and place graduates into AE roles where managers are excited to hire them.
• Define ROI model, pipeline per Associate, and hiring forecasts tied to future AE demand.
• Build a world-class apprenticeship by collaborating with marketing and leadership on employer brand, university and alumni partnerships.

Skills

B2B SaaS sales

Leadership of SDR/BDR

Full-cycle selling

Pipeline coaching

Forecasting & CRM

Curriculum development

High hiring bar

Cross-functional collaboration

Selling to technical buyers

Relocation to SF/NY

Tools

Salesforce

Gong

Amplemarket

Claude

Nooks

Clay

Job description

Who We Are

Serval is an AI-native automation platform transforming how enterprises operate. We build intelligent agents that understand real-world workflows and execute them end-to-end — replacing manual processes and rigid legacy systems with adaptive, learning software. Founded in early 2024, Serval is already trusted by companies like Fox, Notion, Perplexity, Vercel, and Brex to automate high-volume, high-friction operational work across their organizations. At the core of Serval is an agentic AI platform that turns natural language into production-grade workflows. Our agents don’t just respond to requests — they reason, take action across systems, and continuously improve with usage. What began with operational use cases has quickly evolved into a horizontal AI automation layer used across IT, HR, Finance, Security, Legal, and Engineering. Our mission is to eliminate repetitive, manual work across the enterprise and give teams leverage through intelligent automation. Long term, we’re building the universal AI operations layer — a system of agents that sits across business functions and runs the workflows that keep modern companies moving. We’re backed by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Meritech, First Round, General Catalyst, Elad Gil, and others.

Head of Associate AE Program

As the Head of the Associate AE Program, you'll build and lead Serval's founding early-career sales program. It's a highly selective, cohort-based apprenticeship that turns exceptional early-career talent into Serval's next generation of Account Executives and GTM leaders. You'll own the program end to end: recruiting, curriculum delivery, coaching, and graduation. Meanwhile, your Associate AEs will generate real pipeline needed to drive growth across every segment of our business. You'll report to our VP of Mid-Market and work closely with our founders, sales leadership, marketing, RevOps and enablement. Together, you'll make this the fastest and most respected path into an AE seat in AI.

This role is ideal for a builder who has hired and developed high-performing SDR or early-career sales teams, loves building from 0 to 1 and operating with ambiguity and within a hyper-growth company, loves teaching as much as driving pipeline, and wants to create a program rather than simply inherit an org.

This role is based in either San Francisco or New York and will have an office requirement.

What You'll Do

• Design and launch the Associate AE Program from the ground up, defining cohort structure, hiring profiles, curriculum and graduation criteria, starting with a founding cohort of 4-6 Associates.
• Recruit and hire each cohort with an uncompromising bar: early-career talent with exceptional intellectual horsepower, grit, coachability and a track record of excellence.
• Run a 6-9 month, three-phase program to simultaneously build pipeline for the company while also developing Associates into top AE talent
• Coach Associates through call reviews, mock discovery, objection handling, demo certification and deal strategy, and drive results towards qualified pipeline targets.
• Own pipeline results across segments: intent coverage, speed-to-lead, outbound into unassigned accounts, and follow-through on field and ABM programs. Success is measured by qualified pipeline and stage conversion, not inefficient activity.
• Build the apprenticeship model by pairing Associates with top AEs and sales managers. Move Associates step by step toward running discovery, delivering demos and eventually owning smaller deals end to end.
• Get the whole company teaching: recruit AEs, marketers, product leaders and executives to own and deliver curriculum modules, and build a reusable training library that grows with each cohort.
• Partner with sales leadership on graduation. Define the bar, run readiness reviews and test-outs; place graduates into AE roles where receiving managers are excited to hire them.
• Implement the program's operating rhythm and economics: ROI model, pipeline per Associate, and hiring forecasts tied to future AE demand.
• Build a world-class, destination program. Work with marketing and leadership on employer brand, university and alumni partnerships, and recruiting events that attract top-tier talent.

What You'll Need

• 5+ years of B2B SaaS sales experience, including at least 2 years leading and developing SDR, BDR or early-career sales orgs.
• Prior experience as a quota-carrying AE, ideally having come up through the SDR path yourself, so you can teach full-cycle selling and not just prospecting.
• A proven track record of developing reps who were promoted into closing roles and went on to succeed.
• An obsession with pipeline and metrics, with strong command of conversion data, forecasting and CRM discipline.
• Exceptional coaching and teaching ability, with experience building curriculum, certifications or enablement programs.
• A high hiring bar and strong instincts for spotting raw talent, whether that's a proven SDR or an exceptional recent graduate.
• Credibility with senior AEs, sales leaders and executives, and the ability to work cross-functionally to build a high impact program.
• Experience selling to, or coaching reps who sell to, technical buyers in IT, Security or Engineering.
• Based in or willing to relocate to San Francisco or New York and work from our office five days a week.

Nice to Have

• Experience building or running an Associate AE, rotational or leadership development program.
• Leadership experience at fellow AI-native companies.
• Experience launching a program from 0 1 and scaling it cohort over cohort.
• Familiarity with sales methodologies (MEDDPICC, Command of the Message, Challenger, etc.) and modern sales tech (Salesforce, Gong, Amplemarket, Claude, Nooks, Clay, etc.).
• Experience partnering with universities, alumni networks or campus recruiting teams.
• Ambition to grow into a broader sales leadership role.

What We Offer

• Impact: Be a key player in shaping the success of our product and company, and build the talent engine behind Serval's future GTM team.
• Growth: Build a fundamentally new AI product offering with the support of our experienced team and investors. Grow rapidly with the company.
• Culture: Join a culture that values innovation, ownership, accountability, and fun.

What We Offer

• Impact: Be a key player in shaping the success of our product and company.
• Growth: Build a fundamentally new AI product offering with the support of our experienced team and investors. Grow rapidly with the company.
• Culture: Join a culture that values innovation, ownership, accountability, and fun.