Strategic Account Executive

Kong; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc. is seeking an experienced Strategic Account Executive to drive new business and manage enterprise-level opportunities. You will own a book of enterprise accounts, meeting quotas and shaping the buying process while traveling as needed to customer sites.

Ideal candidates bring 10+ years selling enterprise software, strong negotiation and closing skills, and experience with open source, APIs, and infrastructure software. A startup background is a plus.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in selling enterprise software.
• Experience with open source, APIs, and/or infrastructure software is a big plus.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation and closing skills.
• Motivated, driven and results oriented.
• Bonus points for experience with fast-growing startups.

Responsibilities

• Sell Kong Enterprise Platform to enterprise customers.
• Meet individual quota and objectives.
• Take ownership of your book of business, documenting buying criteria and process, determining motion and patterns, ensuring pipeline accuracy based on evidence, and working the leads to closure.
• Provide account leadership and direction in the pre- and post-sales process and contribute to analysis on wins/losses.
• Travel to customer sites as required (30% - 50%).
• And any additional tasks required by manager.

Skills

Enterprise software sales

Open source experience

Relationship leveraging

Negotiation and closing

Tools

APIs

Infrastructure software

Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

About The Role:

We are looking for an experienced sales professional, ideally with open source experience who will be selling into global enterprise accounts. The ideal candidate has been a part of the sales efforts for other early-stage enterprise products in an entrepreneurial setting. The Strategic Account Executive will be integral to our growth plan and in acquiring new customers. Kong’s Account Executive will be the primary point of contact and the face of Kong for our prospects.

What You'll Do:

• Sell Kong Enterprise Platform to enterprise customers.
• Meet individual quota and objectives.
• Take ownership of your book of business, which includes understanding and documenting the buying criteria and process, determining the appropriate motion and patterns, ensuring pipeline accuracy based on evidence, and working the leads to closure.
• Provide account leadership and direction in the pre- and post-sales process and contribute to analysis on wins/losses.
• Ability to travel to customer sites as required (30% - 50%).
• And any additional tasks required by manager.

What You'll Bring:

• A true desire to see customers benefit from the investment they make with Kong.
• 10+ years of experience in selling enterprise software; experience with open source, APIs, and/or infrastructure software a big plus.
• Ability to leverage established relationships and proven sales techniques for success.
• Effective communicator and strong interpersonal skills.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation and closing skills.
• Motivated, driven and results oriented.
• Bonus PointsExperience with fast growing startups is a plus. #LI-JM3

About Kong:

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com.