Commercial Lead

Solenya; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Opportunity to become a senior leader

Job summary

Solenya is building the AI infrastructure layer for modern e-commerce, seeking a Commercial Lead to identify top customer segments and land our first customers. You will engage directly with the founding team, conduct discovery calls, and shape our early commercial strategy in a fast-paced, unclear environment.

This is not a traditional sales role; you’ll learn from customers and iteratively define ICPs and positioning.

Qualifications

• Experience coordinating with early-stage startup teams.
• Ability to identify patterns across conversations and translate to ICPs.
• Comfort in learning quickly and engaging in technical conversations.

Responsibilities

• Join customer discovery and sales calls.
• Build relationships with potential customers.
• Identify patterns across customer conversations.
• Help define and refine ICPs and segments.
• Support progress of early deals and feedback to product/engineering.
• Contribute to early go-to-market strategy.

Skills

Customer discovery

ICP definition

GTM strategy

Relationship building

Discovery calls

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CRM (HubSpot/Salesforce)

Job description

Solenya is building the AI infrastructure layer for modern e-commerce. We help merchants better match products for each customer so shoppers can find what they’re looking for faster. This drives higher revenue and improves customer lifetime value.

We’re an early-stage team working closely with leading retailers and marketplaces to shape the future of AI-driven commerce.

We’re now hiring a Commercial Lead to help us identify our best customer segments and land our first customers.

The Role

We’re looking for a smart, curious, and commercially minded generalist to help us figure out who our best customers are and how we win them.

You’ll work directly with the founding team, speak to customers, and help shape our early commercial strategy.

This is not a traditional sales role. We’re still iterating toward product-market fit, so a big part of this role is learning from customers and identifying patterns.

You’ll help us:

• Work through existing inbound and warm leads
• Run discovery calls with potential customers
• Identify patterns across customer conversations
• Help define and iterate on our ideal customer segments
• Help progress and close early customers
• Refine our positioning and messaging
• Eventually run targeted outbound once we identify the best segments

This is a high-impact, early-stage role where you’ll help shape the direction of the company.

What You’ll Do

• Join customer discovery and sales calls
• Build relationships with potential customers
• Identify patterns across customer conversations
• Help define and refine ideal customer profiles (ICPs)
• Help progress and close early deals
• Work closely with product and engineering to share market feedback
• Help shape early go-to-market strategy
• Eventually run targeted outbound to high-potential segments

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Smart and curious about customers
• Personable and comfortable in customer conversations
• Structured thinker who can identify patterns
• Commercially minded and comfortable helping close deals
• Comfortable with ambiguity and early-stage environments
• Hands-on and willing to do whatever is needed

You don’t need deep technical experience, but you should be comfortable learning quickly and participating in technical conversations.

Backgrounds That Could Be a Great Fit

We’re open to a range of backgrounds, including:

• Early-stage startup (BizOps, Founder’s Associate, GTM, Growth)
• Early B2B startup sales
• Customer-facing product or growth roles
• Other high-IQ generalist roles

We’re less focused on titles and more focused on curiosity, intelligence, and commercial instinct.

Why Join Solenya

• Work directly with the founding team
• High ownership and responsibility from day one
• Fast learning and steep growth curve
• Opportunity to become a senior leader as we scale

Experience

• 3–6 years experience preferred
• Strong academic background helpful but not required
• Experience in startups, consulting, or B2B environments is helpful

What Success Looks Like

In your first 3–6 months, you’ll help us: