Account Executive

Account Executive / Senior AE — Research Data & Intelligence

📍 New York City | Full-Time | On-Site (Mon–Thu, Fri remote)

What if your next sales role let you build something from scratch — at a mission-driven organization with real institutional credibility, selling a product that genuinely matters to the research community?

We're supporting an fast-paced startup in hiring a founding sales hire for a first-of-its-kind data and research intelligence product. This is not a role with a polished playbook handed to you. It's a role for someone who wants to write it

The Opportunity

You'll be our first dedicated sales hire for this product, with full ownership of the sales cycle across a defined universe of R1 research institutions. That means outbound prospecting, executive engagement, navigating complex stakeholder environments, and closing high-value consultative deals — while simultaneously helping shape the repeatable playbook that scales the function after you.

This is a rare early-stage opportunity inside an organization with existing brand equity and infrastructure. You won't be building from zero — but you will be building.

What You'll Own

• Full sales cycle from first outreach to signed contract, targeting senior research leadership at R1 institutions
• A defined account list with deep stakeholder mapping at each target
• Pipeline generation across outbound, warm referrals, events, and inbound
• Executive discovery calls and product demos that connect institutional goals to product value
• Contract negotiations with legal and finance stakeholders on high-ACV deals
• CRM hygiene, accurate forecasting, and field intelligence that sharpens positioning and informs product strategy
• Presence at key sector conferences, converting relationships into pipeline

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 5–10+ years of B2B sales experience, with at least 3 years selling data, analytics, research intelligence, or SaaS to senior administrators at research institutions
• Demonstrated track record closing five- and six-figure deals through consultative, relationship-driven cycles of 3–12+ months
• Comfortable engaging senior institutional stakeholders with appropriate gravitas and credibility
• Experience contributing to a sales playbook in an early-stage or first-mover commercial environment
• Strong executive presence, written communication, and demo skills — able to translate complex data capabilities into clear institutional value

Preferred:

• Background selling data or intelligence products into research institutions (companies like Clarivate, Elsevier, Digital Science, Academic Analytics, or similar)
• Familiarity with research institution infrastructure — technology transfer offices, federal grant mechanisms, research commercialization
• Experience launching a net-new product into a defined institutional market
• Existing relationships in the research institution community
• Familiarity with AUTM, NCURA, or AAU conference ecosystems

Why This Role

You'll have the autonomy of a startup with the infrastructure of an established organization. If you've been looking for the right moment to own something meaningful and build something that lasts — this is it.