Responsibilities
- Own Complete Pipeline Generation: Generate 100% of your pipeline through hunting for new logos in our PLG inbound engine and supplementing these with self-sourced and sourcing from scale up events.
- Qualify 4-6 opportunities per month (average size of 30K ARR) using rigorous MEDDPICC framework.
- Generate 1.2M in qualified pipeline annually through disciplined territory management and multi-channel prospecting.
- Drive New Logo Acquisition: Close 10 new customers annually at $30K average ARR in your assigned EMEA territory, focusing on high-growth technology companies across Digital Natives, AI scale ups, Fintech, B2B SaaS, Digital Commerce, and Industrial Tech sectors.
- Lead the full sales cycle from initial prospecting and discovery through technical validation, negotiation, and closing.
- Execute Strategic Prospecting: Develop and maintain target account lists of 100-150 ideal customer profile companies.
- Conduct deep account research using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, and 6sense to identify trigger events and buying signals.
- Execute 80-100+ weekly prospecting touches across calls, emails, LinkedIn, and video messaging to secure first meetings with target personas.
- Director & VP-Level Stakeholder Engagement: Build trusted relationships with Directors and VPs in Engineering, Platform, DevOps, and Data organizations.
- Challenge the status quo of customers' current data infrastructure (DIY Kafka, cloud vendor lock-in, operational overhead) and inspire a vision for how Aiven's platform drives better business outcomes.
- Solution Selling & Value Articulation: Become an expert in Aiven's platform and the open-source technologies we offer (Kafka, PostgreSQL, OpenSearch, ClickHouse and more).
- Articulate business value in terms of reduced operational overhead (40-60%), faster time-to-production (3-5x), and infrastructure cost optimization (30-50%).
- Maintain strong Command of the Message when conveying Aiven's value proposition and differentiation.
- MEDDPICC Sales Process: Rigorously qualify all opportunities using the MEDDPICC framework to ensure high-quality pipeline.
- Maintain complete MEDDPICC documentation in Salesforce for every qualified opportunity.
- Accurately forecast with 85%+ commit accuracy and execute on quarterly sales plans.
- Manage high-velocity sales cycles of typically 60-90 days.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Solution Architects on technical validation and proof-of-concept management for qualified opportunities.
- Work with Customer Success to ensure seamless onboarding and adoption.
- Collaborate with Product and Engineering to incorporate customer feedback and align on roadmap priorities for strategic opportunities.
- Territory Planning & Market Insight: Develop and maintain 90-day rolling territory plans with clear account prioritization and pipeline generation goals.
- Monitor technographic signals, funding events, and technology adoption patterns to identify high-intent accounts.
- Represent Aiven at regional industry events and conferences to build network and generate pipeline.
- Exceed Targets: Consistently meet and exceed your sales quotas and KPIs.
- Take full ownership of your territory and accounts, maintaining minimum 4:1 pipeline coverage ratio and balanced quarterly performance to deliver results.
Requirements
- 2-4 years of success in high-velocity B2B SaaS sales, specializing in technical solutions for <100M ARR companies.
- Proven track record of self-sourced pipeline generation with consistent quota attainment of 90-100%+ against high-volume, lower-ACV targets.
- Demonstrated ability to generate 1M-2M in annual qualified pipeline through outbound prospecting across multiple channels without SDR support.
- Experience closing 10-15 new logos annually with 25K-$50K ACV deal sizes and 60-90 day sales cycles.
- Strong prospecting skills with ability to maintain 100+ weekly touches and convert outreach to meetings at 10-15% rates.
- Hands-on experience with MEDDIC/MEDDPICC or similar sales frameworks, adept at using structured qualification in your sales process.
- Familiarity with open-source technologies, data infrastructure, cloud services, and developer platforms (e.g., Apache Kafka, databases, analytics, streaming platforms).
- Experience selling into rapidly scaling technology companies (1M-50M revenue) across EMEA markets, focusing on digital natives, software, and early-stage tech adoption.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
- Able to engage in consultative discussions with Director and VP-level executives and simplify complex ideas into compelling narratives.
- Strong written communication for crafting compelling, personalized outreach that generates meetings.
- A self-driven, entrepreneurial approach with discipline to thrive in a high-performance, high-growth culture.
- Comfortable with ambiguity and autonomy inherent in self-sourced pipeline roles.
Nice to Have
- Experience in a fast-paced startup or scale-up environment is a plus.
Benefits
- Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
- Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
- Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
- Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities.
- Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.
- Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time).
- Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast in Cork.
Work Arrangement
Hybrid
Team
Team size: over 400 people
Additional Information
- Willingness to travel < 15% for internal team meetings or regional events.
- Comfortable in office model and self-disciplined in remote environment when appropriate.
