Founding Sales Account Executive

The Opportunity 

We’re not hiring a cog. We’re hiring a co-builder.

Sapience AI has built a Knowledge Operating System for professional associations and expert networks — think IEEE, YPO, Vistage, and hundreds of industry-specific membership organizations. We are the first dedicated, native AI company in the space. We turn trapped institutional expertise into a living, AI-powered knowledge layer that makes every member smarter.

We’re a seed-stage company with a working product, early customers, and an enormous greenfield market. What we don’t have yet is a sales machine. That’s where you come in. You’ll be working directly with our Head of Sales to go from founder-led sales to a repeatable, scalable revenue engine. If you need a playbook handed to you, this isn’t the role. If you want to help write the playbook, keep reading.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Hunt relentlessly. Build outbound pipeline from scratch targeting association executives, membership directors, and knowledge leaders. Cold calls, cold emails, LinkedIn, conferences, warm intros — whatever it takes to get in the door.
• Own the full cycle. From first touch to signed contract — prospecting, discovery, demos, proposals, negotiation, and close. No hand-offs to a closer. You are the closer.
• Run discovery like a consultant. Our buyers are association leaders who may not yet know they have a knowledge management problem. You’ll need to diagnose pain, map stakeholders, and build urgency around a category that’s still emerging. Lead with understanding and connect dots to ensure comprehension.
• Help build the sales infrastructure. CRM workflows, email sequences, call scripts, competitive battle cards, proposal templates, pipeline dashboards — you’ll create the toolkit that the next five AEs will inherit.
• Be the voice of the market. Relay what you’re hearing from prospects directly to the founder and product team. Your field intelligence will shape our roadmap, positioning, and go-to-market strategy.
• Work trade shows and events. Professional associations live and breathe at conferences. You’ll represent Sapience AI at industry events, facilitate workshops, and turn handshakes into partnered growth.
• Collaborate across the company with access to the founding team. Partner with Customer Success on onboarding and expansion, Head of Growth on strategic partnerships, CEO on Go-to-Market objectives, and Founder and Product on customer feedback.

WHO YOU ARE

• 2–5 years in a quota-carrying B2B SaaS closing role. You’ve carried a bag, hit a number, and have ability to prove it through action.
• Early-stage DNA. You’ve worked at a company with <$10M ARR — or you’ve side-hustled, freelanced, or built something yourself. You know what “scrappy” means and you’re energized by it, not exhausted.
• Full-cycle closer. You don’t just set meetings. You run demos, handle objections, negotiate terms, and get ink on paper.
• Comfortable selling into a new category. Can learn fast and adapt. You can educate buyers, create urgency without fear-mongering, and sell a vision — not just features.
• Process-minded hustler. You grind, but you also systematize. You document what works so it scales beyond you.
• Excellent communicator. You write tight emails, run crisp demos, and can hold your own in a boardroom with a tenured association CEO just as well as a early-stage dedicated membership director.
• Curious and coachable. You ask great questions, take feedback without ego, and get better every week.

BONUS POINTS

• Experience selling into professional associations, membership organizations, non-profits, or B2B communities.
• Familiarity with the association management ecosystem (AMS platforms like Fonteva, iMIS, MemberClicks, or Nimble AMS).
• Background in AI, knowledge management, or SaaS platforms sold to non-technical buyers.
• Existing network in the professional association or expert-network space.
• Can work independently in a Remote environment.

WHY THIS ROLE IS DIFFERENT 

• Meaningful equity. You’re not employee #500. You’re on the founding sales team, and your equity reflects that.
• Direct access to the founder. No layers, no bureaucracy. Your ideas hit the product roadmap.
• Category-defining market. The professional association space is a $20B+ market with almost zero modern AI penetration. You’re not fighting over scraps in a crowded market — you’re opening a new one.
• Build your legacy. The playbook you write here becomes the foundation for the entire revenue organization. When SapienceAI scales, your fingerprints will be on everything.

HOW TO APPLY!

Skip the cover letter. Instead, if you REALLY want to impress us, send us a short Loom video (under 3 minutes) explaining why you are different and pitching Sapience AI back to us as if we’re an association executive who’s never heard of us. Email it along with your resume to kj@sapienceai.co. We’ll respond to every applicant promptly.