Founding Technical Account Executive

The future of data is autonomous. Nextdata OS makes it real. Our platform is built for the challenge of creating and sharing autonomous data products at scale, giving developers a new, responsible way to deliver data that is portable, secure, and ready for use anywhere.

We imagine a world where AI, ML, and analytics run on trustworthy, self-protecting data—across organizations, technologies, and most importantly, across boundaries of trust.

Our mission is to transform how data is created, shared, discovered, and used—making it connected, fast, and fair.

Nextdata OS is designed for data developers, users, and owners to treat data products as first-class citizens, with trust built in from the start. We embrace the reality that data is complex and messy: models go stale fast, ownership spans trust boundaries, storage lives on many platforms, and usage spans many modes. Most importantly, data cannot protect itself.

Past approaches have tried and failed to solve this—often creating brittle systems that are hard to scale and impossible to trust. We’re here to reimagine the data world with you.

About the Role

We're hiring a Founding Technical Account Executive to own the complete customer journey for enterprise accounts—from initial prospecting and discovery through pilot management, deal closure, and post-sale success. This role perfect for someone who combines deep technical fluency with enterprise sales expertise and thrives in the ambiguity of early-stage startups.

As one of our first go-to-market hires, you’ll work directly with the Head of Revenue and CEO to define and execute our sales strategy. You’ll lead deep discovery conversations, tailor demos to customer needs, and navigate complex enterprise buying processes. You’ll work closely with our Sales Engineering, Product, and Marketing teams to ensure every interaction moves the deal forward and sets customers up for long-term success.

Your goal: help prospects see the transformative potential of autonomous data products powered by Nextdata OS, guide them through successful pilots, and close deals that become our foundational reference customers.

What You’ll Do

Full-Cycle Sales Execution

• Drive enterprise prospecting through to deal closure—build pipeline from scratch via outbound sales, networking, and strategic outreach while managing complex 6-12+ month sales cycles involving security reviews, procurement, and multi-stakeholder decision-making

• Lead deep discovery conversations and high-value demos with C-level executives, data leaders, and technical teams, bridging business problems with technical solutions

Technical Proof & Implementation

• Coordinate with engineering to design, execute, and troubleshoot technical proof cycles, POCs, and pilots—defining success criteria, managing timelines, and bridging product gaps

• Speak credibly with CTOs, data architects, and engineering teams about complex data infrastructure challenges while navigating enterprise buying committees

Account Growth & Success

• Ensure successful post-sale adoption and implementation while managing renewals, expansion opportunities, and ongoing stakeholder relationships as strategic advisor

• Gather customer feedback to inform product roadmap and go-to-market strategy

Go-to-Market Foundation Building

• Partner with founding team to build scalable, repeatable sales processes while creating collateral, case studies, and documentation on the fly

• Evangelize the autonomous data vision at industry events and collaborate across Product, Engineering, and Marketing to refine messaging and drive product-market fit

Who You Are

• You have 5+ years of B2B enterprise software sales experience, selling complex technical solutions like data infrastructure, cloud platforms, or developer tooling.

• You are an entrepreneurial self-starter with a proven track record of managing complete sales cycles, from prospecting and cold calling leads, holding effective discovery, strategizing and managing sales and technical demos, through to renewal and expansion.

• You have a technical foundation, with either a technical degree (e.g., Computer Science) or significant technical fluency from selling to buyers at companies like AWS, Snowflake, or Databricks.

• You can speak credibly with technical stakeholders, including CTOs and engineering teams, and understand complex data and cloud challenges.

• You have experience guiding technical proof-of-concepts (POCs) and can articulate complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• You have early-stage startup experience building functions from 0 to 1 at Seed to Series A companies. You’re comfortable operating in high-ambiguity environments and have a builder's mindset to create minimum viable processes and playbooks while executing deals.

• You have a consultative selling approach with a hunter mentality and strong discovery skills to build your pipeline through prospecting.

• You are adept at navigating long sales cycles (6-12+ months) and complex deal structures, with strong negotiation skills to manage enterprise procurement.

• You possess exceptional storytelling abilities and can craft compelling narratives that connect business problems to technical solutions.

• You can present to and influence C-level executives while maintaining a process-oriented mindset and scrappy execution.

Bonus Points

• Experience selling at data infrastructure companies (ex. Snowflake, Databricks, Confluent, Fivetran, Starburst, dbt Labs, etc.)

• Background with Kubernetes, containerization, and cloud-native data architectures

• Knowledge of data mesh, data fabric, or distributed data architecture concepts

• Experience with enterprise data governance, security, and compliance requirements

• Previous founding AE or early sales hire experience at technical startups

Preferred Candidate Background

We believe the best founding AEs come from diverse paths because this hybrid role demands both technical depth and commercial excellence—qualities that can be developed through different experiences. At the core, we're looking for grit and ingenuity. We're open to candidates with the following backgrounds:

• technical builders who evolved into sales (CS, Engineering, or Data Science degrees progressing from solutions engineering or technical consulting into enterprise sales)

• business professionals with deep technical fluency (MBA or business degrees who built technical credibility selling to technical buyers at companies like AWS, Snowflake, or Databricks)

• industry insiders who transitioned from hands-on roles (former data engineers, architects, or IT leaders who moved into sales and bring authentic understanding of enterprise data pain points).

What matters most is demonstrated ability to bridge technical complexity with business value, regardless of which path brought you here. If you aren't sure of your fit, we encourage you to apply!

What We Offer

• Senior AE-level compensation (base salary/OTE/Commission) with strong equity package reflecting early-stage risk and upside

• Comprehensive Health Benefits (medical, dental, vision) for you and your dependents

• $2000 Home office Stipend

• Unlimited PTO (this is not a trojan horse, we mean it!)

*Note: this role is remote but we are looking for candidates located within 2 hours of the SF Bay Area.