SMB Account Executive

Join Aiven, a leading open-source data infrastructure platform, as an SMB Account Executive. In this role, you will drive new customer acquisition and revenue growth in the North American market. You will own the full sales cycle, convert high-intent signals into qualified opportunities, and generate pipeline through multi-channel prospecting. You will engage technical decision-makers and execute the MEDDPICC sales process. This is a high-activity, high-velocity role with clear success metrics and opportunities for professional growth.

• Acquisition of new customers and revenue growth within high-velocity segments of the North American market.
• Ownership of the full sales cycle from initial engagement through signed contract for companies under $250M in revenue.
• Generation of pipeline through outbound prospecting, field events, and digital marketing campaigns, with a focus on converting high-intent signals into qualified opportunities.

• Familiarity with MEDDPICC, MEDDIC, or similar qualification frameworks—formal training preferred but not required if you demonstrate structured qualification discipline
• Familiarity with data infrastructure, cloud services, and developer tools sufficient to have credible conversations with technical buyers
• Understanding of the difference between activity and progress—you measure yourself on qualified pipeline and closed revenue, not calls made or emails sent
• Ability to learn technical concepts quickly and translate them into business value for different buyer personas
• Ownership mentality—when something goes wrong, you ask what you could have done differently, not who else is to blame
• Comfort selling to technical buyers who have already evaluated the product and formed opinions
• Ability to simplify complex technical concepts into clear value statements for different audiences
• Resilient—you handle rejection and setbacks without losing momentum or making excuses
• Professional presence that builds credibility with technical decision-makers who are evaluating both the product and the vendor
• Strong research skills using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, 6sense, or similar tools to identify trigger events and buying signals
• 1-3 years of success in inside sales or SDR/BDR roles with demonstrated progression and quota attainment
• Experience with $15K-$50K ACV deal sizes and 30-90 day sales cycles—you understand velocity selling, not just enterprise account management
• Interest in open-source technologies and the developer ecosystem—you're curious about how these tools work and why they matter
• Track record of consistent quota attainment (90-100%+) in a high-velocity sales environment
• Willingness to travel 10-20% for field events, team meetings, and customer engagements as needed
• Excellent verbal communication for discovery calls, demos, and negotiations conducted primarily via video and phone
• Self-driven and disciplined—you don't need someone watching over your shoulder to maintain high activity and quality standards
• Communication & Presence:
• Ability to maintain high activity levels (80+ weekly touches) while preserving quality and personalization
• Experience working marketing-sourced leads with rapid follow-up and disciplined qualification
• Demonstrated ability to generate pipeline through outbound prospecting—cold calls, personalized emails, LinkedIn engagement, video messaging
• Prospecting & Pipeline Generation:
• Experience working PLG or trial conversion motions where product usage signals inform sales engagement
• PLG & Product-Led Sales Experience:
• Inside Sales Excellence:
• High-Performance Mindset:
• Understanding of how to add value to self-service users without being intrusive—you know when to engage and when to let product do the work
• MEDDPICC & Sales Methodology:
• Ability to read and interpret product usage data to prioritize outreach and qualify buying intent
• Ability to document qualification evidence in CRM, not just self-assessed confidence scores
• Geography & Work Style:
• Competitive without being political—you want to win and you measure yourself against top performers
• Proven ability to close deals independently—not just qualify and hand off, but own the full cycle through contract signature
• Technical Acumen:
• Strong written communication for personalized outreach, follow-up emails, and proposal summaries
• Coachable—you actively seek feedback, incorporate it quickly, and demonstrate improvement over time
• You don't need to be an engineer, but you can discuss Kafka use cases, PostgreSQL vs. other databases, cloud deployment models, and operational trade-offs at a conceptual level
• Don't worry if your experience doesn't line up perfectly—we still encourage everyone to apply. We believe in investing in our crabs' professional growth