SMB Account Executive

• As an AE in North America, you will drive new customer acquisition and revenue growth within high-velocity segments of the North American market
• This is a closing role—you own the full sales cycle from initial engagement through signed contract for companies under $250M in revenue, as well as PLG conversions from Aiven’s self-service and trial user base
• This role operates at the intersection of product-led growth and inside sales execution. You will convert high-intent signals—trial activations, self-service usage, consumption spikes—into qualified opportunities and closed revenue
• You will also generate pipeline through outbound prospecting, field events, and digital marketing campaigns. The ability to read product usage data, prioritize based on buying signals, and execute fast sales cycles is essential
• There are clear success metrics: 10 closed new logos annually at $25K average ARR, delivering $300K in total ARR per fiscal year. You will qualify 6 opportunities per month using rigorous MEDDPICC standards and generate $1.4M in qualified pipeline annually through a combination of PLG conversion, outbound prospecting, and marketing-sourced leads. This is a high-activity, high-velocity role with 30-60 day sales cycles
• You will engage technical decision-makers—Engineering Managers, Platform Leads, Senior Engineers, DevOps Managers—at companies professionalizing their data infrastructure. These buyers can often evaluate and approve purchases without extensive procurement cycles, which means your ability to build urgency, demonstrate value quickly, and close efficiently determines your success
• Close New Business:
• Close 10 new logos annually at $25K average ARR, delivering $300K in total ARR against your annual quota
• Own the full sales cycle from initial engagement through contract signature—discovery, qualification, demo, proposal, negotiation, close
• Execute 30-60 day sales cycles with discipline and urgency—these are not long enterprise evaluations; speed and efficiency are competitive advantages
• Maintain 85%+ forecast accuracy at commit through evidence-based qualification and disciplined pipeline management
• Convert PLG Signals into Revenue:
• Monitor and prioritize trial activations, self-service usage, and consumption patterns to identify high-intent prospects ready for sales engagement
• Engage self-service users demonstrating expansion signals—increased cluster usage, new service adoption, team account additions—and convert them to committed contracts
• Develop expertise in reading product usage data to qualify buying intent: which behaviors indicate serious evaluation vs. casual exploration
• Execute speed-to-lead on PLG conversions—these opportunities have short windows; the first seller to engage with value often wins
• Generate Pipeline Through Multi-Channel Prospecting:
• Qualify 6 opportunities per month (72 annually) using rigorous MEDDPICC framework—each opportunity must have identified pain, decision-maker access, and defined timeline
• Generate $1.4M in qualified pipeline annually through outbound prospecting, PLG conversion, field events, and digital marketing campaign follow-up
• Execute 80-100+ weekly prospecting touches across calls, emails, LinkedIn, and video messaging to secure meetings with target personas
• Work marketing-sourced leads from digital campaigns, content programs, and field events with rapid follow-up and qualification discipline
• Build and maintain target account lists of 75-100 ideal customer profile companies within your territory
• Engage Technical Decision-Makers:
• Build relationships with Engineering Managers, Platform Leads, Senior Engineers, DevOps Managers, and Data Engineering Leads who can evaluate and approve purchases
• Position Aiven’s value in terms that matter to technical buyers: reduced operational overhead, faster time-to-production, developer productivity, and infrastructure reliability
• Challenge the status quo of customers’ current data infrastructure—DIY open-source management, cloud vendor lock-in, operational burden—and demonstrate how Aiven delivers better outcomes
• Conduct compelling product demonstrations that connect platform capabilities to specific customer pain points and use cases
• Execute MEDDPICC Sales Process:
• Rigorously qualify all opportunities using the MEDDPICC framework to ensure pipeline quality and forecast accuracy
• Maintain complete MEDDPICC documentation in Salesforce for every qualified opportunity—Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identified Pain, Champion, Competition
• Manage opportunities with stage-appropriate evidence: no advancing deals without documented proof points for each MEDDPICC element
• Forecast based on evidence, not optimism—if you cannot articulate the decision process, timeline, and buying authority with specificity, the deal does not belong in commit
• Solution Selling & Value Articulation:
• Become expert in Aiven’s platform and open-source technologies: Kafka, PostgreSQL, OpenSearch, ClickHouse, Valkey, and Grafana
• Articulate business value in concrete terms: reduced operational overhead (40-60%), faster time-to-production (3-5x), infrastructure cost optimization (30-50%)
• Maintain Command of the Message when conveying Aiven’s value proposition—you can clearly articulate why Aiven vs. self-managed, why Aiven vs. hyperscaler native services, why Aiven vs. other managed platforms
• Tailor messaging to buyer context: a startup scaling from prototype to production has different priorities than a mid-market company consolidating fragmented infrastructure
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally:
• Partner with Solution Architects on technical validation for qualified opportunities requiring deeper architectural engagement
• Coordinate with Marketing on campaign follow-up, event participation, and lead quality feedback
• Provide product feedback based on customer conversations—objections, feature requests, competitive intelligence—to inform roadmap priorities
• Collaborate with Customer Success on smooth handoffs for closed accounts to ensure strong onboarding and adoption
• Exceed Targets:
• Consistently meet and exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual quotas
• Maintain minimum 3x pipeline coverage against quarterly targets with balanced distribution across the quarter
• Take complete ownership of your territory and results—no excuses, no deflection, no waiting for leads to arrive

Benefits

• Stocks: Stock options for permanent employees
• Learning & growth: Get ahead with an individual learning budget, access to a web learning platform, coaching, and the ever-growing Aiven library
• Work/life balance: Flexible, regular working hours, and hybrid work friendly
• Health care: Private health and dental care
• Work equipment: The tools you need to do your job
• Cool, collaborative work spaces: with free drinks, treats and fruit- 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- Once applying you should hear from our Talent Experience team within five days regarding the status of your application. If you are selected to move forward, you can generally expect four stages with us:
• 60-minute call with one of our Talent Experience Partners
• 60-minute Depth of Expertise Interview with the hiring manager
• 60-minute Crabby Principles Interview
• Application requirement: Along with your resume, include a brief note (under 200 words) answering this question: Describe your highest-velocity month in your current or most recent sales role. How many opportunities did you work, what was your close rate, and what specific actions drove that performance? We want to understand how you operate at peak velocity and whether you can articulate what makes you effective