Founding Sales Executive

About Circonomit

We are building the world's foremost decision infrastructure, serving as the strategic partner for industrial organizations facing complex combinatorial challenges. Our innovations enable the digital mapping of real-world constraints and decision levers into n-dimensional optimization models, revolutionizing critical value-chain decisions. We support European industry and the German Mittelstand to navigate market changes, orders, machinery, and workforce challenges.

Founded by Dana (CEO) and Erik (CTO) from RWTH research, backed by a €2.8 million funding round led by Vorwerk Ventures, with active customers leveraging our optimization solutions.

Role Overview

As our first full sales hire alongside the founders, you will lead the entire sales cycle and build the foundations to get meetings with target customers. This role requires self-starters who create opportunities rather than waiting for leads. You will work closely with Dana on deals and be responsible for the full sales process with discipline and integrity.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive new logo acquisition end-to-end: initiate outreach, conduct discovery, co-develop proof of value with internal champions, secure executive approval, and close deals focusing primarily on mid-market accounts while collaborating on strategic clients.
• Build and manage your sales pipeline and lead channels: select target accounts, execute cold messaging and outreach sequences, engage through LinkedIn and relevant industry events, and multi-thread relationships into roles such as COO, Operational Excellence leaders, Supply Chain, and Controlling executives.
• Maintain ownership of customer relationships post-discovery, partnering closely with Delivery teams to craft models that deliver tangible value, managing the relationship through paid onboarding pilots and converting to enterprise contracts.
• Create impactful sales collateral such as case studies and landing pages independently, as marketing support infrastructure is currently absent.
• Develop and document a sales playbook, analyzing conversion factors from pilot to long-term enterprise accounts, internal champion effectiveness, and deal hurdles, feeding insights back to product and positioning teams.

Expectations & Work Environment

You will be measured on qualified pipeline creation and new logos closed quarterly, emphasizing meaningful outcomes over mere activity counts. The role involves short deadlines and a demanding workload in a marketplace unfamiliar with our offering. Cooperation is prioritized over handoffs, with shared or split account management by fit or capacity.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in top-tier consulting, B2B enterprise software sales, or technical sales of complex industrial products, grounded in a technical or analytical discipline such as engineering, operations research, or computer science.
• Proven track record of owning end-to-end customer outcomes including managing deadlines and financial targets, beyond managing mere workstreams.
• Strong ability to qualify enterprise B2B accounts by understanding decision makers, blockers, triggers, and exit points.
• Capability to interpret P&L statements and converse with plant managers about operational efficiency, translating these insights into optimization opportunities and deal rationales.
• Self-starting attitude with skills to open doors via hard work and self-generated case studies, rather than relying on brand recognition or existing marketing materials.
• Fluent in German (C1 or above) and English.
• Located preferably in NRW (Cologne office), Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, or willing to engage in hybrid work arrangements. Flexible to find an arrangement if a strong fit.

Desired Traits

Highly organized, action-oriented, and competitive nature demonstrated consistently across professional experiences.

Important Notes

This position is not suitable for candidates seeking strong brand power to open doors, a completed sales playbook, an SDR team, or lengthy ramp-up times before engaging clients.

Benefits

• Opportunity to sell high-impact decision solutions driven by actual customer data instead of superficial reports.
• Direct collaboration with company founders with broad ownership and the chance to build and lead your department.
• Fast feedback cycles with clear communication and alignment to foster growth and improvement.
• Competitive salary accompanied by a significant equity participation (VSOP) aligning rewards with impact and career advancement.

Selection Process

The recruitment involves multiple stages, including initial interviews, practical exercises involving account analysis and live discovery simulations, followed by team discussions both online and in-person. Candidates can request conversations with current employees to gain insight into the role's realities.