Account Executive, Enterprise
Team: Enterprise Sales Reports to: Chief Revenue Officer Location: Boston, MA (hybrid) or remote with travel
Position summary
The Account Executive owns the full enterprise sales cycle for Ares, Assail's autonomous multi-agent offensive security platform. This is a quota-carrying, closing role focused on landing and expanding Fortune 1000 accounts across regulated industries — financial services, healthcare, automotive, retail, and critical infrastructure. The AE works alongside the CRO, sales engineering, and the founder's office to run disciplined, multi-threaded deal cycles with CISOs, VPs of Application Security, Heads of Product Security, and their teams.
This is a builder's seat. The AE will help shape the enterprise playbook, contribute to pricing and packaging conversations, and set the standard for how Assail sells.
Core tasks
- Own the full sales cycle. Prospect, qualify, run discovery, scope POVs, negotiate, and close new-logo enterprise deals. Carry an annual quota and forecast accurately every week.
- Build and manage pipeline. Generate qualified pipeline through a mix of outbound, account-based plays, ecosystem partners, events, and inbound. Maintain pipeline coverage of at least 3x quota.
- Multi-thread enterprise accounts. Map account org charts, build relationships across security, engineering, procurement, and the C-suite, and run executive-level conversations with CISOs and CIOs.
- Run rigorous discovery. Uncover the customer's application security program, current AppSec/DAST/pentest spend, compliance drivers (PCI, HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2, DORA), and the business outcomes they need.
- Lead POVs and technical evaluations. Partner with sales engineering to scope, run, and close proof-of-value engagements. Translate Ares' findings into business risk and ROI the buyer's executive team will fund.
- Negotiate and close. Lead pricing, redlines, and procurement cycles. Partner with legal and finance to close clean, multi-year enterprise agreements.
- Expand existing accounts. Drive land-and-expand motion across business units, subsidiaries, and adjacent application portfolios within named accounts.
- Operate the CRM with discipline. Keep HubSpot pristine — stage hygiene, next steps, MEDDPICC fields, close dates, and accurate forecasting. The pipeline is the product.
- Feed the company. Surface competitive intelligence, product gaps, pricing signal, and customer language back to marketing, product, and the CRO. AEs at this stage shape the company, not just hit a number.
- Represent Assail externally. Attend industry events, customer dinners, analyst briefings, and partner meetings. Carry the brand the way it deserves to be carried.
Must-have skills
- 7+ years of quota-carrying enterprise software sales experience, with at least 3 years selling cybersecurity to the Fortune 1000.
- Demonstrated track record of consistently hitting or exceeding $1M+ ARR quotas, with deal sizes of $150K–$1M+ ACV.
- Experience selling into CISOs, VPs of Application Security, Heads of Product Security, and DevSecOps leaders.
- Deep fluency in the AppSec landscape: DAST, SAST, IAST, pentesting, bug bounty, ASPM, and where each fits in the buyer's stack.
- Disciplined sales methodology — MEDDPICC, Command of the Message, Force Management, or equivalent. Able to articulate champion-building, economic-buyer access, and decision criteria with rigor.
- Strong technical credibility. Able to run a discovery call with a Head of AppSec without a sales engineer in the room, and to demo Ares competently.
- Experience running POVs and technical evaluations against incumbents and competitive tools.
- Excellent written and verbal communication. Crisp executive presence with CISOs and CIOs.
- HubSpot or Salesforce fluency, with the operational discipline to keep forecasts accurate.
- Comfortable in an early-stage environment — high autonomy, ambiguity, fast iteration, and direct collaboration with the founder and CRO.
Nice to have
- Prior experience selling an emerging-category or AI-native security product where the buyer needs education, not just comparison.
- Existing relationships with CISOs and AppSec leaders in financial services, healthcare, automotive, or critical infrastructure.
- Experience selling into the U.S. federal government, DoD, or intelligence community, including familiarity with FedRAMP, ATO processes, and federal procurement vehicles.
- Background in security engineering, penetration testing, or AppSec prior to moving into sales.
- Experience as an early AE at a Series A–C security startup that scaled.