The problem
The hospital teams running ECMO, VAD, transplant and cardiac surgery programs care for the sickest patients in the hospital. They also spend hours every week copying data from the EMR into registry forms by hand, and can’t use their data in real-time to help patients get better.
ORCA does that automatically. It pulls data straight from the EMR, keeps it registry-ready, and gives the program a live view of its outcomes. Kirklin Solutions grew out of Dr. James Kirklin's outcomes work at UAB, and our software already supports more than 300 hospitals in 26 countries.
The job
You'll own the Western US: about half the country's hospitals. Your job is to get ORCA into every ECMO, VAD, cardiogenic shock, transplant and STS cardiac surgery program in that territory. You'll run each deal yourself, from the first call to signature.
Markets:
VAD and transplant: We already work with most of these hospitals Warm Lead: Expand into programs that know us.
ECMO: Our largest market Cold Lead: You’ll book your own meetings.
STS cardiac surgery (launching next year): The most hospitals of any market Cold Lead: You’ll open the market.
Three things decide whether you succeed
Getting a busy program coordinator to take your call. In ECMO and STS, nobody has heard of us yet. You'll book your own meetings, mostly by phone.
Getting the medical director to say yes, and the budget confirmed. Once a program's physician leader wants ORCA and the money is identified, deals usually close.
Not letting deals stall in IT review. Hospital vendor reviews can take 2–9 months. The best reps keep them moving instead of waiting.
Everything else in the job supports those three.
How a deal runs
About 2 months to a decision, 1-2 months to confirm budget, 2–6 months through IT vendor review, and 4–6 weeks of contracting. We've closed deals in 6 months, but plan on about a year.
What you get, and what's hard
What you get:
Equity in a fast-growing SaaS company whose partners include Mayo Clinic (Rochester), UCLA and other leading health systems.
A sales process that's already built. You won't have to invent how we sell.
A detailed list of the stakeholders at every target hospital, so you know who to call before you pick up the phone.
A warm base: most VAD and transplant programs in your territory already work with us.
What's hard:
It's a startup. There's no big team behind you and no marketing department generating your leads.
You'll largely run yourself. After your first 3 months of onboarding, oversight is light. You set your own priorities and hold yourself to the number.
You'll cold call. ECMO is our largest market and STS will have the most hospitals, and both need you to open doors yourself.
You'll build some of your own materials. In year one, expect to create sales collateral beyond what exists today.
Cycles are long. Most of a year passes between first call and signature, much of it waiting on hospital IT.
If you need a win every month to stay motivated, you'll hate this job.
What success looks like
By | Target:
Month 3: You know ORCA and our process, have a territory plan, and are booking first meetings with ECMO programs and existing VAD and transplant customers.
Month 12: 12 programs with medical-director commitment, 8 with confirmed budget.
Month 15: 3 programs signed, most likely starting with warm VAD and transplant expansions.
Year 2: 11 programs signed, plus the pipeline for year three.
A typical week
Roughly: 40% prospecting (calls and emails to programs that don't know us), 40% running active deals, 10% chasing IT reviews and contracts, 10% building materials.
You might be a fit if
You've carried a quota for 3+ years and usually hit it
You've closed deals with several decision-makers, where you found the champion and brought everyone else along
You've picked up the phone and booked your own meetings, and you're willing to keep doing it
You've had a deal that should have died and didn't, because you kept it alive
You'd rather follow a process that works than reinvent one, and you keep your CRM honest
It helps if you've sold software or capital equipment into hospitals, or worked around cardiac, critical care or transplant programs. It isn't required.
This isn't for you if
You need a marketing team handing you leads
You want a manager setting your priorities each week
You want short cycles and quick wins
You won't cold call
You want a big-company playbook and a large support team
Compensation
Base salary: $81,000–$90,000
On-target earnings: $135,000–$150,000 (60% base / 40% variable)
Ramp support: a guaranteed, 50% non-recoverable draw on variable pay for your first four months
Uncapped commission on every signed program, with accelerators above quota
Equity stake, plus [benefits and PTO]
The final offer depends on experience and location.
Location and travel
Remote, ideally in NY, NJ, PA. Minimal travel required (<4 trips per year).
How to apply
Go to https://kirklin-solutions-inc.gnahiring.com/job/1069880/enterprise-account-executive-west to apply and submit your résumé and answers to the questions. Skip the cover letter. In the “Any Additional Files” section, upload a Word document answering the following questions in under 200 words each:
How you'd get a busy ECMO coordinator who's never heard of us to give you 20 minutes.
About a deal that should have died and didn't. What did you do?
We read every application that follows these instructions.
Kirklin Solutions is an equal opportunity employer.