Enterprise Account Executive, Southeast

About the role

You will own the end to end sales cycle for strategic enterprise accounts in the Southeast region, driving new business and expansion within high value customers. You will act as a trusted advisor to C level stakeholders, aligning their business objectives with Kong's API and AI connectivity platform. This role requires you to build and execute tailored sales strategies that capitalize on open source and enterprise software trends. You will leverage consultative selling to uncover complex pain points and present Kong Konnect as the critical infrastructure for the agentic era. The position demands collaboration with internal teams to ensure product feedback and customer success align with market needs. You will be responsible for forecasting, pipeline management, and accurately tracking opportunities in CRM systems. This is a role for a sales professional who thrives in dynamic, entrepreneurial environments and directly impacts recurring revenue growth.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Research and qualify enterprise accounts in the Southeast territory, identifying new business opportunities and untapped growth potential.
• Develop and execute multi year sales strategies that target large enterprises with over five thousand employees across diverse industries.
• Own the full sales cycle, managing complex deals from initial prospecting through negotiation, legal review, and successful contract closure.
• Conduct discovery sessions with senior executives and cross functional stakeholders to uncover critical business challenges and objectives.
• Deliver tailored product demonstrations of Kong Konnect, highlighting how API and AI connectivity solutions address specific enterprise requirements.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with key decision makers, positioning yourself as a strategic advisor rather than a transactional seller.
• Utilize Salesforce or similar CRM platforms to forecast revenue, monitor sales metrics, and maintain detailed interaction records.
• Analyze competitor offerings and market trends to refine positioning and ensure Kong remains the leading connectivity platform.
• Collaborate with product and marketing teams to provide market feedback that influences roadmap priorities and go to market initiatives.
• Represent the Kong brand at industry conferences, customer meetings, and networking events, embodying the company's innovative spirit.
• Monitor pipeline health and revenue targets, ensuring accurate forecasting and proactive management of deals in various stages.
• Drive account expansion within existing customers by identifying new use cases and adoption opportunities for Kong's platform.
• Work closely with customer success and implementation teams to ensure smooth onboarding and long term satisfaction.
• Communicate value propositions clearly, demonstrating the massive upside and uncapped commissions associated with Kong's growth model.

Requirements

• Possess seven or more years of experience in enterprise sales, with a significant portion spent in SaaS, cloud, or enterprise software environments.
• Hold a proven track record of closing complex deals with large enterprises, often involving budgets exceeding typical mid market thresholds.
• Demonstrate experience selling solutions to senior level executives across multiple departments within a single organization.
• Exhibit strong consultative selling skills, using structured methodologies to understand needs and present aligned solutions.
• Have excellent communication and negotiation abilities, capable of managing high stakes conversations with executive level stakeholders.
• Show a results driven mindset with a consistent history of exceeding sales quotas and revenue targets.
• Leverage CRM platforms such as Salesforce to accurately forecast future revenue and monitor key performance indicators.
• Display knowledge of open source software, API management, or infrastructure software, which is considered highly advantageous for this role.
• Thrive in a fast paced, entrepreneurial setting, taking full ownership of your territory and adapting to shifting priorities.
• Apply analytical and strategic thinking to identify growth opportunities and design actionable plans to capture them.
• Understand the fundamentals of subscription based revenue models and the importance of customer retention in early stage companies.
• Be comfortable navigating complex buying committees and influencing stakeholders without direct authority.

Practical notes

• Hours: Full time.