Strategic Account Executive - Telecommunications

Who are we?

Our mission is to scale intelligence to serve humanity. We’re training and deploying frontier models for developers and enterprises who are building AI systems to power magical experiences like content generation, semantic search, RAG, and agents. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. We like to work hard and move fast to do what’s best for our customers.

Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are passionate about their craft. Each person is one of the best in the world at what they do. We believe that a diverse range of perspectives is a requirement for building great products.

Join us on our mission and shape the future!

Strategic Account Executive - Telecommunications

Why this role?

In this role, you will have ownership of the full sales cycle - from identifying leads to closing deals with Global 2000, large enterprises within the telecommunications sector. We’re looking for an approachable and compelling communicator who loves working with prospects to uncover their needs and feels comfortable developing tailored value propositions around how Cohere’s platform can help them achieve their business goals. You’ll lay the foundation for Cohere’s growth by owning your territory and collaborating with teammates across customer success, sales development, marketing, and solution architecture. You’ll be the voice of the field and help our product and engineering teams prioritize the Cohere roadmap with customer-centric care. It’s a highly self-directed role, so you should be someone who thrives in an unstructured and quickly evolving environment. And your opportunity for impact will be astronomical — Cohere has skies-the-limit potential, and you’ll help us reach it.

As a Strategic Account Executive focused on the Telecommunications industry, you will:

• Focus on net-new logo acquisition via outbound activity and relationship building with key stakeholders while also bringing a strong network of key decision-maker and influencer contacts and relationships in the telecommunications industries to accelerate engagements, drive strategic partnerships and win sales opportunities

• Work closely with customers and prospects as a consultative, trusted advisor who deeply understands their challenges and goals, their technology ecosystem, and will tailor solutions to drive measurable impact for their businesses

• Work in close partnership with channel partners to find opportunities to scale outreach and customer satisfaction in your region

• Collaborate with product and engineering teams as well as customer success on strategic motions to deliver solutions to large enterprise customers

• Collaborate with Sales Development Representatives to drive top of funnel activity

• Own the full sales cycle – from initial outreach through proof-of-concept, pilot, deal close, and deployment ; this is not a transactional sale that you can walk away from after the contract is signed but rather requires ongoing oversight of the project to ensure success

You may be a good fit if you have:

• 8+ years of previous B2B sales experience with Global 2000, large enterprises in the telecommunications sector, negotiating and closing transformational multi-year (2-5 year) SaaS deals in the 7 figure range, and a track record of high performance and exceeding quota

• Previous experience as a technical consultative salesperson, selling complex products, such as developer tools, API products, or AI / NLP solutions, are a plus, with a focus on applications in the telecommunications sector

• Previous experience working with customers during the deployment phase of the engagement, aligning on how best to configure and customize the solution that supports success in production and builds trust to set up for expansion and growth

• Previous experience working with channel partners such as cloud hyperscalers and system integrators to drive sales cycles and hit shared revenue goals

• High tolerance for ambiguity - as an early sales hire, you’ll have to be a self-starter, doer and a strategist who is capable of wearing many hats and doing what it takes to figure out a path to success

• Curiosity - you want to go deep on NLP and become an expert on our technology while considering how to fit into a large organization’s technology landscape with a focus on its applications in the telecommunications sector

• Fantastic communication skills - you are a great listener, have a knack for understanding what matters most to others, build strong relationships, can speak to the c-suite, and feel comfortable speaking to both technical and non-technical audiences in the telecommunications sector

Additional Requirements:

• Deep understanding of the telecommunications industry (customer care / call centers, network operations, field service operations, OSS/BSS systems, billing & provisioning, fraud & identity, retail operations), as well as key trends, challenges, and opportunities

• Ability to articulate the value of AI and NLP solutions in the context of telecommunications operations such as network assurance and proactive fault management, capacity planning and network resource optimization, and customer care (including sales and retention)

• Experience working with regulatory and compliance requirements specific to the telecommunications industry

If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply!

We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.

Full-Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks:

🤝 An open and inclusive culture and work environment 

🧑‍💻 Work closely with a team on the cutting edge of AI research 

🍽 Weekly lunch stipend, in-office lunches & snacks

🦷 Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget to take care of your mental health 

🐣 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months

🎨 Personal enrichment benefits towards arts and culture, fitness and well-being, quality time, and workspace improvement

🏙 Remote-flexible, offices in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, London and Paris, as well as a co-working stipend

✈️ 6 weeks of vacation (30 working days!)