Founding Account Executive (m/f/d)

Building the AI-First HR Automation Platform

peopleIX is evolving from a people analytics platform into the data and automation engine for HR teams. We enable companies to orchestrate HR processes, connect fragmented systems, and automate high-impact workflows with agentic AI.

Our Vision

We're building the next-generation HR platform where workflow automation is the core product, powered by our unified people data layer. Think n8n meets HR – enabling teams to create powerful automations using natural language, without IT or data engineering.

What Makes Us Different

Our platform doesn't just show you what's happening – it acts. We're moving from "insight" to "insight → action," enabling HR teams to build and run workflows themselves: absence triggers, onboarding orchestration, leave management, and intelligent alerts powered by AI.

Join Our Journey

We're a fast-growing, VC-backed startup seeking exceptional account executives to help us become the AI-first people intelligence and automation platform that legacy HR systems cannot deliver. This is not a role for everyone – we're looking for top 1% talent who thrive on ownership, speed, and impact.

Ready to shape the future of HR technology? Let's build something extraordinary together.

Build & close pipeline

• Own the entire sales cycle: prospecting, discovery, demos, negotiation, and closing
• Actively get in front of People Ops, People Analytics, HR Automation leaders, Controllers, and CHROs
• Close midmarket and enterprise deals and consistently carry and beat quota

Write the sales playbook

• Build our ICP definition, messaging, and sales narratives together with the founders
• Turn early wins and losses into repeatable sales motions
• Help define pricing logic, deal structures, and qualification criteria

Create demand (not just follow up on it)

• Build lead lists and outbound strategies proactively
• Run campaigns together with our Growth Lead and Demand Generation Manager
• Attend and leverage events, host webinars, roundtables, dinners, and small executive formats
• Do whatever it takes to create meaningful conversations and pipeline, creatively and pragmatically

Build for scale & automation

• Think AI-first and automation-first in how you sell
• Continuously improve tooling, workflows, and processes to make sales more scalable
• Collaborate closely with product to feed market signals back into roadmap decisions

Grow beyond yourself

• Work with partners and ecosystem players to unlock larger deals
• Help lay the foundation for future Account Executives
• Over time, grow into building and leading your own sales team

What this role is not

• Not an inbound-only role
• Not a “just close what marketing gives you” role
• Not a place for rigid playbooks or big-company sales politics

This role is for someone who wants to build, experiment and own outcomes

You are / You have

• Fluent in German and strong in English
• Based in Cologne, with a strong onsite presence
• 2+ years total sales experience
• 1-2+ years closing B2B SaaS deals
• Experience running €25k–€100k+ deals with 5–6 month sales cycles
• Comfortable selling into complex organizations with multiple stakeholders
• Thrive in early-stage, unstructured, high-growth environments
• Strong ownership mindset. You take responsibility and create momentum

Bonus: Experience selling to HR, People Ops, HR-IT

What we offer

• A founding role with real influence on company direction
• Real equity, real upside – competitive compensation including meaningful stock options
• Maximum impact – flat hierarchies, genuine ownership, and direct influence on GTM direction from day one
• Modern setup – office in the heart of Cologne with flexible hours and hybrid work
• Growth investment – dedicated learning & development budget plus Urban Sports Club membership
• Team culture – regular offsites with a team that moves fast and builds together

About the interview

We want to make the process as simple, enjoyable, and knowledgeable as possible for everyone involved. We typically have 4 stages:

• Short getting-to-know call (30 min)
• Deep-dive into your background and role (1h)
• Case Study (2h)
• Meet The Team: lunch/ get to know the team you’ll work with 🥳