Inside Sales Representative

About Aiven

Aiven is a global company with a team of over 400 professionals focused on advancing open-source technology and multi-cloud solutions. Our mission is to empower developers and builders to bring ideas to life quickly and easily by delivering a cloud data platform that provides simple access to open-source databases, search, streaming, and application infrastructure.

Role Overview

As an Inside Sales Representative, you will be responsible for driving consistent revenue growth by acquiring new customers and expanding usage within rapidly growing technology companies with annual revenues between 1M-100M. This role focuses on high-velocity and high-volume sales, targeting companies in critical scaling phases as they evolve from tactical to strategic data infrastructure solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Generate 100% of your sales pipeline by hunting new logos via the product-led growth inbound engine and self-sourced opportunities from scale-up events.
• Qualify 4-6 sales opportunities monthly, averaging 30K ARR deal size, using the MEDDPICC qualification framework.
• Create an annual qualified pipeline worth 1.2M through disciplined territory management and multi-channel prospecting.
• Close about 10 new customers per year with an average deal size of 30K ARR within your assigned EMEA territory, focusing on sectors such as Digital Natives, AI scale-ups, Fintech, B2B SaaS, Digital Commerce, and Industrial Tech.
• Manage the complete sales cycle, from prospecting and discovery through technical validation, negotiation, and closing within typically 60-90 day sales cycles.
• Maintain target account lists of 100-150 ideal customers and perform deep research using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, and 6sense to identify triggers and buying signals.
• Conduct 80-100+ prospecting touches weekly through calls, emails, LinkedIn, and video messages to engage target personas.
• Build trusted partnerships with Directors and VPs in Engineering, Platform, DevOps, and Data roles to challenge current data infrastructure and propose Aiven's strategic solutions.
• Become an expert on Aiven’s platform technologies, including Kafka, PostgreSQL, OpenSearch, ClickHouse, and more, articulating core benefits such as reduced operational overhead, faster production times, and optimized infrastructure costs.
• Employ MEDDPICC sales processes rigorously to ensure quality pipeline documentation in Salesforce and maintain sales forecast accuracy above 85%.
• Collaborate with Solution Architects for technical validation and Customer Success for smooth onboarding and adoption.
• Work with Product and Engineering teams to incorporate customer feedback and influence roadmap priorities.
• Develop rolling 90-day territory plans, monitor market signals including funding and technology adoption, and represent Aiven at regional industry events to expand the network and pipeline.
• Consistently achieve sales quotas and maintain a balanced quarterly pipeline coverage ratio of at least 4:1.

Candidate Profile

• 2-4 years of experience in high-velocity B2B SaaS sales, particularly technical solutions for companies with under 100M ARR.
• Proven ability to independently generate 1M-2M in qualified pipeline annually with consistent quota achievement on high-volume, lower-ACV targets.
• Strong hunter mentality with experience closing 10-15 new customers annually, dealing with 25K-50K ACV transactions and sales cycles of 60-90 days.
• Excellent prospecting skills capable of performing over 100 weekly outreach attempts resulting in 10-15% meeting conversion rates.
• Experienced in outcome-focused selling and comfortable challenging client preconceptions to promote better solutions, aligning with Challenger Sales methodology.
• Proficient in MEDDPICC or similar sales qualification frameworks, with strong command in articulating value propositions throughout the sales process.
• Technical knowledge of open-source and cloud-based data infrastructure technologies including Apache Kafka and databases, capable of bridging technical and business discussions.
• Familiar with the EMEA technology market and venture capital funding dynamics, targeting scaling companies with 1M-50M revenue.
• Strong executive communication, presentation, and negotiation skills, able to engage C-level and senior tech leadership effectively.
• Fluency in Finnish is an advantage but not required.
• A self-motivated, entrepreneurial work ethic thriving in high-growth, fast-paced environments, with experience in startups or scale-ups preferred.
• Willingness to travel up to 15% for team meetings and industry events, adaptable to both remote and office working environments.

Global Benefits

• Participation in the company equity plan.
• Hybrid working policy to balance personal and professional life.
• Choice of equipment needed for success.
• Professional development budget and learning opportunities.
• Comprehensive wellbeing support through a global Employee Assistance Program.
• Inclusive time-off policies including parental, sick, and personal leave.
• Country-specific employee benefits for those based in Cork, Ireland.

Equal Opportunity and Accommodation

Aiven is committed to equal employment opportunities without discrimination based on personal attributes or background. The company complies with local employment laws and provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs. Prospective candidates may inquire prior to applying.