Telecom Account Executive

Telecom Account Executive at Canonical

Canonical is seeking dedicated Telecom Account Executives to join our globally distributed team. We are particularly interested in candidates who can cover markets such as the Middle East, DACH region, Nordics, Eastern Europe, and the USA. Fluency in the local language for these regions is preferable. Canonical stands as a formidable challenger to established enterprise software vendors, pioneering better open source solutions from the data center to the cloud and edge environments.

Ubuntu, our Linux distribution, is a leading platform for public cloud compute and a preferred choice for software engineers, data scientists, and AI developers. Our mission is to accelerate the global adoption and quality of open source, aiming to deploy the most software on the planet by cores. We believe the next phase of the enterprise software industry is a tidal wave of open source innovation, and Canonical is poised to lead this transformation.

Our diverse customer base includes Global 500 enterprises and innovative startups. We are continually expanding our product offerings from the foundational Ubuntu operating system to comprehensive enterprise solutions covering infrastructure and applications. This includes software-defined storage, private cloud solutions, container runtime environments, databases, message queues, identity, observability, analytics, machine learning, and web publishing. Customers value the convenience of consolidated security compliance and support for all open source needs from a single provider. Our ambition is to offer more solutions than any other vendor, leveraging unique capabilities across all cloud platforms, compute classes, and application categories.

Canonical delivers licensed enterprise software products, commercial support, managed services, consulting, and training to customers deploying Ubuntu or open source applications across cloud, data center, IoT, and connected device ecosystems. With over 1,000 colleagues in 70+ countries and $250m in profitable revenue, we are on a steady, relentless growth trajectory. Our company is almost entirely distributed, with leadership spanning numerous nations. We champion the belief that talent is globally distributed and are committed to hiring, developing, promoting, and trusting a diverse group of exceptional leaders to build an unparalleled, rather than merely large, enterprise software company.

Our hiring process is thorough and demanding, reflecting our high standards for performance and character. Successful applicants typically take three to six months to secure an offer, making it an ideal path for ambitious individuals with a long-term career perspective and a clear understanding of open source's ascent and enterprise procurement dynamics. We select for exceptional ability, character, and foster an environment that celebrates diligence, collaboration, and effectiveness in pursuit of excellence.

Sales Team Philosophy

When building our sales team, we prioritize five core qualities:

• Empathy for the customer: A deep understanding of customer needs, industry-specific challenges, and a genuine desire to deliver solutions.
• High intellect: The capacity for rapid learning, comprehending complex subjects, and communicating clearly to build trust.
• Passion for technology: A fascination with cutting-edge innovations and the drive to compete for significant market prizes.
• Teamwork: A readiness to collaborate across disciplines, support colleagues, and balance individual and team objectives.
• Energy: The self-motivation and drive to achieve optimal results for both the team and our customers.

Ubuntu's widespread adoption provides a credible foundation for market conversations. However, our sales professionals are expected to actively build on this, transforming adoption into trusted and profitable commercial relationships within their territories. While our product and marketing teams generate leads, you will be responsible for proactively developing territory potential beyond inbound interest. This requires discerning which industries and companies are ripe for deeper engagement with open source and Canonical, and the energy to cultivate relationships proactively. We expect rigorous professional practice, comprehensive territory and account planning, and consistent, transparent reporting on pipeline status and activities using standard professional tools.

The successful Telecom Account Executive will manage an annual bookings quota within an assigned territory, necessitating regional travel for client engagements and industry conferences, as well as international travel twice a year for company events. You will be expected to demonstrate professionalism, effectively prospect for new business, nurture existing relationships, and collaborate with colleagues and partners on account strategy. Comfort in selling enterprise software, open source, cloud, virtualization, container technologies, and technical solutions to senior enterprise levels is essential.

A Day in the Life as a Telecom Account Executive

• Represent Canonical, its solutions, and software within your assigned territory.
• Develop and execute a strategic territory plan to prioritize outreach and prospecting efforts.
• Generate new pipeline through proactive outreach, targeted prospecting, local marketing initiatives, and industry events.
• Successfully close contracts to consistently meet and exceed quarterly and annual bookings targets.
• Proactively manage customer relationships and interactions throughout every stage of the sales cycle.
• Collaborate with field engineers to propose tailored solutions that address our customers’ business challenges.
• Work with customer success teams to identify and capitalize on growth opportunities within existing accounts.
• Maintain precise pipeline data and accurate forecasts within Salesforce.
• Cultivate productive professional relationships with key influencers and decision-makers.

What Canonical Looks For

• Bachelor's level degree, with a preference for engineering or computer science disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience with open source technology and solutions.
• Detail-oriented approach coupled with effective follow-up skills.
• Proven experience in enterprise software or technology sales planning and execution.
• A strong track record of achieving sales targets and securing new account wins.
• Self-discipline and high motivation to excel within a distributed team environment.
• Professional written and spoken English, along with any relevant local language proficiency for your target market.
• Availability to travel for customer engagements, industry events, and company gatherings.

Additional Skills of Interest

• Specific vertical industry experience, particularly in finance, telco, health, energy, public sector, or general tech.
• Experience speaking at conferences or industry events.

What Canonical Offers

We determine compensation based on geographical location, experience, and performance, with annual reviews (and more frequent reviews for graduates and associates) to acknowledge exceptional contributions. In addition to a competitive base salary, we offer a performance-driven commission structure. Our benefits package reflects our values and aims to meet local needs while ensuring global fairness.

• Distributed work environment with bi-annual in-person team sprints.
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year.
• Annual compensation review.
• Recognition rewards program.
• Generous annual holiday leave.
• Maternity and paternity leave policies.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Opportunities to travel to new locations for colleague interaction.
• Priority Pass access and travel upgrades for long-haul company events.

Key skills/competency

• Enterprise Sales
• Account Management
• Open Source Software
• Cloud Solutions
• Territory Planning
• Pipeline Management
• Negotiation Skills
• Customer Relationship Management
• Technical Sales
• Quota Achievement