Humaans — Founding US Account Executive

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CA Compensation: $150,000–$200,000 base + competitive equity ($300,000–$400,000 OTE, 50/50 split, uncapped) Hiring count: 1 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: Giovanni (Founder) — LinkedIn not provided on page

About Humaans

Humaans is building the next generation of workplace infrastructure: software for companies scaling fast, operating globally, and pushing into new frontiers. What started as a system of record has evolved into a broader platform for operating people globally. With Athena, its agentic AI layer, Humaans moves beyond data management into intelligent orchestration, connecting workflows across HR, IT, Finance, and Operations.

Customers include AI-native companies such as Lovable, Poolside, Fyxer AI, and Tandem Health, plus established high-growth organizations such as Quantexa, Sellpy, Manychat, Gigs, Croud, and Threecolts.

Founded: 2018 | Team size: 51–200 (Series A) | Total funding: $20M Industry: Human Resources / Workplace Infrastructure / Agentic AI Website: humaans.io Office: San Francisco

Backed by Lachy Groom (Physical Intelligence), Stewart Butterfield (Slack), Tobias Lütke (Shopify), Dylan Field (Figma), Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn), Claire Johnson (Stripe), Oliver Jay (OpenAI), Jay Simmons (Bond), Y Combinator, Moonfire, Frontline Ventures, Pathlight Ventures, and Exor.

Why Candidates Should Join

• True founding seat: First US AE, hired after the product proved out internationally. You define the US sales motion, pressure-test positioning, and turn early deals into repeatable patterns the next 5–10 AEs replicate.
• Real pipeline, fast cycles: The founder is already running sales calls with serious enterprise logos; the team recently closed a six-figure deal in nine days from the first demo. Average cycle 2–3 months, but quality logos move fast.
• Comp and backing: $300K–$400K OTE (50/50, uncapped) plus competitive equity, on top of a $20M raise from a standout investor roster (Slack, Shopify, Figma, LinkedIn, Stripe, OpenAI, YC).

Intake Call Summary

No intake-call transcript was included in the page. An Intake Video is available on the Contrario role page. Key role context from the posting:

• Founder (Giovanni) is personally driving enterprise sales calls; pipeline is live and real.
• A six-figure deal closed in nine days from first demo — quality logos move fast.
• Target customers: tech-led enterprises, 1,000–5,000 employees, selling the Athena agentic-AI layer.
• This is a zero-to-one motion — no playbook yet; the AE helps write it.
• SF in-person, with GMT overlap expected for international collaboration.

The Role

Humaans is hiring its Founding US Account Executive to close Athena's first wave of US customers — tech-led enterprises (1,000–5,000 employees) ready to rethink how work gets done with agentic AI. You'll run full-cycle deals yourself, work directly with the founder and product team, and meaningfully influence how Humaans sells, who it sells to, and why it wins.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own a full-cycle Athena pipeline in the US: discovery, qualification, demo, negotiation, close
• Run high-quality discovery with HR, Finance, Ops, and AI leaders at tech-led enterprise companies (1,000–5,000 employees)
• Sell outcomes, not features: autonomous workflows, not tools
• Build and execute creative outbound strategies (no playbook yet; you help write it)
• Work directly with the founder, Product, and CS on live deals
• Turn early wins into repeatable patterns that the next 5–10 AEs can replicate

Tech stack: N/A (sales role)

Requirements

• 3–6 years of full-cycle B2B SaaS sales experience with consistent quota attainment in competitive environments
• Proven track record closing $100K+ ACV deals with senior executives, ideally carrying $1.5M+ quotas
• Sold into tech-led enterprise companies of 1,000–5,000 employees (Stripe, Plaid, comparable). Has personally driven specific named logos through to close.
• Zero-to-one signal: has sold without strong brand recognition, done the outbound, written the LinkedIn messages and emails themselves, and dealt with friction independently
• Strong tenure pattern: no year-here-year-there job-hopping. Rob direct gate: "won't get through the founder's screen."

Green Flags

• Founding AE or early enterprise AE at a Series A–C startup with named logo wins. Direct match for the zero-to-one motion.
• Has closed specific tech-led enterprise logos (Stripe, Plaid, comparable) and can name the deals they personally drove
• Demonstrated tenure across roles.
• AI-native or agentic AI product sales experience
• Track record selling new/innovative product categories (no repeatable playbook to lean on)
• Sold to AI-native customers (Stripe, Plaid, Lovable-tier) at prior companies
• Hunter mentality with high tolerance for rejection

Red Flags

• HR tech background (Bamboo, Workday, HiBob, Rippling, comparable)
• Job-hopper pattern: multiple roles under 1 year. Hard founder-screen exclude.
• Career is only megacorp / enterprise sales orgs (Salesforce, Oracle, comparable) without scrappy or startup chapters. Won't transition well to zero-to-one motion.

Role Details

Salary$150,000–$200,000 baseOTE$300,000–$400,000 (50/50 split, uncapped)EquityCompetitive equityOn-site policySF in-person; GMT overlap for international collaborationVisa sponsorshipNone availableEmployment typeFull-timeLocationSan Francisco, CA

Benefits: Top-tier private health, vision, and dental coverage · New MacBook and tools · Learning & development budget.

Screening Questions

None provided on the role page.

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — Application Review — Resume/profile review. Stage 3 — Initial Screen — Recruiter/initial screen. Stage 4 — Hiring Manager Interview — With the hiring manager. Stage 5 — Final Interview — Final-round interview. Stage 6 — Offer Extended Stage 7 — Candidate Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

Note: stage durations and descriptions were not detailed on the page; the above reflects the pipeline stages shown.

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

Not provided as a dedicated section on the page. Signals inferable from the flags: Positive comparables — Series A–C startups with founding/early-enterprise AE roles; tech-led enterprise logos (Stripe, Plaid, Lovable-tier). Negative comparables — HR tech (Bamboo, Workday, HiBob, Rippling); megacorp-only sales orgs (Salesforce, Oracle).

Ideal Candidate Profiles

None provided on the role page.

Rejected Candidate Feedback

None yet.