Account Executive

The way companies innovate is broken. The systems built to create and protect ideas can’t keep up with the pace of change. Today, 90% of S&P 500 company value is intangible (e.g., in intellectual property) - yet R&D and IP teams spend half their time buried in manual work, sifting through patents and paperwork instead of pushing the frontier forward. The tools of creating and protecting are stuck in the past. We’re here to fix that. Ankar is building the R&D tools for the AI era and defining what applied research will look like in the next 20 years. We’re building infrastructure and product experiences our customers rely on every day. You’ll translate messy, ambiguous problems into clean, dependable software—and you’ll do it at the cutting-edge of AI.

We’re at an inflection point: We’ve raised >$24M to date from Tier-1 VCs like Atomico, Index Ventures, Norrsken, Daphni, and angels like the Founder of Hugging Face, CEO from Datadog, and Leaders from DeepMind and OpenAI. We’re already working with the world’s most innovative companies including Fortune 500 company L’Oréal and global law firm Vorys Expanding our world-class team with alumni from Palantir, Amazon, and BCG to tackle the $1T+ innovation market. We’re just getting started.

What you’ll be doing:

• As one of our Founding AEs, you’ll work closely with our Head of Sales and co-founders to drive new business and expand our customer base.
• You’ll manage the full sales cycle with enterprise and mid-market accounts, helping the world’s most innovative organizations adopt our AI platform to accelerate their IP and R&D work.
• Drive the end-to-end sales process: prospecting, discovery, demos, solution positioning, negotiation, and closing ($50k–100k+ ACV).
• Execute our GTM strategy by bringing our messaging, ICPs, and sales playbook to life in conversations with prospects.
• Consistently build and manage a strong pipeline via outbound, inbound, and industry events.
• Deliver compelling presentations, proposals, and reports tailored to customer needs.
• Partner with the Head of Sales to refine our sales processes, share market insights, and contribute to a culture of learning and improvement.
• Collaborate with marketing, product, and engineering to provide feedback and influence our roadmap and go-to-market initiatives.
• Build trusted, long-term relationships with prospects and customers.

This role is for an energetic, curious, scrappy and hungry operator - with exceptional communication and problem-solving skills - who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment. We see this role as a continuous escalator towards taking more responsibility at Ankar.

What we are looking for:

• 5+ years experience in B2B SaaS go-to-market and sales (experience with enterprise or mid-market deals preferred).
• A track record of consistently exceeding revenue targets.
• Ability to run the full sales cycle - from prospecting and discovery to demos, negotiations, and closing.
• Resilience and resourcefulness - you’re proactive in generating pipeline, creative in finding new ways to reach customers, and persistent in moving deals forward.
• Agency - you take pride in your work, approach problems critically, and consistently look for ways to improve.
• [Bonus points] Have experience working in early-stage startups, commercialising AI or IP-related products, or selling to law firms, patent attorneys or in-house IP professionals.
• [Bonus points] A strong existing network in enterprise innovation, R&D, or IP teams.

Culture at Ankar:

Culture at Ankar is how we think, build, and operate. We’re building a generational company that redefines how the world’s best R&D teams create and protect ideas.

• Contrarian - we think from first principles: We think deeply, question assumptions, and build from first principles. The best ideas come from clarity and rigour.
• Creative - we build with taste: We’re building the R&D tools for the AI era and shaping what applied research looks like over the next 20 years. We care about precision, quality, and systems that last.
• Competitiveness - we play to win: We move with urgency and set a very high bar for ourselves and each other. Every win raises the bar. Every challenge sharpens us.

This role is not for you if...

• You need a highly structured environment, a predefined playbook, regular working hours, or a schedule that never requires travel. We operate with high autonomy and ownership, expect our team to go above and beyond, be obsessed with our mission and thrive in ambiguity rather than wait for direction.
• You prefer long planning cycles and certainty before acting. We move quickly, ship often, and adapt based on customer feedback and new information.
• You want to manage the work rather than do the work. We're builders first, and everyone is expected to contribute directly to creating exceptional products.
• You take it personally when ideas are challenged, priorities shift, or work gets redirected. We care more about finding the right answer than defending a particular one.

What we put behind our people:

Building at the frontier takes exceptional people. We invest accordingly.

• Health Insurance: Full private health & dental coverage for you and your dependents.
• Pension: Flexible pension scheme with up to 5% employer matching on qualifying earnings.
• Food on us: Team lunches twice a week, plus dinner when working late in the office.
• Cycle to work: Green Commute initiative scheme (up to £3k) to help you get a new bike tax‑free.
• Way we work: We combine deep, in-person collaboration (3 days/week in our Shoreditch office) with flexibility and trust. What matters is ownership, impact, and results, not where you work from.
• Visa sponsorship: Yes.