US Sales Lead

Job description

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. US Expansion Current US Footprint The US will be our largest market; we already have revenue, customers, and pipeline - now we’re building the team to scale it. - Active customers across US corporate IP teams and leading law firms - Mid-five to mid-six figure ARR already coming from US accounts - Ongoing enterprise conversations with larger US-based organizations The US is generating meaningful revenue today without a local team. We’ve validated demand and built pipeline from the UK. Now we’re formalizing our US go-to-market. Next 12 Months Over the next year, our ambition is to : - Build our first US enterprise sales pod (AEs, patent attorneys, GTM support) - Close multiple six-figure enterprise accounts - Establish Ankar as a category leader in AI for patent workflows in the US - Lay the foundations for long-term US infrastructure and leadership This role is not about territory management - it’s a market building role. What you’ll be doing As our Founding US Sales Leader, you’ll build and lead Ankar’s US go-to-market from the ground up. This is a player–coach role. You will personally own and close complex enterprise deals while setting the standard for how we sell in the US. You will: - Own a new-business quota and run full-cycle enterprise deals end-to-end — from sourcing and deep discovery through pilot design, negotiation, and close. - Aggressively land pilots and convert them into long-term, six-figure enterprise accounts. - Spend significant time on the road with customers — building relationships, driving momentum, and developing real conviction in-market. - Establish and enforce high standards across: - Sales process and methodology - Deal qualification and quality - Pipeline discipline and forecasting rigor - Translate complex AI and patent/IP workflows into clear business value for senior stakeholders. - Iterate messaging, positioning, and pricing based on live market feedback. - Hire, coach, and develop future US AEs — raising the bar on execution and culture from day one. - Partner closely with the London team to: - Avoid territory conflicts - Leverage existing relationships and references - Feed US learnings back into the global sales playbook You will report directly to the founders and work closely with the London sales team from day one. This is a true build-from-scratch mandate — with significant ownership, visibility, and long-term upside. What we are looking for You likely: - Have 7+ years of experience in enterprise B2B SaaS sales, with a track record of closing complex, six-figure deals. - Have experience opening new markets, territories, or building sales functions from an early stage. - Are comfortable in a true player–coach role — carrying quota while developing others. - Thrive in ambiguity and can create structure where none exists. - Are confident selling to senior decision-makers in enterprise environments. - Are highly disciplined with pipeline management and forecasting. - Are energized by being in front of customers — and willing to travel heavily in the early days. - [Bonus points] Have experience selling AI, technical platforms, or workflow software into enterprise teams. - [Bonus points] Have sold into law firms, patent attorneys, or in-house IP / R&D functions. - [Bonus points] Have built or scaled a US sales team at an early-stage (Series A/B) company. 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.