Account Associate, Japan
The Account Associate will generate and qualify enterprise sales pipeline in Japan through outbound prospecting, discovery, stakeholder mapping, and partnership with Account Directors. The role requires 6+ years of experience, strong Japanese and English communication, and B2B technology or SaaS sales expertise.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Run high-quality outbound motions tailored to Japan Strategic & Large Enterprise, DNB, and Startup accounts.
- Turn product usage, inbound interest, pilot activity, and outbound efforts into qualified pipeline.
- Partner with Account Directors on account strategy, multi-threading, and deal progression.
- Lead discovery to uncover business priorities, map stakeholders, and assess enterprise readiness.
- Contribute to pipeline reviews with outbound activity, account insights, and early competitive signals.
- Build and iterate on AI-enabled GTM workflows, including GPTs and agents, to scale prospecting and qualification.
- Provide local market feedback to HQ and improve Japan playbooks.
Requirements
- Native or near-native Japanese with strong business communication skills.
- Business-level English and the ability to work effectively with HQ and cross-functional teams.
- Strong track record in B2B SaaS, technology sales development, startup sales, or similar roles.
- Proven ability to generate pipeline through outbound prospecting and inbound qualification.
- Strong discovery, follow-up, and stakeholder-mapping skills.
- Comfortable speaking with technical buyers in Product, Engineering, IT, Data, and Security.
- High ownership, strong judgment, and comfort operating in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment.
- 6+ years of total work experience; 7–10 years is recommended.
- 3–5+ years of relevant SDR, BDR, inside sales, startup sales, enterprise/commercial account executive, or similar GTM experience.
- Some closing or full-cycle sales experience is strongly preferred.
Nice-to-haves
- Ability to build trust quickly with Japanese customers.
- Experience in startup or high-growth environments selling into regulated or complex industries such as Financial Services, Life Sciences, or Retail.
- Consistent achievement against ambitious targets.
- Experience selling APIs, developer tools, cloud, data, security, or other technical products.
- Strong hands-on AI experience and the ability to translate AI products into clear business value.
- Ability to bridge Japan market needs and HQ.
Compensation and Benefits
- The role provides meaningful exposure to enterprise sales, product, and customer strategy.
- It is designed as a potential path toward Account Director or broader GTM roles, based on performance and business needs.
Skills
B2B SaaS, Outbound Prospecting, Inbound Qualification, Discovery, Stakeholder Mapping, Enterprise Sales, Full-Cycle Sales, Account Strategy, Gpts, AI Agents, APIs, Cloud, Data, Security
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