Senior Account Executive

Leonardo.Ai, an Australian tech startup now part of Canva, is on a transformative mission to democratise design and ignite the world's creativity through our groundbreaking AI-powered platform. With over 50 million users worldwide, we’re rapidly expanding our footprint across enterprise, creative teams, and professional workflows.

We’re looking for a Senior Business Development Manager (AE) to join our fast‑growing Sales team with a strong focus on 0→1 growth. This role is ideal for someone who has helped companies enter new verticals or territories, land the first customers, and has a “hunter” sales mentality. Our team operates as a “Business within a Business” (B2B motion within a B2C company), so someone with experience driving those initiatives is preferred.

You will own early market development within a specific vertical or territory (e.g.mid‑market creative industries such as marketing, advertising, gaming, and related sectors). This is not a purely inbound or expansion role - you’ll be responsible for opening the market, validating use cases, and converting early adopters into referenceable customers.

You’ll work closely with the Business Development Director and cross‑functional partners to define strategy, test messaging, and turn early traction into a scalable pipeline.

• Build New Business Growth in New Markets: Proactively prospect and acquire new clients for our Teams and API products, building a foundation for exponential growth in the US market.

• Land First Customers: Own the full sales cycle for early customers - from outbound prospecting and discovery through close - turning pilots and first deals into long‑term relationships.

• Validate Use Cases & Messaging: Work directly with customers to validate product‑market fit, refine value propositions, and develop compelling use cases for each vertical.

• Create Early GTM Playbooks: Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Product to document what works - ICPs, objections, pricing signals, and sales motions - to support future scaling.

• Pipeline Creation From Scratch: Proactively generate and manage pipeline through cold outreach, personal networks, and targeted account strategies.

• Product Evangelism: Run high‑impact demos and discovery sessions that clearly articulate Leonardo.Ai’s value for early adopters.

• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Act as the voice of early customers, feeding insights back to product, marketing, and engineering to shape roadmap and onboarding.

• Market Intelligence: Track competitive activity, emerging trends, and customer feedback to position Leonardo.Ai as a category leader.

• Process Building: Help define and improve early sales processes, CRM hygiene, and reporting as we scale in new markets.

• Proven experience in 0→1 sales or business development, including launching new verticals, territories, or products.

• Strong outbound skills (email, LinkedIn, calls, networks) and resilience in early‑stage selling.

• Comfort operating in ambiguous, unstructured environments, especially given the fast-paced, ever-evolving space of AI. There is no standard playbook here.

• Ability to wear multiple hats as needed in different functions (for example, creating your own marketing materials for a client, giving product teams feedback, working with legal on contracts, etc.)

• B2B SaaS, software, cloud, or API sales experience.

• Familiarity with creative industries (gaming, marketing, advertising, media) is a plus.

• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to work independently while collaborating with a global team.

• Willingness to travel interstate and overseas as needed.

We’re building more than a product - we’re building a team where bold ideas, curiosity, and creativity are not just welcomed, they’re expected!

We’re inclusive by design. Diversity isn’t just something we celebrate; it’s core to how we think, build, and grow. Your perspective matters here. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and empowered. At Leonardo AI, your unique perspectives and experiences are welcomed and essential to our success.

Work flexibly, thrive globally. When life works, work thrives! We believe in building space for both. We’re a remote-first team with teammates across Australia, EMEA, the US, and beyond. Whether you're dialing in from your kitchen, a coworking space, or one of our vibrant hubs. You’re trusted to work where you work best.

Your growth = our momentum. You’ll be supported with the resources, mentorship, and autonomy to stretch, level up, and carve out the next stage of your career. Your development is our priority - no one becomes stagnant here!

Make impact from Day One. We move fast and experiment often. Your work will directly shape how millions of people create, collaborate, and build with AI and you’ll see the results of your effort in real time.

A range of benefits to set you up for every success in and outside of work.

Here's a taste of what's on offer:

• Impact the future of AI

• Reward package including equity - we want our success to be yours too

• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup & more

• Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge and supports you personally, including remote working abroad

• Support with your professional development

• Fun and engaging company events, both virtual and in-person

Ready to revolutionise AI research and empower creativity worldwide? Apply now and join us at Leonardo.Ai to make a significant impact! We're rapidly expanding and seeking passionate people in various AI roles.

Don't hesitate! Even if you don't meet every requirement, consider applying and join our innovative journey.