Enterprise Account Executive

Now part of IBM, Confluent brings its data streaming platform—built on Apache Kafka, Apache Flink, Apache Iceburg—into IBM’s broader data and AI strategy. Confluent help enterprises connect, process, and govern trusted, real-time data across hybrid environments, providing the live context AI models, agents, and applications need to operate at scale. As an Enterprise Account Executive in Sydney, you’ll help customers turn that strategy into business outcomes. You’ll engage senior business and technology leaders to uncover data and AI priorities, build opportunities around real-time data streaming, and coordinate across IBM and Confluent teams and partners to help move AI initiatives from experimentation into production. Develop and execute territory and account plans that create a healthy pipeline and deliver against quarterly and annual sales objectives. Lead complex, consultative sales cycles from prospecting and discovery through solution alignment, business case development, negotiation, and close. Win new enterprise customers while identifying opportunities to expand adoption and consumption within existing accounts. Build relationships and alignment across executive, business, architecture, engineering, and developer stakeholders; connect technical capabilities to measurable business outcomes. Partner with Solutions Engineering, Customer Success, Professional Services, Marketing, and channel partners to shape compelling solutions and deliver a strong customer experience. Coordinate with cloud providers, systems integrators, and other ecosystem partners to extend reach and accelerate customer outcomes. Maintain disciplined opportunity management, deal strategy, CRM hygiene, and forecasting, using an established sales methodology to assess and progress opportunities. Bring market and customer insight back to Confluent, staying current on data streaming, Kafka, cloud, and the evolving needs of enterprise customers. Represent Confluent with credibility in customer and partner engagements, including travel within the region as business needs require. Proven success in quota-carrying enterprise software sales, including a track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets. Experience owning complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles—from prospecting and pipeline generation through negotiation and close. A consultative, value-based selling approach, with the ability to connect technical solutions to business outcomes and engage both senior executives and technical audiences. Strong account planning, opportunity qualification, pipeline management, and forecasting skills; familiarity with MEDDPICC or another structured sales methodology. Experience selling SaaS, cloud, data infrastructure, integration, analytics, or open-source technologies. Familiarity with Apache Kafka, data streaming, stream processing, event-driven architectures, or distributed systems. Ability to collaborate effectively with technical teams, customer success, services, marketing, and channel or cloud partners. Strong communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, and customer relationship skills. Willingness to travel for customer and partner engagements as needed. Integration Agreement Knowledge: Deep understanding of integration agreements and their associated incentive plans, including terms and conditions, to inform management and oversight of the unique incentive plan. Stakeholder Collaboration: Experience working with various stakeholders to ensure compliance and effective execution of incentive plans, driving seamless execution and communication. Incentive Plan Optimization: Deep expertise in optimizing incentive plans to achieve business objectives, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and strategic priorities. Australia Sales Remote Professional SYDNEY, AU SYDNEY (0008) IBM Australia Limited Analytics Apache Kafka Client Relations Communication Distributed Systems Enterprise Software Forecasting Inform Integration Management Marketing Negotiation Optimization Sales Software as a Service Stakeholder Management Travel Stream Processing Compliance Account Execution Customer Success Collaboration Account Planning Data Infrastructure Business Goal Setting