US Sales Development Team Lead - Agentic AI

About us

Humaans is building the next generation of infrastructure for the workplace; software designed for companies that are scaling fast, operating globally, and pushing into new boundaries.

What started as a system of record has evolved into a broader platform for operating people globally. With Athena, our agentic AI layer, Humaans moves beyond data management into intelligent orchestration, connecting workflows across HR, IT, Finance, and Operations so organisations can act faster and with greater confidence, redefining how work gets done.

We work with ambitious teams across Europe and the US, from AI-native companies like Lovable, Poolside, Fyxer AI, and Tandem Health, to established, high-growth organisations scaling internationally and through acquisition, including Quantexa, Sellpy, Manychat, Gigs, Croud, and Threecolts. These teams don’t buy software for features,they buy leverage. The ability to run faster, cleaner, and with more control as complexity compounds.

To date, we’ve raised $20m in venture funding from some of the most respected founders, operators, and funds in technology: Lachy Groom (Physical Intelligence), Stewart Butterfield (Slack), Tobias Lütke (Shopify), Dylan Field (Figma), Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn), Claire Johnson (Stripe), Oliver Jay (OpenAI), Jay Simmons (Bond) as well as Y Combinator, Moonfire, Frontline Ventures, Pathlight Ventures, and Exor.

If you have massive ambition and want to work on a hard problem, with a small team that moves fast, at a moment when the category is genuinely up for grabs - this is it.

The role

We’re looking for a Founding Sales Development Team Lead to build and run the outbound engine for Athena, our agentic AI product, in the US. You’ll be responsible for building a group of ambitious sales associates into a precision pipeline machine, setting the standard, writing the playbook and coaching the team to consistently create the opportunities that fuel our largest US deals.

This is a player-coach role. You’ll carry your own outbound, make calls and open target accounts yourself, then turn what works into a repeatable playbook for the team. You’ll stay close to the work through call reviews, sequence development and live coaching, while holding a high bar for quality and creating the conditions for people to develop quickly.

AI is central to how we expect the team to operate. Better research, sharper sequences, smarter prioritisation and faster learning should give us an advantage. You’ll need to know how to use AI effectively yourself and how to embed it into the way your team works every day.

You won’t be inheriting an established US motion. You’ll work closely with our Founding US GTM Lead to build it from the ground up, defining what great outbound looks like for Athena in a greenfield market and creating foundations that can scale with the business.

What you’ll do

Own Athena’s US outbound function end to end, including team performance, pipeline contribution, process and development

Build pipeline yourself through cold calling, thoughtful outbound and creative approaches to opening our highest-value target accounts

Develop our US outbound strategy from a blank page, refining segmentation, targeting, messaging and the playbook as we learn

Turn what works in your own prospecting into repeatable approaches that the wider team can learn from and execute

Use AI-assisted tooling to improve account research, personalisation, sequencing, prioritisation and follow-ups

Coach and develop the team through structured 1:1s, call reviews, live deal support and regular feedback

Set a high bar for cold calling and coach the team on how to earn attention and create meaningful conversations

Build a culture of accountability, experimentation, continuous improvement and high performance

Partner closely with our Founding US GTM Lead and Revenue Operations to maintain strong pipeline quality, healthy conversion rates and a seamless handoff

Use data and AI-powered analytics to understand performance, surface patterns and act quickly when something isn’t working

Experiment with unconventional prospecting approaches and turn successful ideas into repeatable plays

Bring what you learn from the US market back to Product and Engineering as Athena’s category and product continue to take shape

What we’re looking for

5+ years of experience in outbound sales, including at least 2 years managing or leading a BDR team within B2B SaaS

A consistent track record of building pipeline and coaching others to do the same. You know what good outbound looks like and can teach it

Strong cold calling experience and the ability to coach others on how to confidently and effectively open conversations

A builder’s mindset. You’re creative about opening doors, persistent through rejection and comfortable developing the approach while executing it

Experience building pipeline for an early-stage or category-creating product where customers don’t already understand what they need or why

Deep familiarity with modern outbound tooling, ideally including tools such as Clay, Claude Code, Lemlist, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Prospeo

Hands-on experience using AI to improve an outbound workflow, with a clear understanding of what changed in quality, speed or conversion as a result

Strong analytical instincts and the ability to use data to diagnose underperformance, identify patterns and improve the motion

A coaching-first approach to leadership. You measure your success by what the team produces and how quickly people develop

Comfort operating with ambiguity, creating clarity as you go and moving quickly without waiting for perfect enablement or information

Experience working in a high-growth, VC-backed environment where priorities move quickly and the playbook is still being written

A clear, direct communication style and the ability to influence effectively across the organisation

You may not be a great fit if

You want to manage outbound from a distance. This is a player-coach role, and you’ll be expected to prospect, cold call and open accounts alongside the team

You need an established playbook, mature US motion or clear set of instructions before you can perform

You prefer optimising an existing outbound engine rather than building one from the ground up

You rely on brand recognition or existing category demand to create pipeline. Athena is entering a greenfield US market, so creating conviction is part of the job

You measure success primarily through activity volume rather than pipeline quality, conversion and revenue impact

You prefer giving people targets and leaving them to execute rather than actively coaching, reviewing and developing their skills

You see AI as an optional productivity tool rather than something that should fundamentally improve how a modern outbound team operates

You’re uncomfortable experimenting with new prospecting approaches, learning from rejection and changing course quickly when something isn’t working

This is an in-person role. Our team comes together in the office Monday through Thursday, while most of the team collaborates in person on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

Package & Benefits

Early stage startups can be messy – we know that. We're putting effort in providing you with the best employee experience and a quality driven environment in exchange for trusting us.

Market-leading compensation that reflects your value

25 days paid time off each year plus public holidays

Share Options with 5-year exercise window so you don’t feel pressure to exercise if you leave

Quarterly team events, and company offsites

Top tier private coverage for health, vision and dental care

A new MacBook and tools you need to do your best work

Enhanced parental leave with up to 16 weeks for primary and 4 weeks for secondary

Learning & development budget

Why Join Humaans Today?

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