Head of Verticals at GK Media Group | Lens
WHAT YOU'LL OWN
You are Lens's first sales leader. Your remit:
The full revenue number across all four verticals — News ($24K–$75K ACV), Research ($30K– $90K), Legislative ($40K–$120K), Financial Services ($60K–$187K)
The Vertical AE team — hire, develop, and manage up to four vertical specialists; be the player-coach until headcount justifies otherwise -The sales playbook — there isn't one yet; you will write it by codifying what the first reps learn, then scale it -Pricing and packaging input — four-prong product (IQS Licensing API, Partner Newsroom integration, Labeled-Data Licensing, Dashboard); you will pressure-test the multiplier grid against real buyer resistance and feed it back to Jeff Maxon, our CFO.
Forecast and pipeline visibility — weekly pipeline reviews with the CEO and CFO; quarterly board-level ARR reporting
Recruiting — you will identify and close the next wave of vertical AEs as the model scales beyond the first four
RESPONSIBILITIES
Own the aggregate revenue target; hold the vertical AEs accountable to their individual pilot and conversion numbers
Run weekly 1:1s and pipeline reviews with each vertical AE; be the escalation path for any deal above $100K ACV
Build the sales methodology from the ground up: qualification criteria, discovery framework, objection library, pricing guardrails, contract templates
Partner with our CEO and CTO on product feedback loops — every recurring objection from a buyer is a product signal
Lead or co-lead enterprise deals where executive presence is required (e.g., bulge-bracket banks, major federal agencies, national mastheads)
Represent the revenue function in board meetings, investor updates, and fundraise materials
Hire and onboard the next wave of vertical AEs as the first cohort proves the pattern
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
7+ years in B2B SaaS or information-product sales, with at least 3–4 years managing quota-carrying AEs
A track record of building the first sales team at a startup — not inheriting a machine, but building one from the first reps up
Prior experience selling into at least two of our four verticals (media/publishing, research/academic, government/policy, financial services); cross-vertical fluency is the differentiator
Comfort owning a multi-vertical pipeline simultaneously — you can context-switch from a newsroom CTO to a Senate chief of staff to a hedge fund CDO without losing the thread
Hiring muscle — you know how to run the Rolodex test, evaluate a 30/60/90-day plan, and close a candidate who has competing offers
Experience with enterprise procurement cycles — multi-stakeholder approvals, legal and compliance review, multi-year contract structures
A genuine point of view on IQS — you can explain why the Information Quality Standard is infrastructure, not a feature, and why that distinction matters to buyers