Founding GTM Lead – AI-Powered SaaS

This is not a traditional Head of Sales role
.

Certus Recruitment is partnering with an exciting UK-based AI SaaS business that is transforming financial management across the festival, conference and events industry
.

With proven software traction, approximately £250k in software ARR and a £1.3m commercial pipeline
, the business is now ready to move from founder-led selling to a scalable, repeatable software revenue model.

They're looking for a Founding GTM Lead to make that happen.

This is a genuine builder-seller role.

You'll personally drive software revenue from day one while building the processes, structure and team needed to scale.

The immediate focus is growing software ARR towards £1m+, expanding into new markets and creating a sales engine that can eventually be replicated by a wider commercial team.

You'll have significant autonomy and work directly with the Founder & CEO and Commercial Director.

You'll be responsible for:

• Owning software revenue generation and a personal sales target
• Building and closing enterprise opportunities across the UK
• Expanding into conferences, exhibitions, agencies, creative industries, sport and other project-based businesses
• Developing the existing £1.3m pipeline and creating new opportunities
• Turning founder-led sales success into a repeatable sales process
• Introducing practical forecasting, CRM discipline, KPIs and reporting
• Managing and developing the existing SDR
• Building the wider commercial team as revenue scales
• Developing strategic partnerships and leveraging your network
• Representing the business at conferences, exhibitions and festivals across the UK
• Working closely with the founders on the company's broader commercial strategy

We're looking for a commercially hungry SaaS sales leader who still loves selling
.

You'll ideally have:

• A proven track record of personally winning enterprise software deals
• Experience in an early-stage or high-growth SaaS environment
• Experience building sales processes and developing sales talent
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to operate with autonomy
• Experience selling into senior leadership, finance or commercial decision-makers
• The ambition to build a team rather than simply inherit one

Experience across events, conferences, exhibitions or agencies would be valuable, but isn't essential.

We're also interested in candidates from adjacent software sectors including financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, project financial management and PSA
, particularly where you've sold to finance or senior leadership teams.

Most importantly, you'll be comfortable with ambiguity, happy to roll up your sleeves and motivated by personally creating revenue before building a team around you.

You'll be expected to:

• Take personal ownership of software sales
• Build and accelerate qualified pipeline
• Develop existing partnerships and open new verticals
• Establish a clear understanding of the ICP
• Identify the sales behaviours and processes that are working
• Introduce practical KPIs and forecasting
• Align closely with marketing on GTM messaging

• Founding GTM position with genuine ownership
• Join a business transitioning towards an ARR-first SaaS model
• Existing software customers and significant pipeline
• Opportunity to grow software ARR from c.£250k towards £1m+
• Build and eventually lead the commercial team
• Work directly with the Founder & Commercial Director
• Cheltenham base with 6 visits per year (typically 2 nights / 3 days)
• Opportunity to make a genuine impact on the next stage of the company's growth

If you're a hands-on SaaS sales leader who wants to build rather than inherit
, this could be a very interesting opportunity.