Enterprise AE – Cybersecurity Sales Career

High-Growth Cybersecurity Startup — Strong Career Signal: Chainguard is backed by Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, and Lightspeed — a tier-1 investor lineup that signals serious growth trajectory. Joining at this stage as an Enterprise AE means significant upside potential through stock options, with a notably generous 10-year exercise window that dramatically reduces risk compared to the standard 90-day cliff.

Market Demand: Supply chain security and open-source software hardening are among the hottest segments in cybersecurity right now, driven by high-profile incidents (Solar Winds, Log4

Shell). Closing deals in this space builds a highly transferable and in-demand sales resume for future roles at Crowd Strike, Snyk, or similar security leaders.

Skills You'll Develop:

• MEDDPICC mastery — the gold standard enterprise sales methodology, valued across SaaS and security companies
• Multi-stakeholder navigation across technical, security, and C-suite buyers
• Complex deal management including procurement and security review cycles
• Selling into Fortune 500 accounts (logos like OpenAI and Snowflake validate the customer quality)

Compensation Context: No OTE is listed, but Enterprise AE roles at VC-backed cybersecurity startups of this profile typically range $200K–$300K+ OTE (50/50 split), with strong equity upside at this growth stage. That said, the absence of a posted range is a mild yellow flag — clarify OTE structure early in the interview process.

Work-Life Balance Signals: Unlimited PTO and remote-first culture are positive indicators, though enterprise sales quotas and pipeline pressure inherently create performance intensity. This is better suited to self-motivated, results-driven professionals than those seeking a relaxed pace.

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.

Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.

Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.

The role, in a nutshell:

Chainguard is looking for an Enterprise Account Executive to expand our footprint within large organizations. You'll own the full sales cycle with enterprise customers — from building pipeline to closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals — and help some of the world's biggest companies build and secure software the right way.

The best candidates run a disciplined sales process, generate their own pipeline, and are comfortable navigating long enterprise buying cycles involving technical, security, and executive stakeholders. You'll partner closely with Sales Engineering, Customer Engineering, and Marketing to drive evaluations forward and win.

What You'll Do

• Own the full enterprise sales cycle, from prospecting through close
• Build and manage pipeline across a defined set of enterprise accounts
• Lead discovery, qualification, and deal strategy using frameworks like MEDDPICC
• Communicate Chainguard's value to technical stakeholders, security leaders, and executive buyers
• Partner with Sales Engineering and Customer Engineering to run technical evaluations and validation
• Manage complex sales cycles, including procurement, security review, and negotiation
• Maintain accurate pipeline visibility and forecasting
• Consistently meet or exceed revenue and pipeline targets

What We're Looking For

• 3–5+ years selling…