Strategic Account Executive at Andela

Job Summary

• Andela is seeking a strategic sales leader with 7–10 years of experience in tech services, staffing, or SaaS. This leader understands how to build revenue in complex, emerging markets and thrives in environments where the playbook isn't fully written yet.
• This role is about more than closing deals. You'll be mapping and activating an ecosystem of enterprise customers, high-growth startups/scaleups, government entities, development foundations and NGOs, private investors, and channel partners including system integrators and local consultancies. Understanding how these players connect (and how Andela creates value across all of them) is central to the role.
• Partner-led selling is a meaningful part of how we go to market in this region. You'll need a proven ability to build and monetize partner relationships, including experience closing deals through partners, not just alongside them. But equally important is your ability to generate and develop your own pipeline. Our demand generation team and a dedicated SDR will support you with programs and materials, though you should expect to source the majority of your own opportunities.

This is a regional role with Africa- and Middle East-wide scope. Some travel across the region is expected.

Exceptional Leadership

The Best Andelans Show Up As Brand Ambassadors, Trusted Advisors, And Innovation Partners To The Clients And Ecosystems They Serve. If Your Peers Would Describe You Like This, We Want To Hear From You

• Low ego, low drama: You share credit, take blame. You like being wrong because it means someone else had a better idea.
• One team mentality: You break silos. You put the company and mission first above your team alone. You roll up your sleeves when it matters.
• Great listener, hungry for feedback: You’re always seeking to improve our product, our business, and yourself. You solicit diverse opinions and deeply listen.
• Owner, not renter: You see a problem and fix it - or find someone who will. The buck stops with you.
• Business problem solver: You’re not just a functional expert. You consistently get praised for approaching your work through the lens of solving real business problems.
• Trust Builder: You have a track record of earning trust with senior executives, local stakeholders, and partners — the kind that takes time to build and compounds over years. In markets where relationships precede transactions, this is your edge.
• Thrives In Ambiguity: You're energized by building something that doesn't fully exist yet. You create structure where there isn't any, and you stay confident and resourceful when the path isn't clear.

Key Responsibilities
Hunt and win new business

• Own the full sales cycle from identifying and engaging senior decision-makers to closing and onboarding. This is a net-new hunting role. You'll run multi-threaded, non-linear deal cycles across industries, building pipeline through targeted outreach, strategic networking, and sector-specific campaigns. If you have deep networks or expertise in a particular sector or market, bring them.

Own your territory

• Your primary market(s) will be in Africa and the Middle East, with an emphasis on Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. You'll develop a point of view on where the opportunity is densest, sequence your efforts accordingly, and build the kind of local presence that opens doors before a cold outreach ever could.

Navigate complex market dynamics

• Enterprise sales in these markets requires more than a standard playbook. You'll need to structure deals that account for budget cycles, FX considerations, and procurement realities. It will be essential to adapt your approach across relationship-first cultures, varying decision structures, and different institutional trust environments.

Build and grow accounts

• Winning the deal is the beginning. You'll work closely with delivery and customer success teams to ensure clients see value fast, and you'll stay close enough to spot expansion opportunities.

Be a cross-functional partner

• You'll collaborate with marketing, product, and delivery to ensure your clients get a coherent, high-quality experience from first conversation through long-term partnership.

Run a disciplined pipeline

• Manage and forecast your pipeline rigorously in Salesforce or HubSpot. In markets where deals move unpredictably, your ability to create structure and visibility out of ambiguity is a competitive advantage — for you and for the business.

Required Qualifications (Must Demonstrate)

• 7+ years in B2B enterprise sales at a technology services or SaaS company, with demonstrated track record of net-new business hunting into mid-market and large enterprises Proven track record in quota attainment with documented success.Deep familiarity with at least one of: banking/fintech, telco, energy, high-growth tech scaleups, government-linked entities, or other regulated industries
• Be a bridge between US company expectations and local market realities
• Proven ability to engage and close at the C-suite level; must be equally comfortable with a CTO discussing engineering challenges and a CFO navigating procurement. Strong negotiation and closing skills are non-negotiable.
• Experience selling across complex, multi-threaded deal cycles with multiple buyer profiles and long or unpredictable timelines. Can execute with the pipeline discipline to manage it all at 5x coverage
• A natural bridge-builder between global company standards and local market realities, including government and regulatory environments, state-owned enterprise dynamics, procurement opacity, and informal influence networks
• Can evidence how you use tools and AI to improve multiplication of your role.
• Proficient in Salesforce; comfortable with pipeline forecasting and funnel analysis.

Preferred Attributes

• A structured sales methodology that you’re continually refining.
• Experience in a fast-paced startup/scaleup; comfortable building from scratch.
• Additional language skills are a plus: Swahili, Arabic, French, Portuguese, or other regionally relevant languages
• Existing networks in your primary sales markets, whether in industry, government, or the partner ecosystem