Strategic Account Manager at Protege

Company Overview: We are building Protege to solve the biggest unmet need in AI — getting access to the right training data. The process today is time intensive, incredibly expensive, and often ends in failure. The Protege platform facilitates the secure, efficient, and privacy-centric exchange of AI training data. Solving AI’s data problem is a generational opportunity. We’re backed by world-class investors and already powering partnerships with some of the most ambitious teams in AI. The company that succeeds will be one of the largest in AI — and in tech. We’re a lean, fast-moving, high-trust team of builders who are obsessed with velocity and impact. Our culture is built for people who thrive on ambiguity, own outcomes, and want to shape the future of data and AI. About the Role We’re looking for a Strategic Account Manager to own and grow relationships with a select group of high-impact AI companies and enterprise AI teams. This is not traditional SaaS selling. Our clients build and fine-tune foundation models, deploying production AI systems, and require high-quality, domain-specific training data to power them. You will operate at the intersection of AI research, data operations, and commercial strategy — acting as a trusted advisor to technical buyers while driving long-term revenue expansion. This role is high-autonomy, high-visibility, and revenue-critical. What You’ll Do Own & Grow Strategic Accounts - Manage a portfolio of key AI-native and enterprise AI accounts - Develop multi-threaded relationships across research, ML, product, and procurement teams - Build account plans that map technical needs to scalable data solutions - Drive expansion through new use cases, domains, and geographies Lead Complex, Technical Sales Cycles - Navigate consultative, solution-based deals (often custom scopes) - Translate model requirements (fine-tuning, RLHF, synthetic data, evals) into commercial proposals - Partner with delivery and ops teams to scope programs accurately - Manage pricing strategy, contract negotiations, and renewals Act as the Voice of the Customer - Surface client feedback on quality, latency, compliance, and scale - Collaborate cross-functionally with product, ops, and leadership - Identify whitespace opportunities in emerging model categories Drive Revenue & Forecasting Discipline - Own quota across expansion and renewals - Maintain clean pipeline hygiene - Provide accurate forecasting on complex, usage-based revenue streams What Success Looks Like - Deep, trusted relationships with senior AI researchers and data leaders - High retention and net revenue expansion within accounts - Strong multi-year contracts with growing scope - Ability to identify and close new model programs early Who You Are Commercially Sharp - 5–10+ years in strategic sales or account management - Experience managing $1M+ ARR accounts or equivalent enterprise spend - Comfortable navigating procurement and enterprise security processes Technically Fluent - Experience selling into AI/ML teams, data infrastructure, or technical buyers - Familiarity with concepts like: - Foundation models - RLHF / RLAIF - Model fine-tuning - Synthetic data - Human-in-the-loop systems - Able to speak credibly with ML engineers and research teams Operationally Disciplined - Strong account planning methodology - Experience with complex scoping and pricing - Comfortable in ambiguous, fast-moving environments Personally Driven - Self-directed and proactive - High integrity and transparency - Thrives in high-growth, performance-oriented teams Why This Role Is Different - This is not transactional SaaS selling. - Deals are custom, high-context, and deeply tied to model performance. - Your impact directly influences how frontier AI systems are trained and deployed.