[Hiring] Head of Sales, Grant Engine Accounting @Grant Engine Jobs

Role Description

The Head of Sales for Grant Engine Accounting is a senior commercial leader responsible for driving new client acquisition, expansion, and partner-led growth across our four Accounting service lines:

• Grant Accounting
• Grant & Contract Compliance
• Financial Planning
• Audit Preparation

This is a player-coach role where you own the go-to-market strategy, build the pipeline, personally close the most strategic accounts, and develop the sales motion (and the team behind it) as Grant Engine Accounting scales.

You set the commercial direction for a service category that is the natural next step for:

• Every federal, state, and non-profit awardee
• Every deep-tech founder facing FAR-compliant accounting for the first time
• Every CFO who realized after the Notice of Award that QuickBooks alone will not keep them audit-ready

Your buyers are CEOs, CFOs, Directors of Finance, and Controllers at life science and deep-tech firms with active or imminent federal awards from:

• NIH
• NSF
• DoD
• DARPA
• BARDA
• ARPA-H
• Other agencies

A meaningful share of your pipeline comes from new clients that are not current writing clients. Grant Engine has been securing non-dilutive awards at 2 to 4 times national SBIR win rates for years, and every one of those clients faces accounting and compliance work the moment the award lands.

You partner closely with the broader Grant Engine marketing efforts to secure new external clients to build external channels:

• CPA referral partners
• Fractional CFOs
• Law firms
• VCs
• Accelerators

Grant Engine is focused on securing and stewarding non-dilutive funding for leading companies that have high potential to make a difference in their domain. Our vision is to improve and extend human life by supporting selected clients. The Accounting service line is how we keep those clients compliant, audit-ready, and positioned to renew.

In this mission, we hold the following core values in high regard:

• Trust
• Customer Success
• Excellence Without Bias
• Teamwork

A key tenet of the Grant Engine team is that we work well together. We trust one another's judgment and have established an effective dynamic of delivering on our individual goals.

Individuals with superior skills and a demonstrated track record will be considered for immediate full-time hire.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of B2B sales experience with at least 3 years in a sales leadership or player-coach capacity.
• Direct experience selling accounting, compliance, finance, or professional services into life sciences, deep-tech, or government-funded small businesses.
• Working knowledge of federal grant compliance: FAR cost principles, allowable versus unallowable expenses, indirect rates, SF-425 reporting, and audit readiness.
• Demonstrated track record of building and forecasting pipeline in HubSpot.
• Excellent organizational skills and clean operating discipline.
• Demonstrated track record of impeccable relationship building, executive selling, and long-cycle client management.
• Excellent oral, written, and presentation skills.

Requirements

• Personally close strategic and enterprise accounts; carry a meaningful individual quota while leading the function.
• Build and manage a healthy, well-qualified pipeline in HubSpot - own forecast accuracy, stage definitions, and conversion benchmarks.
• Partner with the broader Grant Engine sales and delivery teams to cross-sell accounting and compliance into the active client base and recent award notifications.
• Develop external referral channels (CPAs, fractional CFOs, VCs, accelerators, law firms) and stand up a formal partner program over time.
• Lead the Sales-to-Delivery handoff with Chris, Neil, and the GE Accounting Program Managers.
• Manage client relationships through onboarding and into expansion; anticipate client needs and pull in Delivery quickly when scope or risk changes.
• Stay current on the federal accounting and compliance landscape.
• Hire, develop, and manage additional sales talent as the function scales; set comp plans in partnership with the CEO.
• Work with the CEO and Marketing team on demand generation, content, conference strategy, and thought leadership.

Additional Qualifications and Competencies

• MBA, CPA, or finance/accounting credential is a plus.
• Relationship Building: Internal and external customer service, objectivity, credibility, confidentiality, proactivity, responsiveness, teamwork, and mutual respect.
• Communication for Impact: Exceptional verbal and written English communication, presentation skills, diplomacy, perceptual objectivity, active listening.
• Commercial Judgment: Comfort with pricing, scoping, contract terms, and walking away from poor-fit accounts.
• Flexibility: Ability to handle changing priorities and multiple deadlines while maintaining high quality of workmanship.
• Ethical Practice: Rapport building, trust building, personal and professional integrity, credibility, professional and personal courage.

Compensation

Competitive base salary commensurate with experience, with on-target earnings driven by a meaningful commission component on new and expansion bookings. Equity participation may be considered for the right candidate.