Account Executive, Chicago (Software Startup)

Account Executive - Chicago - VC Backed Software Startup

Location: In our Chicago office (60661) 3-5 days per week + travel to events within territory

Compensation: $70,000 - $80,000 base + uncapped OTE (Year 1 OTE $30,000)

About Opply

Opply is modernising how scaling food and consumer goods brands buy ingredients, solving a £1 trillion market inefficiency that's been overlooked for decades.

Right now, SMB brands waste 70% of stock and pay 40% above market rate because they lack access to enterprise-level supplier networks and smart automation. We've built an AI-powered platform that changes this entirely: automated ordering, predictive forecasting, supplier matching, and embedded credit that lets brands sell before they pay.

We're a scaling , VC-backed by Index Ventures, Anthemis, and Chalfen Ventures , with unicorn angels from GoCardless, Flow.io , and Trouva . We've won StartUp of the Year and Supply Chain Specialists of the Year , and we're scaling fast across the UK and internationally.

This is category-defining work in a massive, underserved market.

The Role

As an Account Executive at Opply, you’ll own the sales cycle end-to-end: taking qualified opportunities from discovery through to close, building strong commercial relationships with scaling US food and consumer goods brands, and consistently converting pipeline into revenue.

This is a closing role . You’ll be expected to run sharp discovery, quantify value, navigate stakeholders, handle objections, and negotiate commercially, while partnering closely with SDRs/BDRs, Growth, Marketing, and Product to improve conversion and expand what we can sell.

If you’re competitive, commercially sharp, and want to accelerate in a fast-growth environment where you can have real impact, this is the role.

What You'll Be Doing

Own the Full Sales Cycle

• Run discovery calls with founders and operators at scaling food and consumer goods companies

• Diagnose operational pain, cashflow pressure, margin constraints, and supply chain risk

• Build clear business cases and ROI logic (time saved, waste reduced, margin impact, cashflow benefit)

• Lead product demos and map Opply’s value to customer workflows and priorities

• Manage the deal cycle through proposal, negotiation, and close

Close Revenue, Consistently

• Forecast accurately and maintain clean, reliable pipeline in the CRM

• Handle objections confidently (pricing, switching risk, incumbent suppliers, internal bandwidth)

• Negotiate commercial terms and drive urgency through clear next steps

• Partner with internal teams to remove blockers and increase win rates

Expand and Improve the Motion

• Share market feedback to sharpen positioning, outreach, and product priorities

• Identify patterns in lost deals and propose improvements to process, messaging, or packaging

• Represent Opply at industry events - building relationships, credibility, and deal flow

Market Intelligence

• Keep the CRM clean, accurate, and actionable (your pipeline is your reputation)

• Share insights from the market with Growth, Marketing, and Product to sharpen targeting and messaging

• Represent Opply professionally at industry events and in the broader market

What We're Looking For

You'll thrive here if you are:

• A closer: You’re at your best when you’re running live deals and driving to signature

• Consultative and structured: You ask smart questions, listen properly, and build strong cases for change

• Commercially sharp: You can speak credibly about value, outcomes, and trade-offs

• Resilient and consistent: You don’t rely on “big wins”you build repeatable performance

• High ownership: You take initiative, solve problems, and keep momentum even with ambiguity

• Analytical - you can draw insights and report to wider business with ease.

Experience we expect:

• 2- 5 years in sales or business development (B2B strongly preferred)

• 1 year minimum in a closing role (B2B strongly preferred)

• Track record of hitting or exceeding targets (consistent performance, not one-off wins)

• Interest or experience in food/consumer goods is a plus, but hunger and aptitude matter more

• Experience in selling software / technology to SMB markets

Why Now

Opply is at an inflection point. We're scaling with strong customer traction , scaling revenue, expanding internationally, and building out the commercial team to match our ambition.

You'll join early enough to have an outsized impact : shaping playbooks, owning territory, and growing into leadership as the business scales.

Training & Development

You won't be left to figure it out alone. We've built a structured development environment to turn high-potential sellers into confident commercial operators:

• Full onboarding programme with clear ramp expectations and success metrics

• Weekly 1:1 coaching and feedback loops to build consistency and confidence

• Classroom learning and role plays for discovery, objection handling, and deal progression

What You'll Learn Here

This role is a career accelerator. You'll develop skills that compound:

• Modern discovery: Combine qualitative insight with quantitative value logic to uncover real urgency

• Commercial fluency: Speak credibly about cashflow, operational efficiency, and growth readiness

• Market expertise: Deep understanding of the scaling F&B world (supply chain challenges, margin pressure, and what operators actually care about)

• Unshakeable confidence: Built through repetition, feedback, and high standards

What We Offer

• Compensation base salary ($70,000–$80,000) + uncapped OTE (Year 1 OTE $40,000)

• Flexible hybrid working (balance autonomy with collaboration)

• Regular team socials and global offsites to connect, collaborate, and celebrate

• Health Insurance

• Pension scheme