Founding Growth Lead

Who we are:

Lilypad Learning is the AI-native operating system for special education. Every student who needs support deserves to get it on time, without compromise. We're an AI-native IEP management platform that brings IEP writing, evaluation report writing, compliance tracking, document translation, and virtual clinical services into a single system so special education teams can spend less time on paperwork and more time ensuring every child gets the services they're entitled to.

Special education touches millions of families and is one of the most important promises public schools make. We're building the technology to help them keep it. We're a small, venture-backed team scaling quickly and building toward a grand vision. If you want to do work that matters at a company that's early and moving fast, we'd love to hear from you.

The Role:

We're looking for a Founding Growth Lead to own new district partnerships and build our go-to-market engine from 2 states to 50 states. You'll run the full sales cycle from prospecting to close, working directly with Directors of Special Education and school leaders to bring Lilypad into their districts.

As an integral member of our founding team, you'll have the opportunity to:

• Get in at the ground level of a high-growth, mission-driven startup

• First growth hire means you build the sales playbook from scratch and scale it as we grow

• Work directly with the CEO on strategy, positioning, and market expansion

• Own outbound prospecting and inbound pipeline development targeting K-12 school districts

• Run the full sales cycle: identify champions, run demos, navigate procurement, and close deals

• Build and manage pipeline in our CRM, keeping forecasts tight and deal stages current

• Represent Lilypad at state and regional special education conferences and industry events

• Develop district-specific proposals and respond to RFPs alongside our operations and clinical teams

• Shape sales messaging, competitive positioning, and go-to-market strategy

Requirements:

At this stage, we care most about team fit and superior references. We want to know you're excited about our mission and are ready to dive into building this long-term. Here are some things we'd love to see, but we're open to being convinced you're the right candidate:

• You've built something before, whether as a founder, early employee, or someone who took full ownership of a function and scaled it

• You're resourceful, relentless, and figure things out without being told how

• You're naturally relational and people trust you quickly

• You communicate clearly and persuasively, whether it's a cold email, a demo, or a conference presentation

• You care deeply about mission-driven work and improving outcomes for kids

• Bonus points for experience in sales, go-to-market, or business development

• Bonus points for experience in education, government, or healthcare markets

Expectations:

• US-based, flexible location with regular travel to conferences and district meetings

Compensation and benefits:

• We pay well. Base plus commission, structured collaboratively based on YOE

• Early team member equity with real upside