Vertical Sales Lead, Research Labs & Universities

We Are

D-Wave (NYSE: QBTS), a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services. We are the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the only company building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers. Our mission is to help customers realize the value of quantum, today. Our 5,000+ qubit AdvantageTM quantum computers, the world’s largest, are available on-premises or via the cloud, supported by 99.9% availability and uptime. More than 100 organizations trust D-Wave with their toughest computational challenges. With over 200 million problems submitted to our Advantage and Advantage2™ systems to date, our customers apply our technology to address use cases spanning optimization, artificial intelligence, research and more. 

You can read more about our company and our innovations in the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Fast Company, MIT Technology Review, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Wired and across many white papers. 

At D-Wave, we’re helping customers realize the value of quantum computing today and are shaping the quantum-driven industrial and societal advancements of tomorrow. 

About the role

As a visionary and dynamic Vertical Sales Lead for the research labs and universities sector, you will play a key role in driving the growth and success of our sales team in the Americas region. Bringing your market-making and sales leadership expertise, you will lead our sales efforts to drive our SaaS recurring and learning solutions revenue from Quantum solutions in the research labs and universities sector, by establishing and growing strong relationships with our customers on their journey toward quantum success.

If that sounds like you, read on: we expect you to significantly expand our revenue in the research labs and universities sector, grow the pipeline of new opportunities, and sell D-Wave’s Quantum SaaS/Cloud products and services to new and existing customers in the Americas region. You will identify target accounts, orchestrate outbound outreach to them, and qualify inbound leads. You will also work closely with our technical advising team and learning solutions teams to identify research topics and grants that could benefit from our Quantum computing power.

What you'll do

• Sales Execution: Execute D-Wave's sales strategy within the Americas region to drive new business in the research labs and universities sector. You will identify research and education opportunities involving D-Wave quantum computing, and effectively communicate D-Wave’s vision, strategy, and product capabilities to faculty, researchers, students, and grant sources.
• Team Leadership: Build, mentor, and motivate a high performing account team, including cross-functional internal resources, to pursue opportunities to land into new accounts, and expand business in existing accounts.
• Market Research & Analysis: Work with a cross-functional team to define the landscape of use cases for Quantum computing in the research labs and universities sector. Profile target accounts to identify the faculty, researchers and grant sources for domain areas that would benefit from Quantum computing.
• Relationship Building with Decision Makers and Influencers: Work as part of a cross-functional team to proactively engage with faculty, researchers and grant sources for Quantum computing use cases in the research labs and universities. Establish and cultivate relationships with faculty, researchers and grant sources to create opportunities that align the company’s solution with the research labs and universities’ needs and strategy.
• Pipeline Building: Co-lead demand generation activities in the Americas targeting the research labs and universities sector in partnership with our Marketing team, selecting target accounts, representing D-Wave at conferences, seminars, and other events, qualifying new leads, delivering product presentations, and developing proposals that result in a growing pipeline of new opportunities.
• Customer Proposals: Quarterback cross-functional teams to create customer proposals including managing submissions to RFI/RFP and their lifecycle of activities.
• Actively participate in capture activities including proposal reviews and business case development
• Ensure the development and submission of white papers and RFI/RFP responses to proactively shape strategic opportunities.
• Conduct after-action reviews for all pre and post proposal activities to document lessons learned and identify necessary adjustments to capture technique, strategy, and actions.
• Deal Closing: Work with Sales Operations, Legal, Finance and Professional Services to prepare a contract packet for customer signature. Negotiate subscription services, professional services, financial terms, and legal terms with customer’s representatives from operations, IT, procurement and legal. Address customer’s vendor qualification requirements such as information security reviews and customer references. Support the customer’s activities to establish D-Wave as a vendor in the customer’s procurement systems and issue the applicable documents such as the customer’s purchase order.
• Customer Success: Co-lead the effort to select and position D-Wave products and services to meet individual customer needs by understanding their research and educational challenges and creating value propositions tailored to their unique situation.
• Quota Attainment: Drive your personal activities and your account teams to achieve and exceed your targets while accurately forecasting new bookings.

About You

• Someone with 15+ years of experience selling high value enterprise SaaS products and solutions in research applications, data analytics, or data science market categories in the research labs and universities sector.
• A sales leader with experience growing bookings from past first customer to$5M+ yearly in an enterprise SaaS vendor.
• Demonstrated successes in building an opportunity pipeline in the research labs and universities sector.
• A quarterback of fast-growing, solution-oriented, customer-focused, industry-savvy account teams with a proven track record in targeted value-based selling.
• Well connected with existing customer relationships across several functions into leading research labs and universities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Intellectually curious, honest, with integrity and a passion for discovery and success.

Required

• College educated with a PhD degree in Computer Science, or related STEM field degree.
• Willing to travel frequently (up to 50%+), including some international travel in the Americas.

A D-Waver's DNA

• We look at the future and say “why not”; we see possibilities where others see problems or routines. We show the way ahead and are committed to achieving ambitious goals.
• We practice straight talk and listen generously to each other with empathy. We value different opinions and points of views. We ensure that we connect outside as well as inside to learn from others and inspire each other.
• We hold ourselves accountable for delivering results. We make decisions & take responsibility so that we can act & support each other.
• As leaders we motivate & engage our teams to undertake beyond what they originally thought possible, by developing our teams & creating the conditions for people to grow and empower themselves through enabling & coaching.

Inclusion: 

We celebrate diverse perspectives to drive innovation in our pursuit. Our employees range from distinguished domain experts with decades of experience in their respective fields, to bright and motivated graduates eager to make their mark.

Our diverse and innovative team will make you feel appreciated, supported and empower your career growth at D-Wave.

Our Compensation Philosophy is Simple but Powerful:

We believe providing D-Wavers with company ownership, competitive pay, and a range of meaningful benefits is the start of creating a culture where people want to give the best they’ve got — not because they’re simply making money, but because they’ve fallen in love with our vision, mission, values, and team.

During the interview process, your Recruiter will explain our total compensation rewards (base, equity, bonus, perks, benefit, culture). The final offer is determined by your proficiencies within this level.

The Fine Print: 

No 3rd party candidates will be accepted

It is D-Wave Systems Inc. policy to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/provincial, local law.