Senior Partnerships Lead - Japan
what3words, United Kingdom
Job Description
Our mission is to become the global standard for addressing. Street addresses weren’t designed for 2021. They aren’t accurate enough to specify building entrances, and they don’t exist for parks, rural areas and many parts of the world. This makes it hard to find places and causes problems and inefficiencies on a global scale.
That’s why we created what3words. We divided the world into 3m squares and gave each square a unique combination of three words. It’s the easiest way to find and share precise locations.
Over the last year, what3words has been used in 193 countries, and our monthly active users continue to grow at an impressive pace. Our tech is used by emergency services, delivery companies, eCommerce businesses, ride-hailing apps and NGOs, and is integrated into the navigation systems of millions of cars around the world.
The Role:
This role will be based in London with regular travel to Japan to build on our success in the region.
Together with other senior leaders at the company, you’ll be shaping our business development approach to Japan, building key relationships in the market and closing deals with businesses across a broad variety of sectors. You’ll work closely with Marketing, Growth and other teams to inform lead generation activities and to execute partner activation campaigns.
We are looking for someone highly entrepreneurial, who’s performed outstandingly in previous roles (we don’t measure success by your former job titles but instead what you achieved in those positions) and is likely to have an accelerated career trajectory when compared against peers.
Joining our growing business development team, you will drive forward and forge key relationships for what3words around the world, with a special focus on Japan. You will be an outstanding individual contributor, motivated by a challenge, with creativity and problem solving matched by extremely strong people skills.
We are looking for people who can quickly understand clients’ pain points and match those to the solutions we can provide. You will have a very good understanding of how to access key players (companies and individuals) and will use this knowledge to generate new leads across relevant industries. You will be expected to land new accounts across multiple markets and sectors - from ecommerce and delivery to mobility and travel. With support from the Chief Commercial Officer and other Directors in the sales team, you’ll build your own pipeline, find novel ways to sell what3words into big clients and break ground in new industries and geographies.
You’ll play a key part in structuring and negotiating complex contracts and problem-solving technical build phases, working with different project teams in BD, marketing and tech sales especially.
This role is highly demanding long hours and significant international travel opportunities will be the norm. You’ll be expected to meet challenging targets, but you’ll reap the rewards of them too.
The wider team is a group of talented people from all over the world on an unprecedented journey. Every day brings new challenges and we are always learning. You will be proud to see your individual and team contributions making a real difference.
This is your opportunity to help build a global business from the ground up.
Requirements
- A native Japanese speaker, ideally with some experience doing business with Japanese companies
- Experienced managing a sales pipeline and engaging with high-level stakeholders in client companies (e.g. CXOs, Board, investors etc.)
- Joining with a track record in opening, managing and closing deals, including revenue
- Determined to have an impact as an individual contributor
- Extremely tech-savvy (preferably you will have worked with technology, or sold a technology product)
- An exceptional relationship builder;
- A natural collaborator who enjoys working in a team with clever and ambitious colleagues
- Highly persuasive and excellent at getting things done
- Willing to embrace all aspects of working in a fast-growing business, from managing day-to-day admin to giving speeches to global audiences or pitching CXOs from some of the world’s biggest brands
- Able to excel under pressure, with meticulous attention to detail
- Able to travel regularly, including at short notice
- Motivated by challenging targets and a fast-paced office environment
- Commercially-minded and committed to global social change through business
Extra credit if you:
- Have run your own business or held a senior role in a fast-growing start-up
- Speak other languages and have done business abroad or travelled widely
- Can provide excellent references from colleagues as well as supervisors in your current/previous roles