Account Executive (Existing Accounts)

About Aiven Aiven is the open source based data platform that builders trust to run PostgreSQL®, Apache Kafka®, ClickHouse®, OpenSearch®, Valkey™ and more in production, on any cloud. Builders ship faster. Their companies run on data that stays available, secure and under control. The role You own the commercial relationship with a book of existing Aiven customers across the UK & Ireland, worth more than $4m in ARR. Your job is to keep those customers, grow them, and turn their success into proof for the next customer. You spot risk early, and find the next use case before the customer asks for it. You also open new doors: cold and warm outreach into accounts that look like your best customers, from first conversation through close. You lead with AI from the front. It shapes how you plan, how you engage and what you say in every customer conversation. Agents do the research, monitoring and first drafts; you decide what matters and where to push. The outcome is growth: more ARR retained, more expanded and more pipeline created, earlier and more predictably. Why now: Aiven has ambitious growth plans, and we're on track. Every customer we serve is building AI, and AI depends on the data platform underneath it. Our open source based platform means no lock-in, so builders ship faster and our customers move with more innovation velocity. You sit at the centre of that, working with customers from Fintech and AI innovators through to Utilities whose AI ambitions depend on us. What you will do Own the strategic partnership Grow each account in your book beyond its current baseline in usage and commitments. This is the primary mandate of the role. Build and run an account plan for every priority account, with clear goals, stakeholders, risks and expansion opportunities across the Aiven platform. Partner with Solutions Architects and Technical Account Managers on technical validation, and bring in Product Engineering, Aiven leadership and executives where a customer needs senior backing. Retain and grow ARR Spot contraction and churn risk early, using usage and sentiment signals surfaced by agents, then act on them before the customer does. Build a protection plan for each risk with the Aiven customer team. Find cross-sell and upsell opportunities across the Aiven platform, and see them through to close. Run renewals as a plan, not an event. Know the commercial position, the decision makers and the competing options well before the renewal date. Lead commercial and contract negotiation through to signature. Qualify and manage every renewal, expansion and new logo opportunity with MEDDPICC. Build relationships at every level Build relationships with the builders who use the Aiven platform day to day (engineering, platform and product leads) and the teams who consume the services it delivers. Build relationships with executives, budget holders and senior IT decision makers. Turn happy customers into proof Use your relationships to build positive sentiment, then work with Marketing to turn it into events, webinars, case studies and references matched to the right prospect. Represent Aiven at UKI industry events, and feed customer, competitive and market insight back to Product, Engineering and leadership. Open new doors Own new logo opportunities in the UKI territory, from prospecting through close, using cold and warm outreach. Run the book AI-native Own how your work gets done: decide which tasks you do, which agents do and which stop entirely. Review this as the tools improve. Run account research, risk and usage monitoring, outreach drafting and forecasting through agents. Spend your time on judgment, relationships and negotiation. Keep Salesforce accurate so the forecast, and the agents reading it, reflect reality. Share what works with the team. The way you work is a product too. What you bring 5+ years of experience owning a book of exi