Account Executive, Global Accounts

Department: Sales

Location: Zürich, Europe (Remote), Amsterdam

Employment Type: FullTime

This is Cradle

Proteins are the molecular machines of life, used for many therapeutic, diagnostic, chemical, agricultural and food applications. Designing and optimizing proteins takes a lot of expert knowledge and manual effort, through the use of custom computational and biological tools.

Machine learning is revolutionizing this space, by enabling high-fidelity protein models. At Cradle, we offer a software platform for AI-guided discovery and optimization of proteins, so that biologists can design proteins faster and at scale. We are already used by clients across biopharma, biotech, agri-tech, food-tech, and academia.

Were an experienced team of just under 100 people. Weve built many successful products before and have enough funding for multiple years of runway. We are distributed across three offices in Amsterdam, Boston, and Zurich, alongside a few remote colleagues.

We offer our employees a very competitive salary, a generous equity stake in the company and a wide range of benefits and career progression opportunities.

Context

Cradle helps global biotech and biopharma leaders design radically better proteins from next-generation biologics to high-efficiency enzymes powered by cutting-edge generative AI.

As a Global Account Executive, you’ll lead strategic engagements with some of the world’s most influential R&D organizations, owning key relationships and driving multi-million-dollar partnerships in Europe.

With product–market fit secured, a rapidly expanding base of enterprise customers, and world-class scientific and technical talent, you’ll play a central role in scaling Cradle’s global impact.

Responsibilities

• Drive business development across the global biotech and biopharma landscape, nurturing leads, identifying opportunities, and closing high-value enterprise deals.

• Own strategic accounts, with a focus on large global players (including the top 10 pharma companies), and deliver millions in annually recurring revenue.

• Partner cross-functionally with product, ML, engineering, and customer success teams to shape proposals and execute on high-impact, technically complex projects.

• Act as the voice of the market, surfacing customer feedback and strategic insights to directly inform product direction and roadmap priorities.

• Build a powerful personal brand in the biotech and AI-for-science space, attending global events, engaging with scientists and executives, and establishing yourself as a trusted advisor in the field.

• Shape how we sell, improving playbooks, sales processes, and materials as we scale with the freedom to reimagine how enterprise sales is done in a science-driven startup.

In a team that’s thinking big and growing fast, there are few limits to this role. You’ll be expected to operate with ownership, urgency, and creativity and rewarded accordingly.

Need to haves

• Advanced degree in the life sciences (e.g. structural/molecular biology, bioinformatics, pharmaceutical sciences, biochemical engineering), or equivalent hands-on experience working with R&D teams in biotech or pharma.

• 5+ years in B2B sales (ideally SaaS), with a proven track record of consistently exceeding quota (top 5%).

• You’re confident navigating highly technical topics and translating them into business value for R&D stakeholders and executives alike.

• You thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, are energized by building from scratch and confident writing the playbook, not waiting for one.

• You listen intently, are innately curious, and learn with humility.

Nice to haves

• Strong business network across biotech/pharma in the DACH region or broader Europe.

• Domain knowledge in machine learning or its applications in life sciences.

• Prior experience at a (B2B) growth-stage startup.

• Prior experience working as bioinformatician or wet lab scientist in an industrial or academic setting.

Our commitment to inclusive hiring

Cradle evaluates all candidates based on merit, regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, or any other aspect of identity. We maintain zero tolerance for discrimination and actively encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

AI disclosure

Cradle uses an applicant tracking system that includes basic AI-assisted features which may generate scores or rankings based on how applications match a job description. These outputs are not used to make or meaningfully influence hiring decisions — all candidates are evaluated through a thorough, human-led review by our recruiting team.

A notice about recruitment scams

Please be aware that scammers are posing as us in order to get your personal details or money. We only communicate via @cradle.bio email addresses, we only make job offers after having met you in person at our office in Zurich or Amsterdam, and we never ask you to pay for anything during the interview process.