Account Executive - Japan
About us
Our mission is to reinvent the way people learn, starting with language.
Learning a language can change a life by opening doors to new cultures, careers, and communities. Two billion people around the world are actively trying to learn a language, but the best way to learn (one-on-one tutoring) is hard to access at scale and hasn’t been meaningfully improved in decades. Speak is building a human-level, AI-powered tutor in your pocket: a conversation-first experience that lets learners actually speak, get instant feedback, and progress through carefully designed lessons. The result is a complete path from beginner to confident speaker across multiple languages.
Speak first launched in South Korea in 2019, where Speak has now become the number one language learning app, and we now serve learners across many markets and 15+ languages. Speak is one of the world’s leading AI companies, with over $150m raised in venture investment from OpenAI, Accel, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, and more, with a distributed team across San Francisco, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, and Ljubljana.
About the Role
We are looking for an Account Executive in Japan, who will play a critical role in driving sales and maximizing revenue with our customers. You will be responsible for targeting, building and nurturing positive relationships with key decision-makers, understanding complex business needs, and delivering innovative solutions across Speak solutions. This is an opportunity to accelerate your career in AI, be a founding Sales Representative at Speak, grow a B2B business and build an incredible network of cross functional partners at Speak.
This is a full time role in a hybrid model in our Tokyo(Shibuya) office.
What you'll do at Speak:
Create a territory plan to successfully focus on top targets for Speak solutions
Create and manage a pipeline of Enterprise accounts from inbound and outbound activity to consistently meet or surpass sales targets
Apply effective discovery and value-selling techniques to build and strengthen relationships with key decision-makers in both new and existing customers to drive new and upsell ARR
Align with executives on business challenges and gain sponsorship for enterprise wide deployments for Speak solutions
Conduct thorough analysis to create account plans that outline company priorities and initiatives, multi-threading at senior level to build on expansion opportunities
Manage a book of business by tiering accounts and initiating techniques to drive upsell ARR
Co-create with cross-functional partners (CSMs, SDRs, Marketing, Product) to expertly position Speak, drive deals forward and ensure customer success
Leverage opportunities to advance executive-level relationships through in-person meetings and networking opportunities
Able to analyze market data, adapt strategies, and contribute to sales and operational success
Fluency in business English; communicating with the global team at Speak on a daily level should not be a blocker to get things done
Travel up to 20%
We'd love to hear from you if you have:
Proven experience closing new and upsell sales, over 5+ years, for an HR-focused software or SaaS business with a book of customers (>5000 FTEs), selling to executives
Consistent performance meeting pipeline generation targets for net new business
Demonstrated experience successfully managing complex sales cycles (3-12 months)
A sales methodology and process that creates value for customers
Exposure to today’s best AI Sales Tech stack tools
Successful experience in full funnel selling - outbound process, SDR alignment, trial management, business case development, proposal management, negotiation, upsell planning, etc.
While it’s not required, it’s an added plus if you also have:
Experience selling EdTech or language learning solutions to HR audiences at an executive level (Learning & Development, Talent a plus)
Demonstrated ability to succeed in a changing environment
Knowledge of successful land and expand motion
Why work at Speak
Join a fantastic, tight-knit team at the right time: we're growing very quickly, we've most recently raised our Series C from some of the top investors in the valley, and we've achieved product-market fit in our initial markets. You'd join at a magical time when a single person could significantly change the course of the company.
Do your life's work with people you’ll love working with: we care strongly about our craft and want every person at Speak to feel like they're growing every day. We believe in the idea that working with people you both enjoy and have respect for makes everything better. We hire thoughtfully and only work with people we admire deeply.
Global in nature: We're live in over 40 countries and launching in a number of new markets soon. We have dedicated offices in San Francisco, Ljubljana, Seoul, and Tokyo, and you’ll have the opportunity to talk to users in each of these regions on a regular basis as well as travel.
Impact people's lives in a major way: Learning a language is one of the single most life-changing skills one can learn, and right now 99% of people never achieve their goal because the process is broken. We’re helping millions of people achieve their goals and improve their lives.
Speak does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.