Vice President of Sales

Forerunner
Portland +1 more
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Best suited to experienced B2B SaaS sales leaders with public-sector or regulated industry experience working in early-stage environments.

Best fit for

  • Experienced B2B SaaS sales leaders who have built and scaled new business teams in high-growth environments
    — “You are an experienced sales leader who has built and scaled new business teams in high-growth B2B SaaS environments.”
  • Candidates with a proven ability to navigate long, multi-stakeholder buying cycles in government or regulated sectors
    — “Guide the team through public-sector procurement and long, multi-stakeholder buying cycles.”
  • Individuals who can balance strategic vision with operational execution and team development
    — “This role sits at the intersection of revenue, product, and market strategy.”

Things to consider

  • The role requires a hands-on approach, with personal involvement in prospecting and closing deals
    — “This is a hands-on role. You'll set the strategy and also stay in the work: running deals, building processes, and selling alongside your team.”
  • The candidate must be comfortable with undefined processes and be willing to build them from scratch
    — “Early-stage experience, comfort in the undefined, and a willingness to do the work yourself, from prospecting to building a process from scratch.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience in scaling sales teams and building repeatable processes for complex B2B sales
    — “A track record of scaling teams, building repeatable sales processes, and forecasting with accuracy.”
  • Emphasize your ability to lead cross-functional alignment and drive long-term market strategy
    — “Serve as the executive voice of the market across the company.”
  • Showcase your background in selling to regulated buyers, even if it's in adjacent sectors like infrastructure or energy
    — “Experience selling to complex, regulated buyers (GovTech experience is a plus, but adjacent sectors such as infrastructure, energy, or construction are also relevant).”
  • Demonstrate your leadership style that balances accountability with warmth and partnership
    — “A leadership style that balances accountability with warmth and partnership.”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Company

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Define and execute long-term sales strategy
  • Own new business bookings, pipeline coverage, and forecast accuracy
  • Scale public-sector business across all levels of government
  • Lead expansion into regulated private-sector industries
  • Recruit and develop high-performing sellers
Typical background
Experience as a sales leader in a high-growth company

Skills & requirements

Required

Sales StrategySales LeadershipSales Team ManagementForecasting And Operational RigorPublic-sector SalesRegulated Industries SalesCross-functional AlignmentExecutive-level LeadershipSales Process DevelopmentSales Team CoachingDeal ManagementPublic-sector ProcurementMulti-stakeholder Buying CyclesMarket AnalysisCompetitive Dynamics

Preferred

Sales EnablementSales OperationsSales AnalyticsSales TechnologySales Training

Stack & domain

Sales StrategyPublic-sector MotionRegulated IndustriesSales OrganizationForecastingOperational RigorSales ProcessExecutive-level LeadershipAccount ExecutiveBusiness Development RepresentativeCustomer SuccessMarketingProductMarket StrategyPricingPackagingDeal StructurePublic-sector ProcurementMulti-stakeholder Buying CyclesLong-term Account PlanningPipeline Generation StrategyMarket NeedsCompetitive DynamicsLeadershipCommunicationProblem-solvingTeam BuildingStrategic PlanningSalesPublic Sector

About the role

Original posting from Forerunner via Ashby

HI! WE'RE FORERUNNER.

Stronger, more resilient communities are built by the people inside government and regulated industries who keep critical infrastructure running. But they're working against real headwinds: fragmented data, field crews without the right tools, and high-stakes decisions made without a complete picture.

Forerunner exists to fix that. We build intelligent software that connects the systems these agencies and firms already rely on, fills the gaps those systems can't, and turns fragmented information into decisions and actions that reduce liability, surface revenue, and prevent small problems from becoming emergencies.

ABOUT THE POSITION

We are seeking a Vice President of Sales to lead and scale our new business organization at a pivotal stage of growth.

Reporting to the CEO, this leader will own the strategy, performance, and long-term vision of the Sales organization. You will shape how Forerunner wins new customers across the public sector and regulated industries, building a predictable revenue engine while opening new markets for our platform.

This role sits at the intersection of revenue, product, and market strategy. You will bring executive-level leadership to a team of Account Executives and a BDR organization, elevate forecasting and operational rigor, and drive alignment across Customer Success, Marketing, and Product.

As we scale, Sales must turn a proven public-sector motion into a predictable growth engine while opening new markets in regulated industries. You will lead both.

This is a hands-on role. You'll set the strategy and also stay in the work: running deals, building processes, and selling alongside your team.

This is a hybrid role based out of one of our talent hubs in New York City, San Francisco, or Portland, Maine.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

REVENUE STRATEGY & GROWTH

  • Define and execute the long-term sales strategy in partnership with the CEO and executive team
  • Own new business bookings, pipeline coverage, and forecast accuracy
  • Scale our public-sector business across every level of government, from local communities to federal agencies
  • Lead expansion into regulated private-sector industries, shaping how Forerunner sells to new buyer types

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP

  • Lead and develop a growing team of Account Executives and Business Development Representatives
  • Establish clear performance standards, territory and segment strategies, and operating rhythms
  • Recruit and develop high-performing sellers, and build a culture that is mission-driven, motivating, and results-oriented
  • Scale leadership capacity within the team

SALES PROCESS & OPERATIONAL RIGOR

  • Build the systems, stages, and reporting that create predictability at scale
  • Partner with Operations to mature our pricing, packaging, and deal structure
  • Guide the team through public-sector procurement and long, multi-stakeholder buying cycles
  • Stay close to the work by joining calls, coaching live deals, and personally driving key opportunities to close

EXECUTIVE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ALIGNMENT

  • Serve as the executive voice of the market across the company
  • Partner with Customer Success to ensure strong handoffs, expansion, and long-term account planning
  • Partner with Marketing to build a sustainable pipeline generation strategy across segments
  • Influence Product through clear articulation of market needs and competitive dynamics

ABOUT YOU

You are an experienced sales leader who has built and scaled new business teams in high-growth B2B SaaS environments.

You bring a strategic perspective and a bias toward action. You can design a sales engine that drives predictability while staying close enough to deals and sellers to understand nuance.

You likely bring:

  • Significant experience leading B2B SaaS sales teams, including managing managers
  • A track record of scaling teams, building repeatable sales processes, and forecasting with accuracy
  • Experience selling to complex, regulated buyers (GovTech experience is a plus, but adjacent sectors such as infrastructure, energy, or construction are also relevant)
  • Experience opening a new market, segment, or buyer type
  • Strong executive presence and cross-functional influence
  • Early-stage experience, comfort in the undefined, and a willingness to do the work yourself, from prospecting to building a process from scratch
  • A leadership style that balances accountability with warmth and partnership

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Within the first year, you will have:

  • Built Sales into a predictable, performance-driven function with reliable forecasting
  • Grown new business bookings and pipeline in our core public-sector market
  • Established a repeatable motion for selling into regulated private-sector industries
  • Strengthened the AE and BDR teams through hiring, coaching, and clear standards
  • Created tight alignment with Customer Success and Marketing across the customer lifecycle

OUR TEAM HAS A LOT TO OFFER

Forerunner is an early-stage company with an interdisciplinary team. We are motivated by seemingly intractable problems and work hard to support one another.

  • We're mission-driven. Our mission orients our business strategy and pushes us to work with a sense of urgency. We’re in the weeds - our entire team spends time engaging with our partners in the field to better understand the real-world problems they face.
  • We're a small team. As a member of our growing team, you will quickly become an invaluable part of our organization and have a meaningful impact on our business and technical direction. We welcome unique perspectives and backgrounds. Your opinion matters and we hope you'll share it.
  • We build each other up. A team works best when its members are adequately equipped with the tools to tackle the problems they are facing. Forerunner strives to provide adequate feedback and appropriate learning opportunities to help all its team members expand their skills.
  • We value in-person collaboration. Some of our best work happens when we're solving problems together in the same room, so this role is hybrid and based near one of our offices: New York City, San Francisco, or Portland, Maine.
  • We want you to be happy and healthy. Forerunner offers competitive compensation, health/vision/dental coverage, a 401k plan, and one expensed lunch per week. We also have a quarterly wellness reimbursement so that you can have flexibility in defining what “health” means to you.

The salary range for this position is $210,000- $250,000 with an OTE $310,000-$400,000. This posting may span more than one career level. Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including an individual’s skills, experience, and qualifications.

Forerunner is an equal opportunity employer committed to embracing diversity and the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds.

Source: Forerunner careers (Ashby)

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