Job Description
SambaNova is a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering a full-stack inference platform for customers worldwide. At the core of SambaNova’s technology is the RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) — a chip built on a dataflow architecture rather than the traditional GPU model. Its decode performance is especially strong for agentic workloads like multi-turn agents, code generation, and long-running applications. RDUs are packaged into SambaRack, rack-scale hardware that lets customers deploy state-of-the-art models with better performance, greater energy efficiency, and faster time to value.
SambaNova is redefining the economics of AI inference. We build AI accelerators and deliver them as rack-scale systems that let enterprises deploy state-of-the-art AI — from the largest open-source models to demanding production workloads — in their own data centers, at speed and efficiency the incumbent platforms can’t match.
Financial services is where enterprise AI gets real: the largest institutions in the world are moving AI from experimentation into production, and they need to do it with performance, control, and economics that public cloud consumption can’t deliver. We are hiring an Account Director, based in New York, to build and drive a large book of business across US financial services — global banks, capital markets firms, asset managers, and insurers. Reporting directly to the VP of Americas, you will own the number and run every pursuit end to end with high touch: from first executive conversation, through technical and risk validation, to negotiated production deployments. This is a senior, relationship-driven seat for a seller who is already trusted at the executive level in this industry and knows how to move a large institution from interest to commitment.
What you’ll be doing
- Own the financial services number. Build and drive the book of business across US financial institutions — named accounts and expansion alike. You carry the quota and the account strategy.
- Sell high and wide. Open and cultivate relationships with CIOs, CTOs, heads of AI/ML, and line-of-business executives. Deals in this segment are won in the executive suite and defended in the architecture review — you operate credibly in both.
- Run the full pursuit end to end, high touch. Qualify rigorously. map the buying committee — technology, risk, procurement, finance — build the win plan, and personally drive every stage from discovery through commercial close.
- Navigate the institution. Understand how large financial institutions actually adopt technology: model risk management, information security review, vendor risk, data residency, and regulatory posture. Anticipate these gates and build them into the deal plan rather than discovering them in month nine.
- Sell the business case. Position on-premises AI deployment in terms the institution’s economics: cost versus public cloud consumption at production scale, data control, latency, and the ability to run frontier open-source models inside their own walls.
- Lead the pursuit team. Partner with Solutions Architects on technical validation and POCs, and orchestrate SambaNova executives into accounts deliberately and at the right altitude.
- Build the segment playbook. Define the repeatable financial services motion — use cases, references, deal constructs — and lay the foundation for the enterprise team as it scales, with the opportunity to lead it.
- Forecast with discipline. Own pipeline integrity and forecast accuracy for the segment, and bring structured market and competitive intelligence back to sales and product leadership.
What we need to see
- 10+ years of quota-carrying enterprise technology sales with a substantial track record selling into US financial services — banks, capital markets, asset management, or insurance — including large, complex infrastructure or platform deals.
- Established senior relationships in the sector: you can open doors at the CIO/CTO and head-of-AI level at major institutions today, not build toward them.
- Command of long-cycle, multi-stakeholder enterprise pursuits — technology, risk, compliance, procurement, and executive sponsors in parallel — with deal values in the seven to eight figures.
- Working fluency in AI and data center infrastructure: how enterprises evaluate compute, where inference workloads are heading, and the tradeoffs between public cloud, private deployment, and hybrid.
- Familiarity with the governance realities of financial institutions — model risk, information security review, vendor onboarding — and a record of getting deals through them.
- Executive presence: you represent the company credibly with C-level customers and partner naturally with our own executives in strategic pursuits.
Ways to stand out from the crowd
- Existing relationships across multiple top-20 US financial institutions.
- Experience selling AI infrastructure, accelerated compute, or on-premises platforms into regulated industries.
- Experience displacing or selling against public cloud consumption with an on-premises or hybrid economic case.
- A track record of landing a new vendor inside a major bank — first deal through vendor risk, then expansion.
- History of building or leading an enterprise segment as it scaled.
Base Salary Range:
Base Pay Range
$175,000—$215,000 USD
Submission Guidelines Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at SambaNova Systems, you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified.
EEO Policy SambaNova Systems is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Benefits Summary for US-Based, Full-Time Employment Positions
SambaNova offers a competitive total rewards package, including the base salary, plus equity and benefits. We cover 95% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, and 77% premium coverage for dependents and offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution. We also offer Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life, and AD&D insurance plans in addition to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options like Health Care, Limited Purpose, and Dependent Care. Our library of well-being benefits available to you and your dependents includes a full subscription to Headspace, Gympass+ membership with access to physical gyms, One Medical membership, counseling services with an Employee Assistance Program, and much more.
