About Drafted
Drafted connects university students to frontier AI labs for data annotation and model training. The thesis is simple: there are over 20 million undergraduates worldwide who represent an untapped middle layer between low-quality, inconsistent gig workers and expensive, hard-to-scale expert contractors. Drafted recruits, trains, and quality-scores that talent pool, then routes it to the labs and enterprises building frontier AI systems.
The Opportunity
Drafted has proven the model: labs and enterprises will pay for contributor quality that beats contractor baselines, and the supply side scales faster than almost anything comparable in the market. What the company has not yet built is a dedicated, repeatable sales motion. Every deal signed to date has been founder-led. This role exists to change that.
You will be Drafted’s first dedicated sales leader, reporting directly to the founders and responsible for building the systems, strategy, and team needed to transition the company from founder-led sales to a scalable, repeatable revenue engine. You will personally run point on the company's highest-value strategic and enterprise accounts while building the playbook, tooling, and eventually the team that lets Drafted repeat those wins without founder involvement in every deal.
This is an early-stage company: a small founding team, a lean but fast-growing contributor base, and a pace of change where the scope of this role will look meaningfully different in six months than it does today. Ownership, judgment under ambiguity, and a willingness to build process rather than wait for it are more important here than prior title or company size.
What You'll Own
Pipeline & Revenue
Full ownership of revenue growth across foundational model companies, AI labs, eval platforms, and enterprise AI buyers
Personally run the sales cycle, start to finish, on the company's most strategic accounts: outbound, discovery, technical evaluation, pricing, negotiation, and close
Build and manage a forecastable pipeline against the path from current bookings
Process & Infrastructure
Design the sales process, CRM structure, and forecasting cadence from scratch; there is no existing playbook to inherit
Define ideal customer profile and account prioritization across labs, eval platforms, and enterprise buyers
Partner directly with the founders on pricing architecture, packaging, and contract structure as the product and buyer base evolve
Narrative & Positioning
Translate technical product capabilities, including annotation quality methodology and benchmark performance, into a narrative that lands with both technical buyers (research and eval teams) and commercial stakeholders
Represent Drafted at industry events, in investor conversations, and in partner relationships as a credible face of the company alongside the founders
Team Building
- Recommend and hire the first members of a sales team once pipeline volume justifies it, and build the onboarding and enablement materials that let new hires ramp quickly
What Success Looks Like
First 30 days: fully ramped on the product, the benchmark methodology, and the current pipeline; have met every active prospect and partner
First 90 days: have closed or substantially advanced at least one net-new strategic account independent of founder involvement, and have a documented sales process in place
First 6 months: pipeline is forecastable, the sales motion is repeatable, and a case has been made for the first sales hire beneath you
What We're Looking For
Must-Haves
Prior sales leadership experience at a high-growth AI, data-labeling, or talent-marketplace company; candidates with direct experience at Mercor or a comparable frontier AI talent/data marketplace are strongly preferred
A track record of personally closing complex, technical, six- and seven-figure contracts with sophisticated buyers, ideally AI labs or enterprise AI teams
Demonstrated ability to build sales process and infrastructure from zero, not just execute against an existing one
Working fluency in the AI data/eval space: RLHF, model training pipelines, annotation quality methodology, and how frontier labs evaluate and select vendors
Strong Nice-to-Haves
Existing relationships with buying teams at foundational model companies or major AI labs
Experience selling into both technical (research, eval) and commercial (procurement, ops) stakeholders within the same account
Prior experience as an early sales hire (employee 1–10) at a company that scaled through a similar inflection point
Compensation & Benefits
Competitive base, commensurate with experience, plus a commission structure tied to closed revenue that brings on-target earnings to a competitive multiple of base for reps who hit plan, plus meaningful equity. Exact commission structure and accelerators to be finalized with the founders based on account size and deal cycle.
Meaningful equity in an early-stage company with outsized upside
Health, dental, and vision coverage
Direct, regular access to the founding team; no layers between you and the decisions that matter
A fast-moving environment where scope expands quickly for people who earn it
Flexible working location, with a strong preference for candidates who can work closely with the founding team in person on a regular basis
Interview Process
Intro call with the founding team (30 min): mutual fit, background, motivation
Deep-dive working session (60–90 min): walk through how you'd approach Drafted's pipeline and a real account scenario
Founder panel: cross-functional fit and how you think under ambiguity
Reference calls
Offer
Qualifications
Candidates should possess strong Sales and Sales Management skills to drive revenue, develop strategies, and lead execution.
Candidates should possess effective Account Management skills to build relationships, manage key accounts, and support long-term customer success.
Candidates should possess proven Team Management skills to recruit, mentor, and retain high-performing sales professionals.
Candidates should possess solid Analytical Skills to interpret data, forecast results, and make evidence-based decisions.
Experience in leading sales teams in a high-growth or technology-focused environment is beneficial.
Strong communication, negotiation, and presentation skills are important for success in this role.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across functions and influence stakeholders at multiple levels is preferred.
A bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, is advantageous.
drafted is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fair hiring practices and to creating a welcoming environment for all team members. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, familial status or veteran status.