Senior Account Executive - Public Sector

About Nakisa

Nakisa is a global leader in AI-powered enterprise software for Human Resources, Financial Management, and Commercial Real Estate (CRE). Our cloud platform powers mission-critical operations for 1,100+ organizations in 135 countries and serves millions of users.

We are building the next wave of enterprise applications with Nakisa AI, including Nakisa Decision Intelligence, a platform that connects enterprise data, simulates options, and helps leaders make and execute defensible decisions. Our products use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) with secure API integrations to large language models. Customer data stays private and auditable, and we never use client data to train third-party models. This privacy-first design gives public sector organizations trustworthy AI they can actually put into production.

We are a Canadian company, headquartered in Montréal, self-funded, with roughly 200 employees in Canada. What sets us apart is a single platform that connects these functions on shared data models, a focus on high-stakes, compliance-heavy workflows, and a culture anchored in Fairness, Integrity, Service, and Humility. Recognized among Canada’s top employers, we offer hybrid work, supportive leaders, and clear growth paths.

About the role

You will own the Canadian public sector territory end to end. Federal departments and agencies are your primary market; provincial ministries, Crown corporations and the broader public sector are your secondary market. You will sell the full Nakisa platform, Lease Accounting, IWMS and Real Property, Workforce Planning and Decision Intelligence, into organizations where the buying committee spans a CIO, a Chief Financial Officer, a Real Property ADM and a procurement authority who has never heard of you.

How Nakisa sells to government is not fully written yet. You will write a meaningful part of it, and you will carry the number while you do.

This role reports into the Senior Strategic Advisor and works directly with our executive team. You will not be selling in isolation, and you will not be selling to a script.

What you’ll be doing

• Own the full sales cycle for Canadian public sector accounts, from territory planning and qualification through proof of concept, procurement, negotiation and close.

• Build and defend a named federal account plan covering the departments and agencies where Nakisa’s platform maps to a real mandate, with a documented path into each.

• Develop trusted relationships at the DG, ADM and DM level, and with the CIO, CFO, Real Property and HR functions beneath them.

• Navigate Government of Canada procurement with credibility: supply arrangements, standing offers, RFIs, RFPs, ITQs, sole-source justifications, SSC and PSPC processes, and the fairness rules that govern all of it.

• Carry both a software and a professional services target, and forecast accurately against each.

• Position Nakisa’s privacy-first architecture and data residency posture as a differentiator against the global incumbents.

• Lead displacement deals against entrenched legacy platforms whose incumbents have stopped delivering value.

• Extend into provincial ministries, Crown corporations and the broader public sector, prioritizing where a federal reference travels.

• Work with business development, marketing, value engineering and solution consulting to build boardroom-ready, business-case-driven proposals.

• Use generative AI tools to sharpen your prospecting, research and deal execution, and speak fluently about Nakisa’s AI to buyers who will scrutinize it.

What you bring

• Typically 8+ years of enterprise software or SaaS sales experience, with a consistent record of exceeding quota on complex, multi-stakeholder deals.

• A track record closing complex, multi-stakeholder software deals in highly regulated, procurement-driven environments, where you can walk through how the deal was structured and what it took to get it approved.

• Working fluency in public procurement: how supply arrangements and standing offers work, how evaluations are scored, where deals stall, and how to stay on the right side of procurement fairness.

• Proven ability to influence executive-level stakeholders and hold a room of senior public servants.

• Comfort with long, non-linear cycles. You know how to keep a 12 to 24 month pursuit alive through the quiet stretches, without letting it stall out.

• Bilingual: professional working proficiency in English and French, spoken and written. Both are required. You will present, negotiate, and correspond in both languages.

• Skill in using AI tools to your own advantage day to day, and the ability to represent AI-driven solutions to buyers with legitimate privacy and sovereignty concerns.

Nice to have

• Experience selling IWMS, real property, ERP, HCM or lease accounting solutions.

• Experience displacing an entrenched incumbent platform in a government environment.

• Prior public service experience, or time on the buying side of a government technology procurement.

• Familiarity with Government of Canada security classification and data residency expectations, including Protected B workloads.

• Comfortable in a modern sales stack. Dynamics 365 is our CRM, alongside HubSpot, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Apollo.

• Strategic and commercial acumen, and the ability to translate a sophisticated platform into clear public-value outcomes.

What’s in it for you

• Own a territory outright. You are not one of twelve reps on a patch. You are the Canadian public sector seller, with the mandate and the visibility that comes with it.

• Uncapped commission on multi-year enterprise deals, with accelerators once you pass quota, and a ramped first year because federal cycles run long.

• Build the playbook. How Nakisa sells to government is not fully written yet. You will write a meaningful part of it.

Why Nakisa?

🌴 Time off: Starting at 3 weeks’ vacation, a paid week off at year end, an extra paid summer day off, personal and volunteer days, and generous sick leave.

🩺 Health & wellness: Comprehensive health, dental, and life insurance including telemedicine from day one.

💰 Financial security: RRSP matching up to 4% from day one and a home internet allowance.

🎉 Social perks: Regular events to unwind with colleagues such as game nights, summer picnic, holiday party, excursions, and more.

🚀 Career growth: Mentorship, education assistance (80% up to $1,500 per year) and reimbursement of role-relevant professional dues.

🤝 Culture: A supportive, values-driven team with leaders who care.

🚀 Make your impact at Nakisa.

If building privacy-first AI for global enterprises motivates you, apply today and help shape the future of enterprise software.

Compensation: $120,000 to $145,500 CAD base, plus uncapped commission with accelerators above quota, earning approximately $283,000 to $308,000 at 100% of quota.

Location: Ottawa (home-based, with regular in-person presence across the National Capital Region).

Travel: regular travel within the National Capital Region and across Canada.

Visa or relocation: not available.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Hiring process: recruiter conversation, hiring manager interview, and a panel or skills assessment depending on the role.

Apply even if not a perfect match: potential and drive matter here.

AI-assisted recruitment:

Nakisa uses AI-assisted tools, including BrightHire and Greenhouse, throughout our recruitment process. Interviews with our team are recorded and transcribed to support accurate note-taking. AI-generated outputs, including transcripts, summaries, and structured scoring aids, support our hiring team and are reviewed by people. All hiring decisions are made by people based on job-related criteria.

If you need an accommodation at any stage, or have questions about how your data is processed, contact [email protected]