Account Executive / Business Development Manager Research Subscriptions & Economic Intelligence

Job Description

Job Description

As an Account Executive/Business Development Manager, you will sell research subscriptions, economic data platforms, and executive council memberships to HR leaders, VPs, Directors, and C-suite executives at mid-to-large Canadian private-sector organizations. This is a 100% new business development role — you will own the full sales cycle from prospecting to close. Approximately 75–80% of your pipeline must be self-generated through cold outreach; 20–25% of warm leads will be supplied. This is a newly created position reporting to the Director of Sales. The base salary is $70,000 – $78,500 CAD, plus uncapped commissions.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS• $70,000 – $78,500 CAD base salary, plus commissions• Year 1 OTE: $100,000 – $120,000 (at quota)• Year 2 OTE: $110,000 – $130,000• Uncapped quarterly commission — 10% on every sale• Annual personal performance bonus• Sun Life health benefits — 100% company paid — effective day one• RRSP matching program• 20 vacation days per year• Laptop provided• 100% remote — no office required• Sign off at 1:00 PM every Friday (results-based schedule)• Career advancement potential within 2 yearsTHE COMPANY & CULTURE

Our client was founded approximately 60 years ago and is a nationally recognized, non-profit, non-partisan research organization with 173 employees. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, they operate as a fully virtual, remote-first organization. Their primary offerings include economic data subscriptions (inFact), eData platforms, executive council memberships, and custom research — all grounded in proprietary Canadian-focused data models. These products are used by organizations to inform compensation planning, workforce strategy, and executive decision-making. Top clients include major national retailers, financial institutions, professional services firms, and construction and manufacturing organizations. The company is actively expanding its outbound private-sector sales team for the first time, representing a strategic growth opportunity for the right candidate.

The culture is performance-driven and people-first. Leadership promotes autonomy with accountability, and the organization is structured to keep decision-making flat and collaborative. Employees consistently cite meaningful work, flexibility, half-day Fridays, and a fully remote environment as top reasons to stay.

OFFICE LOCATION & SALES TERRITORY• Head Office: Ottawa, Ontario (no requirement to attend)• Work arrangement: 100% remote — fully virtual organization• Sales territory: Canada-wide. Primary concentration in the GTA and Ontario. Provincial government is a secondary expansion target; federal government is not in scope.• Overnight travel: None required• Hours: Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week. No evening or weekend requirements.EXPERIENCE, BACKGROUND & EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS• 3–6 years of full-cycle B2B sales experience — this range is firm• Minimum 2–3 years selling intangible solutions: SaaS, data/analytics, research subscriptions, consulting, advisory, or HR tech — required; candidates without this background will not be considered• Proven outbound hunter: must demonstrate ability to self-generate pipeline from scratch, build prospect lists independently, and execute cold outreach without a lead source• Experience selling to HR leaders, VPs, Directors, or C-suite executives preferred — buyers who use data and research as a strategic input• Consultative selling background required — education-led, needs-based, outcomes-focused approach; Sandler or Gap Selling experience a strong asset• CRM proficiency required — Microsoft Dynamics preferred; Salesforce or HubSpot acceptable• Post-secondary degree in Business, Economics, HR, Social Sciences, or a related field preferred — not a hard requirement• Comfortable conducting virtual demos and presentations• LinkedIn Sales Navigator experience an assetTECHNICAL SKILLS• Microsoft Dynamics CRM — proficiency required• Salesforce or HubSpot — acceptable equivalent• LinkedIn Sales Navigator — asset• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) — standard proficiencyTHE PRODUCT / SERVICE / SOLUTION• inFact economic data subscriptions — proprietary Canadian-focused data models used by organizations for compensation planning and workforce strategy• eData platforms — digital research and analytics platforms• Executive council memberships — peer-network and intelligence-sharing memberships for senior leaders• Custom research — bespoke research projects addressing specific strategic or policy challengesPROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS / INDUSTRY FOCUS / DECISION MAKER(S)• Primary buyer: HR leaders — Heads of HR, VPs of HR, Directors of HR — within private-sector enterprise and large organizations• Company size: Large (100–999 employees) and enterprise (1,000+)• Geographic focus: GTA and Ontario primary; Canada-wide secondary• Industry verticals: manufacturing, finance, construction, retail, energy and utilities; non-profit and education are secondary• Secondary expansion target: provincial governmentSALES CYCLE / ORDER VALUE / ACCOUNT SIZE• Average deal size: $15,000 – $30,000• Average sales cycle: 1–6 months; approximately 3 calls to close on average• Year 1 quota: $230,000• Year 2 quota: $260,000COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES• 60+ years of brand trust — non-partisan, nationally recognized, cited by major businesses and national media• Proprietary Canadian economic data — no direct domestic competitor offers the same depth of Canadian-focused intelligence• Non-biased research status — the primary purchase driver for organizations that need credible data to validate strategic decisions• Upstream data provider — major competing vendors (including Mercer, who is a council client) rely on this organization’s data as an input into their own products• Consultative, education-led sales model — creates differentiation through insight rather than feature comparisonTYPICAL DAY & DUTIES• 100% New Business Development (Year 1 and Year 2)

On a typical day you will be executing outbound phone, email, and LinkedIn outreach to build your own prospect list, conducting discovery calls with HR leaders and C-suite executives to uncover strategic data needs, delivering virtual product overviews and presentations tailored to each client’s specific challenge, managing the full sales cycle from first contact through close, and logging all pipeline activity and forecasting in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

LEADS• Approximately 75–80% of your pipeline must be self-generated through outbound prospecting — cold phone, email, and LinkedIn outreach• Approximately 20–25% warm leads will be supplied by the organization• Candidates who are unwilling to cold call or build pipeline independently are not a fit for this roleOVERNIGHT TRAVEL

• None required. All selling is conducted virtually.

SUPPORT & TRAINING• Direct coaching and mentorship from the Director of Sales — a hands-on leader with 7–8 years of experience selling to HR buyers• Collaboration with internal research teams and subject-matter experts to support proposal development and solution positioning• CRM onboarding and ongoing support• Marketing-supplied collateral and lead supportWHY YOU SHOULD APPLY• Full remote — no office, no commute, and a results-driven schedule that ends at 1:00 PM on Fridays• Uncapped commission with a 10% rate on every sale — your earning potential is directly tied to your effort• Mission-driven work — non-biased Canadian research that helps organizations make better decisions on compensation, workforce planning, and strategy• First dedicated private-sector outbound sales team in the organization’s history — significant growth potential if early performance validates the model• Day-one Sun Life benefits, RRSP matching, and 20 vacation days

Equal Opportunity Employer

Just Sales Jobs and our clients are equal opportunity employers. We do not discriminate. All candidates are evaluated solely on performance merit and organizational fit.

Not the Right Fit? We May Have Other Roles for You.

If this particular role isn’t the right match, we encourage you to browse our other open positions at -opening/ and apply for any that interest you. Our recruiters review every resume we receive — and if we have another role that could be a great fit for your background, we will reach out to you directly.

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