Account Executive at Okra

Who we are

Our mission is to digitize financial services. We are building the tools and services that will enable developers to launch, optimize, & scale financial platforms and services. Our thesis is that financial innovation cannot exist without an Open Finance infrastructure and that the growth of the African Fintech industry is intrinsically tied to the success of Okra’s infrastructure.

Okra powers the tools that millions of people rely on to plan and manage their finances today. We are proudly working with hundreds of companies like Interswitch and dLlocal, and many of the largest financial institutions to make it easy for people to securely connect their accounts to the apps and services they choose. Okra’s network covers over 100 banks and financial institutions across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana.

We believe that by building Africa’s Open Finance infrastructure, we enable developers to create better, fairer financial services and we are dedicated to removing the complexity around accessing financial information and payment infrastructure for everyone.

 

The role

It’s an amazing time to join Okra. We are looking for a seasoned leader to take our business development organization to the next level. The Account Executive is responsible for the entire sales cycle from lead generation to closing deals, focusing on value-driven sales. You will work closely with the marketing and product teams to ensure customer needs are met effectively. This means finding companies that fit our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and are ready to buy. Your role is crucial in understanding client needs, expertly demonstrating our products, and acting more as a trusted advisor than a traditional sales agent. Your success hinges on building strong, lasting client relationships and effectively communicating the benefits of our products.

What you will do: 

• Develop and execute a strategic sales plan to achieve sales targets and expand our customer base.
• Build and maintain strong, long-lasting customer relationships.
• Partner with customers to understand their business needs and objectives.
• Effectively communicate the value proposition of our APIs through proposals and presentations.
• Identify emerging markets and market shifts while being fully aware of new products and competition status.
• Negotiate contracts and close agreements to maximize profits.
• Ensure the timely and successful delivery of our solutions according to customer needs and objectives.
• Prepare reports on account status and provide feedback to the management team.
• Collaborate with other units such as marketing and product, to prepare sales enablement materials, content, presentations etc
• Work closely with Engineering and Product to communicate technical pain points, create tickets, resolve client integration issues and share new feature requests, etc
• Anchor client handover meetings from Business Development to Customer Success

 

What will help you succeed: :

• Strong prospecting, qualifying, and negotiating skills; consultative sales approach with a product-centric mindset. 
• Interest in financial services products and a desire to create strategic relationships that help our customers succeed.
• Excitement to work in a high-growth environment and to help build processes and tools as needed. 
• Experience with B2B sales experience, particularly in the payments, banking or Fintech industry is an advantage.
• Desire & ability to learn the ins and outs of Okra’s API - You don’t need to be able to code, but you do need to deeply understand the logic and functionality of the API and be able to translate that knowledge into relevant solutions for each prospect, based on what you understand the customer is looking to achieve. 

 

 

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.