Why Zania
Every enterprise spends millions of dollars on Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). It's one of the most critical, yet universally painful, parts of running a business. For decades, this industry has been dominated by legacy systems with notoriously low NPS scores, making it totally ripe for disruption.
Zania is building agentic AI for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) to solve this massive problem. We are on a rocketship trajectory, creating intelligent agents that automate and augment the most complex risk and compliance workflows. We have found exceptional product-market fit and are scaling our team very quickly. Some reasons to join Zania are:
Dream Customers: Our customers are the most notable enterprises in the world, including FAANG, Big 4 firms and a portfolio of top customers.
Tier 1 Backing: Funded by a leading Tier 1 venture capital fund, giving us the resources to build a generational company.
World-Class Team: Zania is hiring the best. Our team includes AI and Security leaders from Airbnb, Microsoft, Bain & Company, Deloitte, PwC, Brex, and Instacart.
Pioneering Technology: Our engineers and GRC experts work at the absolute forefront of applied AI, building the next generation of agentic systems that will define the future of compliance.
Hyper-Growth: We have seen 10x ARR growth in the last year and are rapidly expanding.
Competitive Compensation & Equity.
Role Overview
This is our first dedicated GTM hire — a role that blends SDR hustle with early AE instincts. You will work directly alongside the founders to build pipeline from scratch. There is no ready-made lead list. You will build it.
We are looking for someone hungry — someone who sees cold outreach as a puzzle, not a chore, and who gets genuine satisfaction from booking a meeting with a CISO who wasn't expecting your call.
You will own the first two stages of our sales cycle: hunting leads (inbound and outbound) and qualifying them — do they have budget, are they buying now, and is Zania actually the right fit? For the right person, there is a clear path to co-leading product demos with our technical team.
What you'll do
Hunt enterprise prospects through cold calling, cold email, LinkedIn, and events — inbound and outbound alike.
Run discovery conversations to qualify budget, timeline, and fit before passing warm opportunities to the broader team.
Build and maintain a healthy pipeline, always keeping the founders looped in on what you're seeing in the market.
Help define our Ideal Customer Profile, test messaging, and document what works into a repeatable playbook.
Learn the product deeply enough to eventually co-lead demos alongside our technical team.
Serve as a feedback loop between prospects and our Product team — you will hear objections no one else does.
What We're Looking For
We are open to two types of candidates:
The Hunter — 1–3 years in a sales, SDR, or BDR role with a proven track record of building pipeline from nothing. You are relentless, resilient, and energized by the chase. You may not know GRC yet, but you will learn it fast because you are genuinely curious and deeply competitive.
The GRC Insider (optional but preferred) — 5–8 years in governance, risk, or compliance who is ready to go customer-facing. You know the pain of the buyer because you have lived it. You understand the language, the stakeholders, and what good actually looks like — and you want to use that knowledge to sell a product you believe in.
In either case, we are looking for someone who:
Can hunt a lead inbound or outbound and run a tight discovery conversation — qualifying budget, timeline, and fit before anything else.
Communicates with clarity and earns trust quickly, whether on a cold call or in a meeting with a CISO.
Thrives without a script in a fast-moving, early-stage environment where you help write the playbook.
Is based in (or willing to relocate to) Palo Alto for full-time in-person work.
Nice to Have
Previous startup or early-stage experience.
Experience with AI-powered sales tools (Apollo, Clay, Outreach, etc.).
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
1–3 years of sales, business development, or customer-facing experience (Hunter profile) OR 5–8 years of experience in governance, risk, or compliance (Insider profile)
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — you will be interfacing with C-level and senior enterprise buyers and must be able to articulate complex ideas clearly and credibly
Compensation and benefits
Flexible PTO policy.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
Meals and snacks in the office
Relocation support
Zania is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.