Job Description
About The Role
We are looking for someone to lead, alongside the CEO, the commercial development of the AI Consulting line.
Currently, the entire sales cycle (prospecting, qualification, discovery meetings, proposal, negotiation, and closing) is concentrated in the CEO. This concentration is currently the main constraint to the growth of this business line. The objective of this position is clear: to absorb this cycle, first in a mentoring role, then autonomously, and transform it into a scalable and replicable process.
This is neither a sales support role nor a strictly strategic one. It involves taking responsibility for the pipeline and the outcome, working with medium and large-sized Portuguese companies that have variable sales cycles and difficult-to-reach decision-makers.
This profile will work in direct contact with the CEO from day one, with full exposure to proposals, negotiations, and pricing decisions.
Regarding the opportunity
We are looking for someone to lead, alongside the CEO, the commercial development of the AI Consulting line.
Currently, the entire sales cycle (prospecting, qualification, discovery meetings, proposal, negotiation, and closing) is concentrated in the CEO. This concentration is currently the main constraint to the growth of this business line. The objective of this position is clear: to absorb this cycle, first in a mentoring role, then autonomously, and transform it into a scalable and replicable process.
This is neither a sales support role nor a strictly strategic one. It involves taking responsibility for the pipeline and the outcome, working with medium and large-sized Portuguese companies that have variable sales cycles and difficult-to-reach decision-makers.
This profile will work in direct contact with the CEO from day one, with full exposure to proposals, negotiations, and pricing decisions.
Responsibilities
- Pipeline generation. Identify target accounts, map decision-makers, and initiate conversations via email, LinkedIn, phone, and attendance at ecosystem events.
- Qualification and discovery. Conducting diagnostic meetings, understanding the client's operation, and distinguishing genuine opportunities from technological curiosity.
- Use case mapping. Translating the client's operation into concrete AI opportunities, quantified in time saved, cost avoided, or incremental revenue.
- Proposal development. Defining scope, effort, and price in conjunction with the technical team, and defending the proposal to the client.
- Negotiation and closing. Leading the process through to signing and ensuring a smooth transition to the delivery team.
- CRM management. Keeping the pipeline up-to-date, with honest forecasts and data hygiene.
- Structuring the sales process. Documenting, systematizing, and continuously improving the process, progressively reducing its dependence on the CEO.
Desired Profile
We value execution skills and initiative above academic background or years of experience. A junior profile with evidence of genuine autonomy will be considered on an equal footing with a senior profile.
- Demonstrated initiative and autonomy. History of projects, businesses, communities, or products launched on one's own initiative, with verifiable results.
- Fluency in artificial intelligence. Daily use of the tools, practical understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the models and agents, and ability to assess technical feasibility in dialogue with engineers. Programming skills are not required.
- Fluent in Portuguese and English. The primary market is Portuguese; the ecosystem in which we operate is international.
- Access and credibility with decision-makers. The ability to open doors where there is no prior relationship, reach the right decision-maker within complex organizations, and maintain a well-founded position before a CEO, administrator, or operations director.
- Rigorous written communication. Clarity, conciseness, and absence of noise.
- Business orientation. No prior sales experience is required, but a clear desire to develop it and resilience in the face of rejection are essential.
Conditions
- Competitive base salary , to be determined based on profile and experience.
- Variable component indexed to results, with no upper limit.
- Health insurance to keep you healthy.
- Hybrid model , based in Porto. Physical presence is determined by the business agenda and client needs, not by office policy.
- Full access to the AI tool stack, with no budget restrictions.
- Direct exposure to the CEO and the complete sales cycle, with progression to full autonomy over the AI Consulting line.
As candidates
Don't send your resume.Record a two- to three-minute video (Loom, phone, whatever) and send the link to
mario@layerx.xyz with the subject "AI Business Development" . In the video, answer three things:
- Something you've sold, built, or made happen on your own initiative. What it was, what you actually did with it, and what worked.
- A Portuguese company that you consider a relevant target for LayerX, and where AI would solve a real problem for them.
- An AI product that you use and find overrated , and why.
I want to see you thinking and talking, so it's video, not text. It doesn't need any production. It just needs to be you.
Finally, leave me a link where I can see what you're up to: LinkedIn, X, GitHub, a project, a blog, whatever. It's not to read about your career path, it's to see what you're building.
All applications that follow this format will receive a response. The exercise takes less than 15 minutes. If that seems like too long, this isn't the right position for you.
About LayerX
LayerX is an AI studio based in Porto. We build and operate artificial intelligence products and support organizations in transitioning from experimentation to production systems.
We are a team of about ten people, with eight years of operational experience and no intermediate decision-making layers.
