Senior Account Executive - Denmark/Germany

Overview

You're building Grieg Connect's presence in Denmark and Germany from the ground up, selling their cloud-based Port Management Information System (PMIS) to port authorities, terminals, and ferry operators. You'll be doing full-cycle sales—finding prospects, running demos, navigating procurement processes, and closing deals. The CSO is based in Norway and you'll be working somewhat autonomously to figure out this market.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Established/Bootstrapped (family-owned, part of Grieg Group)

Size: 31 employees

Growth: Expanding into new European markets after establishing base in Nordics

Market Position: Niche player in maritime/port management software—not a crowded SaaS space, but very specialized buyers

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 95% Outbound - You're cold calling port directors, operations managers at terminals, ferry company executives. No brand recognition in Denmark/Germany yet.
• 5% Referrals - Occasional intro from existing Nordic customers, but you're mostly building from scratch
• Zero inbound - Small company, limited marketing presence outside Norway

SDR/AE Structure: No SDR support. You're sourcing everything yourself.

SE Support: Likely shared technical resources from Norway for complex demos/POCs, but you'll handle most product demos solo.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Other port management systems (likely regional European vendors), legacy on-premise solutions that ports have used for years, custom-built internal systems

How They Differentiate: All-in-one cloud platform (port calls, resource planning, invoicing, ISPS compliance, gate management). Family-owned with maritime heritage (Grieg Group credibility). 115+ ports already using it.

Common Objections: "We already have a system," "We built our own," "We need to see it work at a similar port," procurement/budget cycles, risk-averse government entities

Win Themes: Consolidating multiple systems, cloud-based efficiency, proven track record at 115+ ports, comprehensive solution vs point products

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Prospecting (40%) | Active Deals (35%) | Travel/Onsite (15%) | Internal (10%)

Key Activities

• Cold outreach to ports and terminals: You're researching port authorities and terminals in Denmark/Germany, finding the right contacts (port directors, operations managers, IT decision-makers), and cold calling/emailing. Expect low response rates initially—this is a conservative, risk-averse buyer base.
• Product demos and site visits: When you get interest, you're doing demos of the PMIS system, showing how it handles vessel scheduling, resource allocation, invoicing, and compliance. You'll likely need to visit ports in person—these buyers want to meet face-to-face and see how it works in their environment.
• Navigating long procurement cycles: Many of your prospects are government-owned or public entities. That means tender processes, budget approval cycles, committee decisions, and lots of waiting. You'll spend significant time following up, providing documentation, and staying in touch over 6-12 month cycles.
• Building case studies and references: Since Grieg Connect isn't known in these markets yet, you'll lean heavily on your 115+ existing customers (mostly Nordic). You'll be arranging reference calls, gathering case studies, and potentially bringing prospects to visit existing customer sites.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• You're building territory from zero with limited brand recognition. Cold calling port authorities is tough—they're not actively looking for new software, and many have legacy systems they've used for decades.
• Sales cycles are brutally long. Government entities and public ports move slowly. Budget cycles, procurement rules, risk aversion—expect to work deals for 6-12 months minimum.
• Travel required. You'll need to visit ports in person regularly. Denmark and Germany mean lots of time on trains/planes, overnights away from home.
• Small company resources. You won't have big marketing budgets, SDR support, or fancy sales tools. You're figuring this out as you go with guidance from the CSO but mostly on your own.
• Very specific buyer persona. You need to understand port operations, maritime logistics, and the pain points of harbor masters and terminal managers. It's not typical SaaS selling.

What Success Looks Like

• Closing 4-8 new port/terminal clients per year in your territory (Denmark/Germany)
• Building a healthy pipeline of 15-20 active opportunities at various stages
• Establishing Grieg Connect's brand presence in these markets—speaking at maritime events, getting customer references, building a local network

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• Port Directors / Harbor Masters (final decision-makers)
• Operations Managers at terminals
• IT/Systems Managers (technical evaluation)
• Ferry company operations executives

What They Care About:

• Operational efficiency: Can this reduce manual work in vessel scheduling, resource allocation, and invoicing?
• System consolidation: Will this replace multiple legacy systems they currently juggle?
• Compliance and security: ISPS port security compliance is critical—does this handle it properly?
• Proven track record: Have similar ports successfully used this? Can they talk to references?
• Total cost of ownership: Cloud subscription pricing vs. maintaining on-premise systems
• Integration: Does it work with their existing systems (VTS, gate systems, billing platforms)?

Requirements

• Maritime, logistics, or port industry experience strongly preferred—you need to understand the buyer's world
• Fluent in English required; Danish and/or German language skills highly valuable
• Enterprise sales experience with 6-12 month cycles, ideally selling to government or public sector entities
• Comfortable with full-cycle sales—prospecting, demoing, negotiating, closing all on your own
• Willing to travel 30-40% (visiting ports across Denmark and Germany)
• Self-starter mentality—you're building this market from scratch without much hand-holding
• Experience selling technical software or systems to operations/IT buyers