Role Criteria Intake: Account Executive, Beam Notes
Bespoke criteria + founder-stated heuristics layered on top of our framework.
Convert a generic commercial role into the specific hire Beam needs. The Role Profile (Document 01) sets our default read, drafted from your published job description. This intake is your override layer, and it is the fastest way to correct anything we have read wrong. One intake covers the whole Account Executive profile, so it is completed once and applied to every seat in every geography. Return it to Spine once complete.
I. Role-Specific Must-Haves
What does the candidate have to show evidence of by the time we present a shortlist? Our assumed floor is one to two years in B2B sales or a BDR seat, full-cycle readiness, and a long-cycle committee sale in any sector. Correct it here.
II. Capability-Weighting Matrix
How heavily do we weight each capability against the role-specific fit dimension? Rate each: R (required), P (preferred), N (nice-to-have), N/A (not relevant).
| Capability | R | P | N | N/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-cycle closing experience (own number) | ||||
| Outbound pipeline generation from a cold list | ||||
| Selling into local government or public bodies | ||||
| Selling into NHS, health or care providers | ||||
| Multi-stakeholder cycles of six months or longer | ||||
| Procurement, framework or tender experience (G-Cloud, DPS, ITT) | ||||
| SaaS or subscription commercial model | ||||
| Startup or early-stage commercial team (under 50 people) | ||||
| HubSpot (or equivalent CRM) forecasting discipline | ||||
| Structured methodology (MEDDPICC, Command of the Message, SPICED) | ||||
| Running a discovery session unaided | ||||
| Building a business case with the buyer's own numbers | ||||
| Other (specify): |
III. Cultural Must-Haves
Drawn from your stated profile and from what separates the AEs who have ramped from the ones who have not. Which are load-bearing for this hire (a candidate failing on this dimension is an automatic decline)?
| Behaviour | Load-bearing | Important | Nice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidences a behaviour change after feedback, with a result attached | |||
| Generates their own pipeline without an SDR | |||
| Keeps a deal alive through a sponsor change or budget freeze | |||
| Qualifies out early rather than carrying a dead deal | |||
| Bias to action over bias to planning | |||
| Comfortable being wrong in front of a buyer and recovering | |||
| Builds trust with frontline staff, not only with signatories | |||
| Communicates clearly in writing (the follow-up email is the artefact) | |||
| Challenges the internal playbook when the market says otherwise | |||
| Holds a number without needing to be chased | |||
| Mission-motivated and still wants to carry a quota | |||
| Genuinely a nice person |
IV. Compensation Envelope
Your board publishes £40–55k base with £20–27.5k commission for this seat. Confirm or correct, and tell us where the flex is, because it is the flex that decides which candidates we can move.
| Base (gross) | |
| Commission plan and OTE | |
| Equity envelope (EMI options) | |
| Ramp guarantee, if any (months) | |
| Band flex for an exceptional candidate | |
| Bands for the Senior, Enterprise and founding seats, if different |
V. Sourcing-Funnel Constraints
Geographies in-scope for this seat
Visa-sponsorship willing
Diversity considerations
Off-limits companies, including customers and channel partners we should not approach
Candidates already in your own process we should exclude
Time-to-fill target, and how many seats run in parallel
VI. Pressure-Test Priorities
Rank top three of the 5 framework dimensions you most want us to stress-test.
Most important
Second
Third
VII. Founder-Stated Heuristics
Signals you have used in past hires (yours or your colleagues’) that turned out to be predictive. We test for these explicitly so the methodology absorbs them rather than working around them.
One already in the record from our first conversation: coachability, the candidate who is measurably better each quarter rather than finished on arrival. We have weighted that dimension up to 25% for this engagement and built the evidence test around a dated before-and-after rather than a self-report.
VIII. Anti-Patterns: Candidate Types You Have Already Declined
The earlier we know, the earlier we filter. The most informative entries here are the AEs who looked strong in the role-play and did not ramp: what the process saw, what it missed, and at what point the mismatch became obvious.
IX. Your Best AE So Far
Name the seller on your team you would clone if you could, and what specifically about them you would clone. This becomes the calibration anchor for every slate we bring, in every geography.
X. Anything Else We Would Be Wrong to Miss
Free text, the thing you would say in person but might not write into a brief.