Founding Commercial / GTM Lead
First commercial hire. You will turn design partner conversations into signed enterprise contracts — and build the sales motion that makes it repeatable.
The first commercial hire
Lima Xi has a working platform and a founding team that has run cargo operations at the highest level. What it does not yet have is a commercial function. Design partner conversations are happening; converting them into contracts, and doing it repeatably, is the job.
This is a founding commercial role, not a quota-carrying seat inside an existing machine. There is no playbook, no CRM hygiene to inherit, no SDR team feeding you. You will run the whole motion — prospecting, discovery, pilot design, pricing conversations, close — and write down what works as you go.
Air cargo experience is genuinely required here. You are selling corridor intelligence to yield managers, GSA principals and forwarding directors. Credibility in the first ten minutes decides whether there is a second meeting.
Company leadership
The mandate
01Pipeline & prospecting
- Build the target account map across airlines, GSAs, freight forwarders and shippers
- Run outbound directly — you open your own doors, at least at first
- Convert the founding team's network into structured, tracked commercial pipeline
- Represent Lima Xi at industry events where the buyers actually are
02Enterprise sales motion
- Run discovery that surfaces the decision a customer is actually trying to make
- Design and scope pilots that prove value on the customer's own corridors
- Navigate multi-stakeholder enterprise buying — commercial, technical, procurement, legal
- Own the close, including commercial terms alongside the CEO and CFO
03Pricing & commercial design
- Test pricing in live conversations and feed reality back into the model
- Structure agreements that work for both sides at this stage of the company
- Build the commercial documentation set — proposals, terms, pilot agreements
04Building the function
- Document what works into a repeatable motion others can run
- Establish CRM discipline and forecasting from a clean start
- Feed customer reality into product priorities — you are the closest ear to the market
- Help hire the commercial team that follows you
What we're looking for
Essential
- Enterprise sales track record — you have closed six-figure annual contracts
- Direct air cargo, freight forwarding or aviation commercial experience
- Comfortable owning the entire cycle from cold outreach to signed contract
- Credible with senior operators — yield managers, GSA principals, forwarding directors
- Strong English; Mandarin, Cantonese or Thai a significant advantage
Domain & network
- An existing network among airlines, GSAs or forwarders is a genuine differentiator
- Understanding of how cargo capacity is bought, priced and committed
- Familiarity with the Asia-Pacific and Greater China trade ecosystem
- Experience selling data, SaaS or intelligence products rather than freight itself
Character
- Comfortable being the only commercial person in the building
- Resilient — enterprise cycles in this industry are long and non-linear
- Honest in the room; you would rather disqualify early than manufacture a pipeline
- Curious about the product, not just the pitch
- Writes clearly — proposals, follow-ups and internal notes all matter
A genuine plus
- Prior first-commercial-hire experience at an early-stage company
- Experience selling into airline commercial or revenue management functions
- Understanding of predictive analytics or intelligence products
- Existing relationships with GSAs across Asia-Pacific
Founding commercial, with the product already built
Most founding commercial roles ask you to sell a promise. Lima Xi's platform exists and the proof point is documented. Your job is to find the buyers it is genuinely right for and prove the value on their corridors.
- Equity participation — you own part of the commercial outcome you create
- Direct access to a founding team with real credibility in the room with customers
- Sell alongside a CEO who ran a $1.5B P&L in this exact industry
- Shape pricing, packaging and positioning from a clean sheet
- Hong Kong base with remote flexibility and international travel
- A clear path to Head of Commercial or VP Sales as the function grows
Before you apply
Is air cargo experience genuinely required?
Yes. This is the one non-negotiable. You are selling corridor intelligence to people who have run capacity for twenty years — credibility in the first conversation is decisive, and it cannot be learned on the job fast enough.
Is there existing pipeline?
There are active design partner conversations and the founding team's network to work from. There is no structured pipeline or CRM discipline yet — building that is part of the role.
What does the pricing model look like?
Annual subscription with pricing under active development. You will be central to testing and refining it in live conversations.
Will I have support?
You will have the founding team in the room for the conversations that need them, and a product team that responds to what you learn. You will not have SDRs or a marketing engine at first.
Send it to careers@limaxi.io
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