About us

Our mission is to become the de facto way people learn foreign languages. We begin by teaching the next billion people English and Spanish.

English is the global language of business, culture, and communication, and over 1.5 billion people around the world are actively trying to learn right now. Others dream of communicating with the half-billion native Spanish speakers across the globe. The problem is that it's nearly impossible to learn to speak a language without constant access to a speaking partner. Grammar and vocab apps don't really help – you need to actually converse with someone.

Speak is on a journey to fix this. We're creating an AI-powered experience that replicates the flow of a conversation, without needing a human on the other end. The goal is to make it radically more accessible to be able to have conversations in a foreign language and eventually help hundreds of millions of people gain fluency who otherwise wouldn't be able to.

We started on this journey over five years ago and we've still got a long ways to go. We're thoughtfully adding new team members only when we think they can truly play a big role in our mission.

Speak launched first in South Korea where we have quickly grown to become the top grossing education app in the country. We have now delivered this winning product to more than 30 countries globally and are continuing to expand to more markets in the coming months. The company is well funded, raising a recent Series B backed by investors like OpenAI, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Lachy Groom, Josh Buckley, and others. We’re a team of 60 based primarily in SF, Seoul, Tokyo, and Ljubljana.

About this role

As a Business Development Manager, you will be responsible for growing the B2B offering of our initially consumer-focused language learning app. Speak has rapidly become the #1 consumer English app in Korea by almost every measure, and our B2B offering is expanding quickly through inbound interest and increasing outbound/marketing. We need a strong strategic and analytical sales manager in Korea to drive B2B growth, specifically targeting L&D/benefits teams and growing strategic accounts with some of the largest companies in South Korea. This role should help establish and deepen relationships with customers, understand their needs, and position our product as a driver of employee development and engagement.

What you’ll be doing

• Help define initial product and competitive positioning for our consumer app in the enterprise context
• Prospect, develop relationships with, and lead end-to-end sales with customers
• Generate leads and pipeline through outbound sales, B2B marketing in partnership with our existing marketing team, and other techniques
• Validate different strategies for selling to larger accounts, including top 50 Korean logos
• Be responsible for setting and delivering on performance goals and a quarterly quota
• Work closely with product/engineering to deliver on customer and enterprise needs
• Improve conversion of new customers and renewal of existing accounts
• Build strong relationships with cross-functional global teams as we define our sales playbook broadly

What we’re looking for

• Should have at least 5-7 years of experience in B2B technology sales, ideally with startups
• Must be fluent in verbal and written communication skills in both Korean and English, including the ability to cultivate internal and external relationships
• Strong understanding of Korean business culture and educational sector needs
• Proficiency in CRM and sales enablement tools
• Willing to travel as needed to meet with customers and at times to company HQ (San Francisco, CA)
• Nice to have: experience selling to benefits/L&D/HR buyers and experience within EdTech

Why work at Speak

1. Join a fantastic, tight-knit team at the right time:  we're growing very quickly, we've raised our Series B and an additional extension from some of the top investors in the valley, and we've achieved product-market fit in our initial markets. You'd join at a magical time when a single person could significantly change the course of the company.
2. Do your life's work with people you’ll love working with:  we care strongly about our craft and want every person at Speak to feel like they're growing every day. We believe in the idea that working with people you both enjoy and have respect for makes everything better. We hire thoughtfully and only work with people we admire deeply.
3. Global in nature:  We're live in over 40 countries and launching in a number of new markets soon. We have dedicated offices in San Francisco, Ljubljana, Seoul, and Tokyo, and you’ll have the opportunity to talk to users in each of these regions on a regular basis as well as travel.
4. Impact people's lives in a major way:  Learning a language is one of the single most life-changing skills one can learn, and right now 99% of people never achieve their goal because the process is broken. We’re helping millions of people achieve their goals and improve their lives.

Speak does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.