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Talent intelligence · Updated

Hiring guide

London has more than 35,000 account executives (AEs), and over 2,000 open AE roles. Everything you need to hire one: how scarce they are, what to offer, where to look, who you’re up against and what wins them.

An account executive is a salesperson who wins new business customers and owns a revenue target. They run each deal from the first call to the signed contract.

What the job involves

Share of open AE roles in London that ask for it

  • Carries a new-business quota
  • Runs deals end to end
  • Builds their own pipeline
  • Sells software or tech

2 kinds of AE

The title covers 2 different jobs. Know which one you’re hiring before you search. Only 2% of roles mostly look after existing customers.

  1. 70%

    of open roles

    The enterprise seller

    Runs long deals with large organizations and several decision-makers, often on a list of named accounts.

    Also titled: Account executive, enterprise account executive, business development manager

  2. 25%

    of open roles

    The mid-market closer

    Closes a high volume of smaller deals with SMB and mid-market buyers on short sales cycles.

    Also titled: Account executive, business development manager, mid-market account executive

  • 36,000

    AEs working in London

  • 2,200

    open AE roles

  • 54 days

    median time a role stays open

  • £65k

    median expected base

01

How hard is this hire?

1 in 17 AE positions in London is an open role, below the London Tech benchmark, and roles take as long to fill.

  • People in the role

    36,000

    AEs working in London, September 2026

    10,00020,00030,00040,000Jan ’23Sep ’23May ’24Jan ’25Sep ’25Sep ’2635,780
    Sep ’2635,780
    AEs working in London, by month
    MonthAEs
    January 202327,700
    February 202327,710
    March 202327,980
    April 202328,080
    May 202328,130
    June 202328,220
    July 202328,540
    August 202328,680
    September 202329,020
    October 202329,200
    November 202329,430
    December 202329,600
    January 202430,270
    February 202430,160
    March 202430,370
    April 202430,780
    May 202430,850
    June 202430,810
    July 202431,030
    August 202430,900
    September 202431,370
    October 202431,310
    November 202431,420
    December 202431,390
    January 202532,450
    February 202532,450
    March 202532,360
    April 202532,650
    May 202532,750
    June 202533,110
    July 202533,520
    August 202533,550
    September 202533,880
    October 202533,780
    November 202534,180
    December 202534,280
    January 202634,680
    February 202634,340
    March 202634,620
    April 202634,850
    May 202634,760
    June 202634,900
    July 202635,140
    August 202635,360
    September 202635,780

  • Open roles

    2,200

    AE roles open in London, September 2026

    1,0002,0003,000Aug ’25Nov ’25Feb ’26May ’26Sep ’262,195
    Sep ’262,195
    Open AE roles in London, by month
    MonthAE roles
    August 20252,259
    September 20252,244
    October 20252,236
    November 20252,330
    December 20252,307
    January 20262,255
    February 20262,283
    March 20262,342
    April 20262,279
    May 20262,195
    June 20262,123
    July 20262,130
    August 20262,193
    September 20262,195

  • Vacancy rate

    5.8%

    of AE positions in London are open roles, September 2026

    5.0%10.0%Aug ’25Nov ’25Feb ’26May ’26Sep ’26Benchmark – London Tech: 8.2%5.8%
    Sep ’265.8%
    Vacancy rate for AEs in London, by month, against Benchmark – London Tech (8.2% in September 2026)
    MonthAE vacancy rate
    August 20256.3%
    September 20256.2%
    October 20256.2%
    November 20256.4%
    December 20256.3%
    January 20266.1%
    February 20266.2%
    March 20266.3%
    April 20266.1%
    May 20265.9%
    June 20265.7%
    July 20265.7%
    August 20265.8%
    September 20265.8%

  • Time to fill

    54 days

    median time an AE role stays open

    50%100%Day 0Day 30Day 60Day 90Day 120Day 15013%
    Day 15013%Benchmark – London Tech: 14%
    Share of roles in London still open each number of days after posting
    Days after postingAE rolesBenchmark – London Tech
    Day 0100%100%
    Day 1586%84%
    Day 3070%70%
    Day 4557%56%
    Day 6046%44%
    Day 7537%35%
    Day 9029%28%
    Day 10524%23%
    Day 12019%19%
    Day 13516%16%
    Day 15013%14%

02

How much to offer

Expected base salary

When to offer more

Extra base pay for each, all else equal

  • Has run enterprise deals+33%
  • A more prestigious employer+12%
  • Has sold software or tech+7%
  • 9–11 years’ experience, not 6–8+6%
  • Has led a team+5%
  • No clear effect on payAlready an AE+3%
  • A record of beating quota+2%
  • Elite university+2%

03

Where to look

  1. Number 1: Salesforce

    The biggest alumni pool

    A large London sales team, with more former AEs in the city than almost any other company.

  2. Number 2: Revolut

    Fintech sellers in demand

    A big London sales team whose AEs hiring managers ask to meet more often than most.

  3. Number 3: Gartner

    A structured sales academy

    Trains graduates into quota-carrying sellers through a long, structured program in its London office.

Where new AEs come from

68%

weren’t AEs in their last job

43%

joined from a startup or scale-up

  • Already AEs32%
  • Marketing, partnerships and other roles30%
  • Other sales roles19%
  • Account managers and customer success11%
  • SDRs and BDRs10%

04

Who you’re competing with

The enterprises, and the startups and scale-ups, that posted the most AE roles in London in the 6 months to October 2026.

  1. Salesforce101 roles
  2. Amazon54 roles
  3. Deliveroo26 roles
  4. Atlassian25 roles
  5. Google22 roles

05

How to win them

Strong base pay gets you in the door. To win the most in-demand AEs, lead with your AI product and the startup upside.

What the most in-demand AEs want

  1. 1

    Lead with your AI product

  2. 2

    Sell the startup upside

  3. 3

    Show the uncapped commission

  4. 4

    Prove the growth

  • An AI product to sell
  • An early-stage startup
  • A tech product to sell
  • Uncapped commission or a high OTE
  • Strong funding or fast growth
  • A fast pace and high ambition

Half lean toward remote

50%

of AEs lean toward remote

42%

of other salespeople

  • Office-leaning
  • Open to anything
  • Remote-leaning
  • Remote only

Skip the 54‑day search

Brief Jill, the AI agent for hiring, on your AE role. She’ll introduce you to account executives in Jack’s network who are open to a move.

Hire AEs with Jill

About this guide

The data
This guide combines publicly available data on jobs and careers with our own data from Jack’s network of candidates and the companies hiring with Jill.
Who counts
We decide who is an AE by the work a job or career describes, not just its title, and apply that definition to people and job postings alike.
Kinds of company
Startups and scale-ups are private tech companies founded since 2005. Enterprises are listed, owned by a listed company, or larger than 5,000 staff.
Vacancy rate and time to fill
Vacancy rate is open roles as a share of all positions, filled and open. Time to fill follows each role from when it’s posted until it closes, and allows for roles that are still open. The Benchmark – London Tech line measures London’s tech startups and scale-ups the same way.
Pay
Pay is the base salary candidates in and near the role say they expect, weighted to match the seniority of the roles being hired. The premiums compare people with similar experience.
What wins them
We compare the profiles of people hiring managers ask to meet with those they passed on.