{"title":"How to hire an account executive in London","url":"https://www.jackandjill.ai/roles/account-executive/london","publisher":"Jack & Jill","slug":"ae-london","path":{"role":"account-executive","location":"london"},"published":"2026-10-22","updated":"2026-10-28","locale":"en-GB","currency":"GBP","role":{"singular":"account executive","plural":"account executives","article":"an","short":"AE","shortPlural":"AEs","shortArticle":"an","people":"account executives"},"place":"London","hook":"London has more than 35,000 account executives (AEs), and over 2,000 open AE roles.","what":{"definition":"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.","traits":[{"label":"Carries a new-business quota","pct":99},{"label":"Runs deals end to end","pct":97},{"label":"Builds their own pipeline","pct":96},{"label":"Sells software or tech","pct":69}],"flavours":[{"name":"The enterprise seller","pct":70,"what":"Runs long deals with large organizations and several decision-makers, often on a list of named accounts.","aka":"Account executive, enterprise account executive, business development manager"},{"name":"The mid-market closer","pct":25,"what":"Closes a high volume of smaller deals with SMB and mid-market buyers on short sales cycles.","aka":"Account executive, business development manager, mid-market account executive"}],"flavourNote":"Only 2% of roles mostly look after existing customers."},"hard":{"answer":"1 in 17 AE positions in London is an open role, below the London Tech benchmark, and roles take as long to fill.","inRole":{"months":["2023-01","2023-02","2023-03","2023-04","2023-05","2023-06","2023-07","2023-08","2023-09","2023-10","2023-11","2023-12","2024-01","2024-02","2024-03","2024-04","2024-05","2024-06","2024-07","2024-08","2024-09","2024-10","2024-11","2024-12","2025-01","2025-02","2025-03","2025-04","2025-05","2025-06","2025-07","2025-08","2025-09","2025-10","2025-11","2025-12","2026-01","2026-02","2026-03","2026-04","2026-05","2026-06","2026-07","2026-08","2026-09"],"values":[27700,27710,27980,28080,28130,28220,28540,28680,29020,29200,29430,29600,30270,30160,30370,30780,30850,30810,31030,30900,31370,31310,31420,31390,32450,32450,32360,32650,32750,33110,33520,33550,33880,33780,34180,34280,34680,34340,34620,34850,34760,34900,35140,35360,35780]},"openRoles":{"months":["2025-08","2025-09","2025-10","2025-11","2025-12","2026-01","2026-02","2026-03","2026-04","2026-05","2026-06","2026-07","2026-08","2026-09"],"values":[2259,2244,2236,2330,2307,2255,2283,2342,2279,2195,2123,2130,2193,2195]},"timeOpen":{"median":54,"days":[0,15,30,45,60,75,90,105,120,135,150],"stillOpen":[100,86.3,70.2,57.4,45.7,36.7,28.9,24.1,19.4,15.6,13.2]},"estimated":["inRole","openRoles"]},"cost":{"pay":{"p10":40000,"p25":50000,"p50":65000,"p75":90000,"p90":120000},"drivers":{"rows":[{"label":"Has run enterprise deals","effect":33,"lo":24,"hi":42,"moves":true},{"label":"A more prestigious employer","effect":12,"lo":8,"hi":15,"moves":true},{"label":"Has sold software or tech","effect":7,"lo":1,"hi":12,"moves":true},{"label":"9–11 years’ experience, not 6–8","effect":6,"lo":4,"hi":9,"moves":true},{"label":"Has led a team","effect":5,"lo":0,"hi":10,"moves":true},{"label":"Already an AE","effect":3,"lo":-2,"hi":8,"moves":false},{"label":"A record of beating quota","effect":2,"lo":-3,"hi":7,"moves":false},{"label":"Elite university","effect":2,"lo":0,"hi":4,"moves":false}]}},"where":{"companies":[{"name":"Salesforce","domain":"salesforce.com","tag":"The biggest alumni pool","why":"A large London sales team, with more former AEs in the city than almost any other company."},{"name":"Revolut","domain":"revolut.com","tag":"Fintech sellers in demand","why":"A big London sales team whose AEs hiring managers ask to meet more often than most."},{"name":"Gartner","domain":"gartner.com","tag":"A structured sales academy","why":"Trains graduates into quota-carrying sellers through a long, structured program in its London office."}],"paths":[{"role":"Already AEs","split":{"Enterprise":10.2,"Startup or scale-up":14.8,"Other":6.5}},{"role":"Marketing, partnerships and other roles","split":{"Enterprise":7.2,"Startup or scale-up":9.3,"Other":13.2}},{"role":"Other sales roles","split":{"Enterprise":6.5,"Startup or scale-up":8.5,"Other":3.6}},{"role":"Account managers and customer success","split":{"Enterprise":5.3,"Startup or scale-up":3.9,"Other":1.4}},{"role":"SDRs and BDRs","split":{"Enterprise":2.7,"Startup or scale-up":6.2,"Other":0.7}}],"newToRolePct":68,"fromStartupsPct":43},"competitors":[{"tier":"Enterprise","companies":[{"name":"Salesforce","domain":"salesforce.com","roles":101},{"name":"Amazon","domain":"amazon.com","roles":54},{"name":"Deliveroo","domain":"deliveroo.co.uk","roles":26},{"name":"Atlassian","domain":"atlassian.com","roles":25},{"name":"Google","domain":"google.com","roles":22}]},{"tier":"Startup or scale-up","companies":[{"name":"AlphaSense","domain":"alpha-sense.com","roles":17},{"name":"Harvey","domain":"harvey.ai","roles":11},{"name":"TraqCheck","domain":"traqcheck.com","roles":9},{"name":"Kpler","domain":"kpler.com","roles":9},{"name":"Vanta","domain":"vanta.com","roles":9}]}],"win":{"answer":"Strong base pay gets you in the door. To win the most in-demand AEs, lead with your AI product and the startup upside.","pitch":["Lead with your AI product","Sell the startup upside","Show the uncapped commission","Prove the growth"],"wants":{"rows":[{"label":"An AI product to sell","top":52,"rest":39},{"label":"An early-stage startup","top":49,"rest":36},{"label":"A tech product to sell","top":90,"rest":78},{"label":"Uncapped commission or a high OTE","top":66,"rest":56},{"label":"Strong funding or fast growth","top":83,"rest":74},{"label":"A fast pace and high ambition","top":85,"rest":76}]},"workModes":{"title":"Half lean toward remote","benchmark":"Other salespeople","highlight":"Remote-leaning","rows":[{"label":"Office-leaning","top":24,"rest":30},{"label":"Open to anything","top":22,"rest":24},{"label":"Remote-leaning","top":50,"rest":42},{"label":"Remote only","top":4,"rest":4}]}},"city":{"location":"london","name":"London Tech","asOf":"2026-09","vacancyRate":8.2,"timeOpen":{"median":52,"days":[0,15,30,45,60,75,90,105,120,135,150],"stillOpen":[100,84.4,69.7,56.1,44,34.8,27.7,22.7,19,15.8,13.5]}}}