SaaS Recruitment
Sales leadership
recruitment.
We hire sales leaders for venture-backed SaaS companies: SDR Managers, Heads of Sales, VPs of Sales and CROs. Most of these searches start when a founder stops being able to run the sales team personally.
Not one job
The four jobs are not one job
Founders often brief a VP of Sales when the problem calls for a Head of Sales, or a Head of Sales when it calls for a first-line manager. The titles blur and the roles do not. The most common misfire is hiring a VP into a Head of Sales job. A VP who has built teams at Series C arrives at a Series A company expecting managers to hire, a budget to deploy and a playbook to scale. What they find is eight people and a founder who still closes the biggest deals. Most leave inside a year.
| Role | The actual job | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| SDR Manager | Coaching reps daily, fixing messaging, running the pipeline meeting | Three or more SDRs and nobody listening to their calls |
| Head of Sales | Running a team of closers, owning the number, still selling personally | Founder-led sales is capping out and the team is under about eight |
| VP Sales | Building the org, hiring managers, designing comp and territory | Multiple teams, or scaling past the point one person can coach |
| CRO | Owning all revenue including marketing, CS and partnerships | Series C and beyond, or a board that wants one throat to choke |
What sales leaders cost
Compensation in the UK
| Role | Base | OTE |
|---|---|---|
| SDR Manager | £60,000 – £85,000 | £95,000 – £130,000 |
| Head of Sales | £85,000 – £110,000 | £140,000 – £190,000 |
| VP Sales (Series A) | £95,000 – £125,000 | £155,000 – £230,000 |
| VP Sales (Series B/C) | £115,000 – £155,000 | £210,000 – £310,000 |
| CRO | £130,000 upwards | £250,000 upwards, usually with meaningful equity |
Sources: RepVue UK Sales Development Manager data gives a median base of £77,340 and OTE of £127,496, updated August 2026. PayScale's UK VP of Sales range runs £74,000 to £164,000 base with a median near £109,000. Ranges last checked September 2026.
Equity matters more at this level than base does. At Series B and beyond, 0.1% to 0.5% in options is standard for a VP, and a candidate weighing two offers will usually decide on the equity and the story rather than on £10,000 of base.
The screen
What we screen for
Whether they have built or inherited
Running a team someone else hired is a different job from building one from two people. Ask which they have done and how recently.
Stage fit, the same way we screen AEs
A leader who scaled from 40 reps to 90 inside a well-known company may never have hired a first SDR, written a comp plan from scratch, or sold without a brand behind them.
Whether they still sell
At Head of Sales level in a company under 50 people, a leader who has not personally closed a deal in three years is a risk. Ask when they last ran a full cycle themselves.
How they handle a rep who is missing
The answer tells you whether they coach or whether they replace, and both are legitimate. You need to know which one you are buying.
What they inherited on attainment
Team-level numbers, not personal ones. RepVue's UK SDR data shows 57.9% of reps hitting quota, so a leader claiming their whole team hit target needs a follow-up question.
How we work
More depth, more discretion
Same process as the rest of the desk, run with more depth and more discretion. Leadership searches are usually confidential, often while an incumbent is still in seat, and we treat them that way.
Three CVs per placement. At this level that means we have had long conversations with each of them and turned down more people than we sent.
Hiring a sales leader?
Tell us the stage, team size and what the founder wants to stop doing
We'll tell you which of the four roles you're actually hiring. Back within 24 hours.
FAQ
Common questions
Hiring a sales leader?
Tell us the stage, the team size and what the founder is currently doing that they want to stop doing.