Account Executive
Job description, salary, sourcing, 15 interview questions and a 30/60/90 plan to hire an Account Executive in a German SMB.
At a glance
- Time to fill40–70 days
- Experience3–7 years
How to hire an Account Executive for your SMB
Before you write the job posting, settle three framing questions. They decide whether a new hire is the right lever and which profile you actually need.
Question 1: Are you looking for an Account Executive or a Sales Manager? The AE is an individual contributor role: they carry their own quota, qualify, negotiate and close independently. The Sales Manager leads a team of 3-8 AEs. If you are hiring your first salesperson, you need an AE, not a manager; the leadership role emerges from 4-5 direct reports onward. A posting that mixes both roles attracts frustrated profiles in both directions.
Question 2: Full sales cycle or pure closing? In Mittelstand SMBs the AE often has to cover the full cycle (outbound, discovery, demo, negotiation, closing) and then prospects 20-40 % of the time themselves. In more mature scale-ups the SDR or BDR handles acquisition, and the AE focuses on discovery and closing. Both models are valid, but they demand different profiles and different compensation packages. Write the model explicitly into the ad; otherwise you attract candidates looking for closing-only and lose them after three months to the outbound reality.
Question 3: What share of outbound prospecting do you expect? In German B2B SMBs the range runs from 10 % (marketing fills the pipeline) to 80 % (the AE prospects almost everything themselves). The ideal profile and the expected compensation vary strongly with this ratio. An AE with 70 % outbound should be able to show prior SDR experience or a concrete outbound track record. Without this framing you attract profiles looking for marketing-fed pipeline and disappoint them at hire.
If the three answers converge on a full-time AE (and not an SDR or a Sales Manager), see the ready-to-use template on the Job description tab.
Where to source this role
LinkedIn
€200-400 / month (Job Slots)The most important channel for Account Executives at German SaaS and tech SMBs. Combining Job Posts (passive visibility) with active sourcing via Recruiter Lite is standard. At young sales cultures, 55-75 % of qualified applications come from here when you source actively. Filter for experience in the matching cycle (short SaaS cycle vs. longer Mittelstand cycle) before reaching out.
XING
ProJobs from €195 / monthStill strong in the classic Mittelstand outside the tech and startup scene, especially in NRW, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. If you recruit for mechanical engineering, industry, logistics or classic B2B, XING is often on par with LinkedIn or better. Tends to be weaker than LinkedIn for SaaS AE profiles under 35.
Stepstone
From €995 / 30 daysThe largest classic job market with a broad applicant pool. For Account Executive roles you get good volume, especially from industry and the Mittelstand. Slightly less signal than LinkedIn or XING on senior profiles, but useful as a complement when you search nationwide without strong tech branding. Expect heavier filtering in the first screen.