How to hire a head of sales

How to hire a head of sales, step by step

Here's a step-by-step head of sales hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a head of sales job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new head of sales
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a head of sales do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your head of sales job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a head of sales for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A head of sales's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, heads of sales from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents head of sales salaries for various positions.

   Type of Head Of Sales	Description	Hourly rate
   Head Of Sales	Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for organizations’ sales representatives.	$52-119
   Sales Development Manager	Sales Development Managers oversee a specific function in the sales department. They are in charge of creating sales pitches, communication tools, and strategies to boost the company's sales performance... Show more	$31-75
   Sales Vice President	Sales vice presidents are top-level executives at a sales, retail, or marketing corporation. Primarily these executives are tasked to direct and lead a sales department or team within the organization... Show more	$43-108

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CRM
   • Sales Strategy
   • Sales Organization
   • Product Knowledge
   • Business Development
   • Sales Operations
   • Sales Process
   • Revenue Growth
   • Account Management
   • Customer Service
   • Sales Targets
   • Enterprise Sales
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Strategic Partnerships

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Coordinate social media work (Facebook, apps, and social post within the managed brands).
   • Create, and manage social media initiatives.including facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, and youtube.3.
   • Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
   • Establish the group sales strategy, group ceiling, and booking calendar for groups.
   • Initiate and execute a customer service development program, CRM implementation and adoption.
   • Advance c-level and senior relationships with brand, agency, networks and publishers.

   More head of sales duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your head of sales job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A head of sales salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, heads of sales' average salary in south carolina is 29% less than in vermont.
   • Seniority. Entry-level heads of sales earn 56% less than senior-level heads of sales.
   • Certifications. A head of sales with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a head of sales's salary.

   Average head of sales salary

   $166,100yearly

   $79.86 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level head of sales salary

   $110,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average head of sales salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Oregon	$193,465	$93
   2	Michigan	$187,763	$90
   3	Minnesota	$181,992	$88
   4	Ohio	$178,495	$86
   5	New York	$176,683	$85
   6	District of Columbia	$175,488	$84
   7	Washington	$173,118	$83
   8	North Carolina	$172,086	$83
   9	Wisconsin	$171,235	$82
   10	Utah	$168,002	$81
   11	New Mexico	$166,850	$80
   12	Nevada	$166,056	$80
   13	Arizona	$165,747	$80
   14	Pennsylvania	$164,805	$79
   15	California	$164,759	$79
   16	Connecticut	$163,858	$79
   17	Illinois	$161,700	$78
   18	New Jersey	$161,685	$78
   19	Colorado	$159,545	$77
   20	Georgia	$155,221	$75

   Average head of sales salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Flexport	$226,260	$108.78	14
   2	Fanatics	$220,359	$105.94	14
   3	Qualtrics	$213,696	$102.74	6
   4	DoorDash	$209,029	$100.49	48
   5	Adobe	$205,115	$98.61	36
   6	Zayo Group	$204,455	$98.30	11
   7	Telefónica Ecuador	$204,317	$98.23
   8	Coinbase	$203,534	$97.85	103
   9	Asana	$202,714	$97.46	3
   10	OpenTable	$202,277	$97.25	3
   11	Vodafone Americas Foundation	$201,342	$96.80	4
   12	eBay	$198,171	$95.27	5
   13	Uber Technologies	$198,079	$95.23	5
   14	Vevo	$197,589	$94.99	7
   15	Palo Alto Networks	$197,478	$94.94	158
   16	Über	$196,824	$94.63	67
   17	Glassdoor	$196,817	$94.62
   18	Tripadvisor	$195,464	$93.97
   19	Meta	$194,063	$93.30	105
   20	Cloudflare	$190,780	$91.72	21

4. Writing a head of sales job description

   A good head of sales job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a head of sales job description:

   Head of sales job description example

   In this role, you'll lead a team of Customer Success Managers and their teams while serving as a cross-functional liaison working with learning and development, product, engineering, business development, marketing and finance to drive Square's most important strategic priorities. You will be charged with driving a cultural transformation on the team to a service + sales model. You'll track Key Performance Indicators of your team weekly, as well as Sales progress for the organization, with a focus on results and optimizations. You'll be responsible for delivering Sales performance, reporting on that performance to senior leadership at Square, and driving additional improvements in our process as they are found.
   Team Happiness + Development
   
   Inspire: communicate an inspiring sales vision and sense of core purpose, helping leads and team members understand the connection between their work and the end goal.
   
   Connect: build rapport and constructive relationships with all team members up, down, sideways, inside, and outside of Square.
   
   Grow: coach and mentor team members and other leaders by identifying and providing learning opportunities that are in line with development plans and company goals.
   
   Operational Efficiency + Strategy
   
   Measure: assess metrics to measure the growth and performance of the team across relevant CS and value generation KPIs, providing insights and reports as needed. You'll report on progress on key value generation metrics to CS Senior Leadership and Square. You'll also use these metrics and assessments to consistently drive improvements in team performance through behavioral coaching across the organization.
   
   Analyze: utilize deep product and industry knowledge, gather and synthesize relevant data, suggest improvements in the tools, and techniques to help scale the team while serving as a strong cross-functional leader.
   
   Innovate: build a new standard for support in payments and commerce-related products + services by passionately managing, measuring, and driving improvements in customer satisfaction, productivity, SLAs, etc.
   
   Scale: see the opportunity in every challenge and develop structured plans to deliver solutions to critical support initiatives to help scale the team effectively.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right head of sales for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your head of sales job on Zippia to find and recruit head of sales candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting heads of sales requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new head of sales

   Once you've selected the best head of sales candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new head of sales. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a head of sales?