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How to hire a senior account executive

Senior account executive hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring senior account executives in the United States:

  • There are a total of 1,000,978 senior account executives in the US, and there are currently 173,383 job openings in this field.
  • The median cost to hire a senior account executive is $1,633.
  • Small businesses spend $1,105 per senior account executive on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • It takes approximately 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
  • HR departments typically allocate 15% of their budget towards recruitment efforts.
  • New York, NY, has the highest demand for senior account executives, with 205 job openings.

How to hire a senior account executive, step by step

To hire a senior account executive, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a senior account executive:

Here's a step-by-step senior account executive hiring guide:

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

What does a senior account executive do?

A Senior Account Executive is responsible for enforcing and attaining sales targets, developing strategies on building a more substantial client base, handle and resolve issues on accounts, and even recommend guidelines that could improve the trajectory of company sales. Moreover, a Senior Account Executive must also oversee and direct a team of representatives and skilled account executives to meet the same goals and objectives. A great deal of communication would also arise as Senior Account Executive must communicate with clients, even negotiate contracts.

Learn more about the specifics of what a senior account executive does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    The senior account executive hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    Hiring the perfect senior account executive also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

    Here's a comparison of senior account executive salaries for various roles:

    Type of Senior Account ExecutiveDescriptionHourly rate
    Senior Account ExecutiveA Senior Account Executive manages the account portfolio and supervises the account executives team. They handle budgets, manage campaign costs, and write detailed reports.$28-57
    Sales Representative And Account ManagerA sales representative/account manager is responsible for supervising client portfolio accounts and maintaining long-lasting relationships with business partners. Sales representatives/account managers meet with existing and potential clients to discuss new services offered by the company, as well as addressing their requests for review... Show more$19-50
    Account ManagerAccount managers are employees who act as the bridge between the company they represent and the client of the company. They are assigned to handle specific clients so that the company will be able to tailor-fit any product or service according to the clients' requirements... Show more$20-52
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Customer Service
    • Account Management
    • Healthcare
    • Cloud
    • CRM
    • Salesforce
    • Excellent Time Management
    • Digital Marketing
    • Work Ethic
    • Sales Process
    • Customer Satisfaction
    • Business Development
    • Client Relationships
    • Business Relationships
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage sales funnel by utilizing SalesForce to analyze and manage pipeline activity as well as monitored sales activity against assign quotas.
    • Manage day-to-day activity of client relate projects including IP voice, MPLS infrastructures and CPE implementations in a deadline-orient high-pressure environment.
    • Attend professional advancement sessions focusing on the advancement of the healthcare vertical market from both a business development and marketing perspective.
    • Assume full responsibility for accurate sales forecasting utilizing SalesForce.
    • Implement company CRM allowing for better call-cycle management and business retention.
    • Deliver territory sustaining revenue for this SaaS application performance management and monitoring company.
    More senior account executive duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your senior account executive job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A senior account executive salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

    For example, the average salary for a senior account executive in Arkansas may be lower than in Connecticut, and an entry-level senior account executive usually earns less than a senior-level senior account executive. Additionally, a senior account executive with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

    Average senior account executive salary

    $84,118yearly

    $40.44 hourly rate

    Entry-level senior account executive salary
    $59,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 24, 2025

    Average senior account executive salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$102,823$49
    2Virginia$99,034$48
    3Connecticut$98,576$47
    4Oregon$98,376$47
    5Nevada$96,091$46
    6North Carolina$94,146$45
    7Pennsylvania$91,538$44
    8Rhode Island$91,490$44
    9Michigan$90,630$44
    10Massachusetts$88,084$42
    11Wisconsin$87,890$42
    12Arizona$86,400$42
    13Washington$84,961$41
    14Ohio$84,525$41
    15Maine$83,326$40
    16New York$83,041$40
    17Utah$82,515$40
    18Maryland$81,768$39
    19Indiana$81,643$39
    20Georgia$80,591$39

    Average senior account executive salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1VMware$136,404$65.58
    2Google$132,013$63.4785
    3Cadence Design Systems$128,608$61.839
    4Microsoft$127,921$61.5031
    5PayPal$126,303$60.7246
    6TIBCO Software$125,017$60.10
    7Yelp$124,876$60.0413
    8Cloudera$123,571$59.413
    9Addepar$122,072$58.69
    10Sauce Labs$121,668$58.491
    11Fastly$120,798$58.0813
    12Edelman Financial Engines$120,472$57.92
    13Accruent$120,276$57.83
    14ServiceNow$120,208$57.79146
    15Yahoo$120,125$57.75
    16Lam Research$120,088$57.731
    17Ameresco$118,890$57.1615
    18Okta$118,839$57.1379
    19SAP$118,176$56.82129
    20Extreme Networks$118,162$56.812
  4. Writing a senior account executive job description

    A job description for a senior account executive role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior account executive job description:

    Senior account executive job description example

    • Knowledge of basic sales techniques; knowledge of hardware and/or software acquisitions cycles and buying influences.
    • Ability to analyze and evaluate territory dynamics and develop a sales plan; ability to communicate technical and business concepts and relate them to SAS applications and user needs; ability to work independently and as part of a team.
    • Ability to travel 30%-50% or as business requires.

    Why SAS

    • We love living the #SASlife and believe that happy, healthy people have a passion for life, and bring that energy to work. No matter what your specialty or where you are in the world, your unique contributions will make a difference.
    • Our multi-dimensional culture blends our different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Here, it isn't about fitting into our culture, it's about adding to it - and we can't wait to see what you'll bring.

    Additional Information:

    SAS is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. Read more: Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law. Also view the supplement EEO is the Law, and the Pay Transparency notice.

    Equivalent combination of education, training and experience may be considered in place of the above qualifications. The level of this position will be determined based on the applicant's education, skills and experience. Resumes may be considered in the order they are received. SAS employees performing certain job functions may require access to technology or software subject to export or import regulations. To comply with these regulations, SAS may obtain nationality or citizenship information from applicants for employment. SAS collects this information solely for trade law compliance purposes and does not use it to discriminate unfairly in the hiring process.

    #LI-NR1

  5. Post your job

    There are various strategies that you can use to find the right senior account executive 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.
    To find senior account executive candidates, you can consider the following options:
    • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
    • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
    • Post your job on free job posting websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit senior account executives, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

    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 senior account executive

    Once you've found the senior account executive candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    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.

    To prepare for the new senior account executive first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

  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 senior account executive?

Hiring a senior account executive comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting senior account executives involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of senior account executive recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

The median annual salary for senior account executives is $84,118 in the US. However, the cost of senior account executive hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring a senior account executive for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $28 and $57 an hour.

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