Account Executive: running the sales cycle to close
The Account Executive, or AE, takes over qualified leads or meetings and runs the sales process through to a signed contract. This role carries the actual closing responsibility and gets measured on revenue accordingly.
Contents9
The job market right now
Atlas currently lists 23 open roles for account executives, posted by 19 employers.
Most openings are currently in Vienna, Berlin and Munich.
3 roles are fully or mostly remote.
Employers hiring now
- Levio3 roles
Bestseller A/S2 roles
Compredict2 roles
ConnectWise1 role
Erste Group1 role
Eye Security1 role
Fonio1 role
Funkeworks1 role
By specialty
Running the sales process
An Account Executive runs product demos and discovery calls, builds proposals, negotiates terms, and closes the contract. In between there's often a multi-step process involving several stakeholders on the customer side, especially for larger deals.
Part of the job is pure selling, another part is project management: coordinating meetings, looping in internal stakeholders like legal or product, keeping the deal clean in the CRM, and forecasting realistically.
SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise
The work looks quite different depending on the customer segment. In SMB, deals are smaller, the sales process is shorter, and often there's a single decision-maker. Mid-Market gets more complex, with several people involved. In Enterprise, the process often takes months, involves multiple decision-makers, and usually a procurement team negotiating on top of that.
Pay and OTE
Account Executives usually carry the highest variable share of any sales role. Commission is tied to hitting quota, often with an accelerator for revenue booked above it. Some plans are capped, others explicitly uncapped. Base salary depends heavily on segment: Enterprise AEs tend to have a higher base with longer sales cycles, SMB AEs often a higher variable share with shorter cycles.
What's expected
The AE role mostly comes down to a proven closing track record, usually built up in a previous SDR or junior AE position. Solid CRM skills, negotiation confidence, and the ability to run a complex sales process independently are the baseline.
What to check in an offer
Beyond OTE and cap, look closely at the assigned territory or account list: is it a greenfield build or an established base? What's average quota attainment on the team? And how long is ramp-up before full quota applies?
- Greenfield versus established territory
- Average quota attainment on the team
- Ramp-up time before full quota applies
- Cap or accelerator in the commission plan
Career path
From an AE role, the path often leads to Senior or Enterprise Account Executive with bigger deals and a higher base, or toward sales leadership with team responsibility.
Frequently asked questions
What does an Account Executive do?
An Account Executive runs the sales process from a qualified lead through to a signed contract, including the demo, negotiation, and close.
How do SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise differ for an AE?
The segments differ in deal size, number of decision-makers, and sales cycle length. SMB deals are smaller and faster, Enterprise deals are bigger, more complex, and take longer.
What does an accelerator mean in commission?
An accelerator raises the commission rate on revenue above quota, so overachievement gets paid disproportionately more.
Is commission always capped for Account Executives?
No, that depends on the company. Some plans are capped, others explicitly uncapped, often specifically to retain top performers.
Do I need prior sales experience for the AE role?
Usually yes, typically from an SDR or junior AE position. Moving straight into AE without sales experience is rare, though it happens with highly technical products where industry expertise substitutes for it.
Conclusion
As an Account Executive, you carry the actual closing responsibility, and with it the highest earning potential in traditional sales. Segment, territory, and commission structure decide your real income more than the job title alone.
Let Atlas search for you.
Say what you're looking for in one sentence. Atlas checks pay, commute and conditions and comes back with roles that fit.