A sales salary in Europe depends far more on role and country than most benchmarks suggest: in TalentUp’s 2026 job ad data, the median advertised base salary for a sales representative goes from €25,000 in Spain to €45,000 in France, while account executives are advertised at €45,000 to €77,500. Sales is also one of the largest hiring markets in Europe, with about 163,400 unique sales ads in 11 countries between January and September 2026.
This benchmark covers the eight sales roles employers hire most, from SDRs to sales directors. For each one you get demand by country, the median advertised base salary in the UK, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, how often ads mention commission or OTE, how wide the ranges are, how much of the work is remote or field-based, and which skills and languages employers ask for. It is built for employers pricing sales roles and for candidates checking whether an offer is fair.
Key takeaways
- Sales reps and field sales are the largest group (29.5% of sales ads), followed by sales managers and directors (18.4%) and business development (11.3%).
- Spain has the most SDR/BDR ads in our data (about 3,070), almost three times the UK, and half of Spanish sales ads ask for a stated level of English.
- Account executives are the best-paid individual contributors: median advertised base of €77,500 in France, €67,500 in the Netherlands and £47,500 in the UK.
- 34.6% of sales ads mention commission, a bonus or variable pay, from 25.8% in Germany to 54.9% in the UK; only the UK and Ireland routinely state an OTE figure.
- When an ad shows a range, the top is typically 27% above the bottom, wider for field sales (33%).
- Only 2.5% of German and 16.8% of UK sales ads carry a structured salary, so advertised pay is still the exception.
163,400
unique sales job ads classified into 9 role groups
34.6%
mention commission, a bonus or other variable pay
13.7%
of UK sales ads state an OTE figure, versus under 2% in continental Europe
27%
median gap between the top and bottom of an advertised range
Source: TalentUp job postings database, January–September 2026. Unique sales ads in 11 European countries, excluding retail and recruitment agencies.
Sales Roles Compared: Hunters, Farmers and Leaders
Sales titles are inconsistent, so we grouped ads by what the role actually does. Hunters win new customers, farmers grow existing accounts and leaders run the team. The table is the taxonomy used in all the data below.
| Role group |
Main job |
Type |
Typical titles in ads |
| SDR / BDR |
Prospect and qualify leads, book meetings for closers |
Hunter |
Sales / Business Development Representative |
| Inside sales |
Sell and support customers by phone and video, often transactional |
Hunter / farmer |
Inside Sales Rep, Vertrieb Innendienst, Commercieel medewerker binnendienst |
| Sales rep / field sales |
Sell to an assigned territory or segment, often visiting customers |
Hunter |
Sales Representative, Sales Executive, Außendienst, Commercial terrain, Agente commerciale |
| Account executive (AE) |
Own the full sales cycle and close new business, typical in SaaS and B2B services |
Hunter |
Account Executive, Enterprise AE |
| Account manager (AM) |
Retain and grow existing customers through renewals, upsell and cross-sell |
Farmer |
Account Manager, Accountmanager, Chargé d’affaires |
| Key account manager (KAM) |
Manage the most valuable or strategic accounts |
Farmer |
Key / National / Strategic Account Manager, Responsable grands comptes |
| Business development |
Open new markets, partners or segments |
Hunter |
Business Development Manager, Business Developer |
| Sales manager / director |
Lead a sales team or region, own the number |
Leader |
Sales Manager, Head of Sales, Directeur commercial, Vertriebsleiter |
Sales engineers and technical sales roles (including French technico-commercial titles) appear in the demand data as a separate group but are left out of the salary table, because their pay follows technical profiles more than sales ones.
Sales Jobs Demand in Europe by Role and Country
The volume of sales hiring in Europe is huge: about 163,400 unique sales ads in 11 countries in the first nine months of 2026, after removing duplicates, retail jobs and recruitment agencies. The table shows the six largest markets.
| Role group |
UK |
Germany |
France |
Spain |
Italy |
Netherlands |
11 countries |
| Sales rep / field sales |
8,320 |
4,810 |
4,480 |
8,640 |
10,220 |
4,300 |
48,210 |
| Sales manager / director |
4,890 |
5,620 |
3,040 |
3,750 |
5,910 |
2,890 |
30,060 |
| Business development |
2,980 |
1,130 |
5,470 |
2,400 |
2,710 |
1,460 |
18,450 |
| Account executive |
1,870 |
1,850 |
2,430 |
2,820 |
1,740 |
2,270 |
15,920 |
| Account manager |
2,110 |
1,580 |
1,280 |
2,720 |
1,860 |
2,370 |
15,100 |
| Key account manager |
840 |
1,570 |
1,690 |
1,330 |
1,480 |
720 |
9,730 |
| SDR / BDR |
1,120 |
1,170 |
930 |
3,070 |
780 |
770 |
9,390 |
| Inside sales |
400 |
1,480 |
590 |
1,480 |
900 |
2,160 |
8,430 |
| Sales engineer / technical sales |
560 |
500 |
2,300 |
1,110 |
1,430 |
1,010 |
8,150 |
Unique ads in the TalentUp database, January–September 2026, rounded to the nearest 10. Not a census of all vacancies. The 11 countries also include Portugal, Ireland, Poland, Belgium and Sweden.
What stands out:
- Field and territory sales still dominate. Almost three in ten sales ads are for sales reps, sales executives or field sales, and the share is highest in Italy, where agent and territory roles are common.
- Spain is Europe’s SDR market. With about 3,070 SDR/BDR ads, Spain has almost three times as many as the UK, plus the most account executive ads. Many of these roles sell into other markets: 49.7% of Spanish sales ads ask for a stated level of English, and about 7% ask for German or French.
- France leads in business development. “Business developer” is one of the most common sales titles in French ads (about 5,470 business development ads), and France also has the most technical sales ads.
- Germany and the Netherlands hire inside sales. Vertrieb Innendienst and commercieel medewerker binnendienst are established office-based sales roles, with about 1,480 and 2,160 ads.
For the IT side of the same market, see our analysis of the most in-demand IT jobs in 2026.
The table shows the median advertised annual base salary for each role, using ads with a structured salary. Cells with fewer than 30 ads are not shown. UK figures are in pounds; the rest in euros.
| Role group |
UK (£) |
France (€) |
Spain (€) |
Italy (€) |
Netherlands (€) |
| SDR / BDR |
34,300 (n=122) |
40,000 (n=91) |
24,000 (n=233) |
35,000 (n=39) |
48,000 (n=38) |
| Inside sales |
30,000 (n=83) |
38,000 (n=66) |
24,000 (n=118) |
40,000 (n=38) |
39,600 (n=134) |
| Sales rep / field sales |
31,400 (n=1,746) |
45,000 (n=282) |
25,000 (n=481) |
36,000 (n=388) |
42,000 (n=203) |
| Account manager |
40,000 (n=311) |
50,000 (n=62) |
27,000 (n=131) |
42,000 (n=67) |
60,000 (n=138) |
| Business development |
42,500 (n=474) |
45,000 (n=961) |
36,000 (n=98) |
40,000 (n=125) |
60,000 (n=65) |
| Key account manager |
47,400 (n=92) |
65,000 (n=87) |
40,000 (n=52) |
50,000 (n=36) |
– |
| Account executive |
47,500 (n=210) |
77,500 (n=146) |
45,000 (n=121) |
66,400 (n=68) |
67,500 (n=55) |
| Sales manager / director |
55,000 (n=517) |
65,000 (n=145) |
36,000 (n=102) |
50,000 (n=134) |
72,500 (n=61) |
Median of the advertised salary (midpoint when a range is given), full-time employee ads, January–September 2026. Cells with n between 30 and 60 are indicative.
How to read it:
- Account executives out-earn every other individual contributor. In France, Italy and the Netherlands their median advertised base is €66,400–€77,500, well above account managers. Many AE ads are for B2B software companies, and some only publish OTE, which pushes these medians up.
- Farmers are paid more than junior hunters. Account managers and key account managers sit above SDRs and inside sales in every country, reflecting more experience and responsibility for revenue already won.
- Spain is the low-pay outlier. Median advertised base for SDRs and inside sales is €24,000, and only account executives and key account managers reach €40,000 or more.
- The Netherlands pays most for account management, with a median of €60,000 for account managers and business development roles. Dutch monthly salaries are annualised ×12 and exclude the 8% holiday allowance, so the real gap is slightly larger.
Germany and Ireland are not in the table. Only 2.5% of German sales ads carry a structured salary, and the German and Irish samples are small and skewed towards high-paying software ads, so the medians would be misleading. If you need these markets, use a benchmark based on paid salaries (see how to implement salary benchmarking).
Commission, Variable Pay and OTE in Sales Job Ads
Sales is the role family where variable pay matters most, yet most ads still do not mention it. In our sample, 34.6% of sales ads mention commission, a bonus, an incentive plan or OTE, and 13.7% mention commission specifically.
| Country |
Mention variable pay |
Mention commission |
State an OTE figure |
Ads in sample |
| United Kingdom |
54.9% |
28.3% |
13.7% |
901 |
| Ireland |
39.4% |
20.2% |
7.9% |
1,160 |
| Netherlands |
37.5% |
6.5% |
1.9% |
1,232 |
| Portugal |
33.1% |
14.9% |
1.5% |
1,042 |
| France |
31.4% |
13.3% |
0.2% |
1,168 |
| Italy |
30.7% |
11.8% |
0.8% |
1,073 |
| Spain |
29.1% |
12.2% |
0.4% |
1,388 |
| Germany |
25.8% |
6.1% |
0.1% |
1,150 |
By role, SDR/BDR ads mention variable pay most often (43.0%), followed by sales reps (39.1%) and business development (37.3%). Account executives (30.5%), sales managers (28.6%) and key account managers (25.5%) mention it less, although almost all of these roles carry variable pay in practice. SDR ads are also the most likely to state an OTE figure (6.3%).
Melanie French, a B2B sales consultant at French Sales Solutions who previously scaled a 75-person sales organisation, explains why the right pay mix depends on whether a role hunts or farms:
Melanie FrenchSales Consultant, French Sales Solutions
Every sales role needs both base and variable components. […] A 100% base salary attracts the wrong talent. A hunting role? Consider minimum 50/50 base to commission. […] Account management? 70/30 might be better.
Two takeaways:
- OTE is an Anglo-Saxon convention. UK and Irish ads routinely quote packages such as “£25,000 base + uncapped commission (£37,000 OTE)”. On the continent, ads talk about fixe + variable, Provision, provvigioni or bonusregeling without a figure.
- Silence about variable pay costs applicants. If a role has a meaningful variable component, say so and give a target figure. For how to design the plan itself, see our guides on sales commission structures and variable compensation and pay mix by role.
How Wide Are Sales Salary Ranges?
When a sales ad publishes a range, the top is typically 27% above the bottom (median of 1,508 ranges across the countries with salary data). Ranges are widest for field sales reps (33%), sales engineers (33%) and account executives (30%), and narrowest for key account managers (20%) and inside sales (21%).
| Role group |
Median range width (max vs min) |
Ranges analysed |
| Sales rep / field sales |
33% |
624 |
| Sales engineer / technical sales |
33% |
118 |
| Account executive |
30% |
94 |
| SDR / BDR |
25% |
83 |
| Account manager |
25% |
111 |
| Sales manager / director |
25% |
198 |
| Business development |
24% |
147 |
| Inside sales |
21% |
70 |
| Key account manager |
20% |
63 |
Salary disclosure is still limited. The share of sales ads with a structured salary is 16.8% in the UK, 9.5% in France, 5.5% in Spain, 4.5% in the Netherlands, 3.7% in Italy and 2.5% in Germany. That will change as countries transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive (transposition deadline 7 June 2026). Once national laws apply, applicants have the right to information on the initial pay or its range, for example in the job ad or before the interview, and variable components such as commission count as pay. For practical guidance, see transparent salary job postings.
Remote, Hybrid and Field Sales Work
Sales remains a largely on-site and on-the-road job. Only 4.5–11.1% of sales ads are flagged as fully remote, depending on the role, highest for account executives (11.1%) and SDRs (8.9%). Mentions of remote or hybrid working are much more common: 34.0% of ads overall, 60.1% for SDR/BDR and 51.3% for account executives, but only 22.8% for sales reps.
| Indicator |
All sales ads |
Highest |
Lowest |
| Mention remote or hybrid working |
34.0% |
SDR / BDR 60.1% |
Sales rep 22.8% |
| Mention field work or customer visits |
17.8% |
Germany 36.7% |
Spain and Portugal 10.4% |
| Mention a company car or car allowance |
11.1% |
Germany 20.9% |
Portugal 3.0% |
Germany stands out for field sales: more than a third of German sales ads mention Außendienst, travel within a territory or customer visits, and one in five offers a company car. Account managers, key account managers and sales managers are the roles most likely to come with a car (about 15–16% of ads).
Most Requested Skills and Languages for Sales Jobs
Across all sales ads, the most common requirements are prospecting and new business (50.8%), a minimum number of years of experience (48.9%), negotiation (36.4%) and a degree (34.8%). Tools matter most for SaaS-style roles.
| Requirement |
All sales ads |
SDR / BDR |
Account executive |
Sales rep / field |
Key account manager |
| Prospecting / new business |
50.8% |
86.9% |
73.4% |
35.3% |
38.4% |
| Years of experience |
48.9% |
41.4% |
68.4% |
40.2% |
56.2% |
| Negotiation |
36.4% |
17.0% |
44.3% |
27.7% |
61.1% |
| Degree |
34.8% |
29.2% |
28.0% |
26.5% |
49.2% |
| CRM software |
28.9% |
49.0% |
31.3% |
23.4% |
25.5% |
| Salesforce |
11.1% |
30.9% |
23.6% |
6.9% |
7.0% |
| SaaS experience |
12.8% |
33.8% |
46.9% |
4.6% |
5.9% |
| Driving licence |
10.0% |
0.7% |
3.5% |
15.0% |
8.9% |
Languages are a differentiator outside the UK. The share of sales ads that ask for English at a stated level (fluent, C1, business level, etc.) is 49.7% in Spain, 44.0% in Portugal, 37.7% in Italy, 34.0% in the Netherlands, 28.3% in France and 16.5% in Germany. German is requested in 27.9% of German ads, and also in 6.9% of Irish and 7.0% of Spanish ads, a sign of multilingual sales teams covering the DACH market from abroad.
For candidates, the profile that commands the highest advertised pay combines closing experience, B2B or SaaS knowledge, CRM discipline and a second business language.
How to Use This Sales Salary Benchmark
For employers:
- Benchmark by role, not by “sales”. The gap between an SDR and an account executive in the same country is often 1.4–1.9×. Map each vacancy to a role group before pricing it.
- Set the base first, then the variable. Use the medians above as a reference for base pay and design the variable on top (see variable compensation). Do not use variable pay to compensate for a below-market base.
- Publish the range and the target variable. Fewer than one in five sales ads do it, so a clear range plus OTE helps you stand out, and it is where pay transparency rules are heading.
- Budget for the market, not last year. Use live data to plan sales headcount costs, as explained in budget planning for HR with real-time salary data, and adjust by country for multi-market teams (salary benchmarking for international companies).
For candidates:
- Compare an offer’s base salary with the median for your role and country, then ask for the target variable, quota and payout history: base and OTE are different numbers.
- If an ad shows a wide range, the gap usually reflects seniority and quota size; ask where you would sit and why.
- Check your own market value with TalentUp’s free salary benchmarking tool or explore our methodology and the European Salary Benchmark Report.
Sources
- TalentUp. Job postings database, 1 January–30 September 2026: about 163,400 unique sales ads in 11 European countries for demand, 8,900 ads with structured salaries in 5 countries for pay, and a random sample of 9,114 sales ads with full descriptions in 8 countries for text indicators (see methodology above).
- European Union. Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency. EUR-Lex.