Sales & Customer Success

Account Executive Job Description

An Account Executive manages qualified sales opportunities from discovery through commercial agreement, helping prospective customers evaluate fit while maintaining an accurate and realistic forecast.

Define the market, sales motion, target, territory, support, and hand-offs before using this template so candidates can judge the opportunity accurately.

Use the template Prepare the intake meeting

Candidate-facing template

Edit the description for your organisation

Replace bracketed details, remove anything that is not genuinely required, and obtain the appropriate internal approval before advertising.

Ready-to-edit job description

Copying excludes all recruiter notes below.

Account Executive

Location: [Location, territory, and working arrangement]
Employment type: [Full-time]
Reports to: [Sales leader title]

About the role

[Company name] is hiring an Account Executive to manage qualified opportunities across [customer segment, product, and territory]. You will understand prospective customers’ priorities, coordinate a credible evaluation, build commercial proposals, and progress suitable opportunities to an agreed decision.

What you will be responsible for

Manage an active opportunity pipeline from discovery through evaluation, proposal, negotiation, and close.
Run discovery conversations that identify the customer’s current situation, decision need, stakeholders, constraints, timing, and consequences of inaction.
Coordinate demonstrations, technical validation, business cases, references, security review, procurement, and legal steps with internal specialists.
Develop clear account and opportunity plans, including next actions, decision criteria, risks, and mutual commitments.
Maintain accurate CRM records and submit evidence-based forecasts without moving dates or stages to hide risk.
Create proposals and negotiate approved commercial terms while protecting customer fit and sustainable value.
Hand successful customers to implementation or customer success with expectations, commitments, risks, and context documented.

What success looks like

Suitable opportunities progress through clear customer commitments rather than seller activity alone.
Forecasts reflect verified decision evidence, risks, stakeholders, and timing.
New customers begin implementation with accurate expectations and a complete commercial hand-off.
Revenue performance is achieved without relying on avoidable discounting or unsuitable deals.

Essential qualifications

Experience owning a business-to-business sales cycle or comparable commercial decision process.
Strong discovery, questioning, listening, and written follow-up skills.
Ability to involve technical, operational, legal, finance, and executive stakeholders at the right time.
Commercial judgement in proposals, negotiation, value, risk, and qualification.
Reliable CRM, pipeline, and forecast discipline.
Evidence of learning from lost, delayed, and won opportunities.

Preferred qualifications

Experience selling to [customer segment, sector, buyer group, or region].
Familiarity with [sales methodology] where it is genuinely used by the team.
Experience with products or services that have a comparable sales cycle, value, implementation, or risk profile.

Tools and working knowledge

CRM and forecasting platform
Meeting, demonstration, proposal, contract, and sales-engagement tools
Approved account research and customer intelligence sources

Compensation: [State the approved fixed range, currency, target variable compensation, quota, payment basis, ramp arrangements, accelerators or caps, and benefits clearly.]

[Company name] welcomes applicants with different backgrounds and will consider reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and role, subject to local requirements.

How to apply

Apply through [application method] with examples of the sales motion, customer segment, deal complexity, and individual commercial contribution most relevant to this role.

Edit the complete candidate-facing description

Your draft stays in this browser. It is not sent to ATZ CRM or saved to an account.

Account Executive

Location: [Location, territory, and working arrangement]

Employment type: [Full-time]

Reports to: [Sales leader title]

About the role
[Company name] is hiring an Account Executive to manage qualified opportunities across [customer segment, product, and territory]. You will understand prospective customers’ priorities, coordinate a credible evaluation, build commercial proposals, and progress suitable opportunities to an agreed decision.

What you will be responsible for
- Manage an active opportunity pipeline from discovery through evaluation, proposal, negotiation, and close.
- Run discovery conversations that identify the customer’s current situation, decision need, stakeholders, constraints, timing, and consequences of inaction.
- Coordinate demonstrations, technical validation, business cases, references, security review, procurement, and legal steps with internal specialists.
- Develop clear account and opportunity plans, including next actions, decision criteria, risks, and mutual commitments.
- Maintain accurate CRM records and submit evidence-based forecasts without moving dates or stages to hide risk.
- Create proposals and negotiate approved commercial terms while protecting customer fit and sustainable value.
- Hand successful customers to implementation or customer success with expectations, commitments, risks, and context documented.

What success looks like
- Suitable opportunities progress through clear customer commitments rather than seller activity alone.
- Forecasts reflect verified decision evidence, risks, stakeholders, and timing.
- New customers begin implementation with accurate expectations and a complete commercial hand-off.
- Revenue performance is achieved without relying on avoidable discounting or unsuitable deals.

Essential qualifications
- Experience owning a business-to-business sales cycle or comparable commercial decision process.
- Strong discovery, questioning, listening, and written follow-up skills.
- Ability to involve technical, operational, legal, finance, and executive stakeholders at the right time.
- Commercial judgement in proposals, negotiation, value, risk, and qualification.
- Reliable CRM, pipeline, and forecast discipline.
- Evidence of learning from lost, delayed, and won opportunities.

Preferred qualifications
- Experience selling to [customer segment, sector, buyer group, or region].
- Familiarity with [sales methodology] where it is genuinely used by the team.
- Experience with products or services that have a comparable sales cycle, value, implementation, or risk profile.

Tools and working knowledge
- CRM and forecasting platform
- Meeting, demonstration, proposal, contract, and sales-engagement tools
- Approved account research and customer intelligence sources

Compensation: [State the approved fixed range, currency, target variable compensation, quota, payment basis, ramp arrangements, accelerators or caps, and benefits clearly.]

[Company name] welcomes applicants with different backgrounds and will consider reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and role, subject to local requirements.

How to apply
Apply through [application method] with examples of the sales motion, customer segment, deal complexity, and individual commercial contribution most relevant to this role.

Performance expectations

What good performance looks like

Use these outcomes to replace vague activity lists with the evidence the hiring manager expects to see after the person joins.

Discovery reveals a decision problem, stakeholders, impact, constraints, and a credible reason to act.

Opportunities advance through customer commitments and verified evidence rather than hopeful stage changes.

Forecast categories are used consistently and material risks are visible before the reporting deadline.

Closed customers receive what was represented during the sale and transition with complete context.

Hiring-manager intake

Questions to settle before advertising

Record specific answers so sourcing, screening, and interview decisions use the same definition of the role.

1
What product, customer segment, territory, average contract value, and sales-cycle range define this role?
2
How much pipeline comes from marketing, SDRs, partners, existing accounts, and the Account Executive’s own prospecting?
3
What are the quota, ramp, variable-pay basis, attainment distribution, and main reasons deals are won or lost?
4
Which technical, commercial, legal, and implementation specialists support the sales cycle?
5
Who can approve discount, contract changes, pilots, security commitments, and non-standard terms?
6
What evidence must exist before an opportunity moves stage or enters the forecast?

Evaluation criteria

Evidence to use in a Account Executive scorecard

Agree the criteria before interviews begin, then score examples against the same evidence standard.

Criterion

Useful evidence

Concern to explore

Discovery

Finds the decision, impact, stakeholders, constraints, alternatives, urgency, and evidence needed for a credible next step.

Runs a friendly conversation but quickly moves to product features without understanding the customer’s decision.

Opportunity control

Uses mutual commitments, stakeholder access, decision criteria, risk, and explicit next steps to manage progress.

Equates seller activity with customer progress or depends on one enthusiastic contact.

Commercial judgement

Protects value, prepares negotiation, understands trade-offs, and seeks approval before committing non-standard terms.

Uses discount as the default response to uncertainty or makes delivery promises to secure signature.

Forecast discipline

Separates fact from judgement, tests close assumptions, records changes, and communicates downside early.

Frequently moves close dates, ignores stalled commitments, or treats forecast categories as personal confidence.

Structured interview

Account Executive interview questions and strong signals

Ask the same core questions in the same order, then use follow-ups to understand the candidate’s individual contribution.

Walk me through an opportunity you deliberately disqualified.

Strong answer signal

Explains fit, evidence, opportunity cost, customer treatment, and why stopping was better than maintaining artificial pipeline.

Tell me about a deal where your original champion could not secure the decision.

Strong answer signal

Maps influence and authority, earns broader access, supports the champion, and updates qualification honestly.

How do you decide whether an opportunity belongs in your forecast?

Strong answer signal

Uses verified decision process, stakeholder alignment, commercial steps, timing, risks, and customer commitments.

Describe a negotiation where you protected value without losing the customer.

Strong answer signal

Prepares priorities and alternatives, trades rather than gives, involves approvers, and preserves the implementation relationship.

Related titles

Check the scope behind the title

Sales Executive — can describe a similar closing role, but may also cover more prospecting or a shorter transactional cycle.

Enterprise Account Executive — normally manages larger, more complex opportunities with more stakeholders and longer decision processes.

Account Manager — usually concentrates more on existing customer relationships, retention, service, and expansion than new-logo acquisition.

Common hiring mistakes

Problems to remove before publishing

Publishing an attractive on-target figure without explaining quota, ramp, variable basis, territory, or how the current team performs.

Requiring experience at the same deal value while ignoring sales-cycle complexity, customer risk, stakeholder count, or individual ownership.

Calling the role inbound when the Account Executive must create a substantial part of their own pipeline.

Combining new business, implementation, support, renewal, and account management without realistic capacity or clear hand-offs.

Continue the hiring workflow

Related roles and recruiter resources

Related job descriptions

Sales Manager Sales Development Representative Account Manager Sales Engineer

Helpful recruiter resources

Recruitment Sales Pipeline Management

Apply clear stage evidence and next actions to commercial recruitment work.

Recruitment Sales CRM

Connect prospect relationships, opportunities, communication, and delivery context.

Business Development CRM for Recruiters

Organise outbound conversations and account development for agency growth.

Source and review notes

How this template was prepared

Language: International English
Prepared by: ATZ CRM Editorial Team
Review: ATZ CRM Recruitment Editorial Review
Last reviewed: 2026-08-04

O*NET: Sales Representatives of Services

Reference for occupation tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, and work activities.

ESCO: occupations and skills

Reference for internationally recognised occupation and skills terminology.

Qualifications, compensation, licences, working conditions, and equal-opportunity wording must be checked for the role and location before use.

Recruiter questions

Account Executive job description FAQs

What should an Account Executive job description include?

State the product or service, customer segment, territory, sales motion, pipeline sources, quota, variable plan, sales-cycle complexity, specialist support, decision authority, and customer hand-off.

What is the difference between an Account Executive and an Account Manager?

An Account Executive commonly owns new opportunities through close. An Account Manager commonly owns existing relationships, retention, service, and expansion. Some organisations combine both, so define the revenue source and lifecycle ownership.

Should quota be included in an Account Executive job description?

Candidates should receive enough approved information to understand the commercial expectation. Explain the quota basis, territory, ramp, variable plan, and relevant context rather than advertising an isolated earnings figure.