Permanent Executive Recruitment · Head of Sales
Permanent Head of Sales Recruitment
A permanent Head of Sales is appointed when the commercial strategy is already settled and a business needs somebody to run the sales team's execution of it, day in and day out.
Permanent Head of Sales recruitment is the appointment of a sales leader accountable for team performance, pipeline management, sales process and day-to-day execution, working within a commercial plan set above the role.
Interpret the executive mandate
A Head of Sales exists to make an agreed plan happen. That means running the team, holding the pipeline to account, enforcing the sales process, and driving the activity and conversion that plan depends on.
This is deliberately a narrower mandate than a Sales Director. The Head of Sales does not usually set target market, commercial strategy or pricing policy — those decisions sit above the role, with a Sales Director, Commercial Director or the founder. The Head of Sales makes the plan real through people and discipline.
The most common misuse of this title is asking a Head of Sales to do a Sales Director's job at a lower salary. If the business genuinely needs someone to decide where and how it competes, that is a different appointment, and we will say so before a brief is written.
When a business may need a permanent Head of Sales
These situations assume the commercial strategy already exists. Where it does not, a Sales Director is usually the correct appointment instead.
The plan exists but nobody runs the team
Target market, pricing and commercial priorities are already set by the founder or a more senior leader, but the sales team itself has no day-to-day manager holding it to activity, pipeline and forecast standards.
A Sales Director needs a lieutenant
The business has senior commercial leadership already, but that leader is stretched across strategy, key accounts and the board, and needs somebody to run the team underneath them.
Execution is inconsistent
Some salespeople perform well and others do not, with no consistent process, coaching or accountability holding the team to a common standard.
The team has grown past informal management
What was manageable when three people sold informally now needs a proper manager as headcount and pipeline volume increase.
Replacing an outgoing team manager
A previous Head of Sales, senior sales manager or similar role is vacant, and the business wants the mandate clarified rather than simply repeated.
What a Head of Sales typically owns
- Day-to-day leadership, coaching and performance management of the sales team
- Pipeline discipline: qualification, progression and forecast accuracy against the plan
- Sales process, CRM standards and activity management
- Execution of the target market and commercial priorities set above the role
- Recruitment and onboarding of individual salespeople
- Reporting sales team performance to the Sales Director, Commercial Director or founder
What success should look like
The team hits its numbers consistently
Individual and team performance against the agreed plan becomes reliable rather than dependent on a handful of strong performers.
The pipeline is trustworthy
Forecasts built from the team's pipeline are accurate enough for the leadership above the role to plan against them.
Process is followed, not just written down
The sales process and CRM discipline actually shape how the team works, rather than existing as documents nobody follows.
The team improves
Individual capability visibly rises through coaching and management, and weaker performers either improve or are moved on.
Why a permanent appointment may fit
Team leadership benefits from continuity. Salespeople respond to a manager who is present, consistent and accountable over time, and a permanent appointment gives that manager the standing to make people decisions stick.
It is the right model when the strategic decisions above the role are already settled, the team is large enough to need full-time management, and the requirement is ongoing rather than a temporary gap.
- Commercial strategy and target market are already decided elsewhere
- The team is large enough to need a dedicated full-time manager
- The requirement is ongoing team leadership, not a defined situation
What the brief should clarify
- Who owns commercial strategy, pricing and target market above this role
- The size and current performance of the team being inherited
- The reporting line: Sales Director, Commercial Director, or founder
- Where the line sits between this role and a Sales Director, if one exists
- What sales process, CRM and forecast discipline already exist, if any
Other engagement models for a Head of Sales
The role is the same question. The engagement model answers a different one: how long the leadership is needed, how quickly, and how much of it.
Permanent
A long-term senior leadership appointment, owned inside the business.
You are reading this model
Interim
Time-limited, immediately capable executive leadership for a defined situation.
Interim Head of Sales recruitmentFractional
Ongoing senior leadership without a full-time executive appointment.
Fractional Head of Sales recruitmentCommercial terms are agreed before anything begins. We do not publish standard executive day rates.
Related executive roles
Roles a business is genuinely choosing between when the mandate is still being settled.
Leads the sales function: target market, pipeline, team, forecasting and conversion.
Owns pricing, contracts, partnerships and commercial strategy — the terms a business trades on, not the sales team leading the trading.
Owns revenue architecture across sales, marketing and customer revenue, and the systems that make growth predictable.
Relevant Evans Sales Consultancy services
Linked only where they genuinely relate to this requirement.
Where Evans Sales Consultancy leads sales execution directly rather than recruiting someone to lead it.
A fixed-fee commercial review that establishes whether the gap is execution or strategy before a Head of Sales is appointed.
The wider UK commercial growth capability a Head of Sales operates within once appointed.
Recruiting into a new international market? Where the role is defined by a market plan — a Country Manager, an export or technical commercial hire — International Recruitment is the right route.
Executive recruitment enquiry
Discuss a permanent Head of Sales appointment.
Tell us what your sales team looks like today and who owns commercial strategy above it. We will come back on whether a Head of Sales is the right appointment, or whether the gap actually sits higher than that.
Common questions
A Head of Sales runs the execution of an agreed plan: the team, the pipeline, the process and day-to-day performance. A Sales Director carries wider commercial authority, including target market, pricing policy and board-level accountability for the number. If strategy is already settled and the gap is execution, a Head of Sales is usually the right and less expensive appointment. If nobody is deciding where and how the business competes, a Sales Director is the correct one.
Team leadership and coaching, pipeline and forecast discipline, sales process and CRM standards, and execution of the commercial plan set above the role. It does not usually include setting target market or pricing policy.
Often, yes, where both roles exist. In smaller businesses a Head of Sales may report directly to the founder or Managing Director instead, particularly where commercial strategy is still owned at that level.
Evidence of team leadership, coaching and pipeline management specifically, rather than individual sales achievement alone. The strongest salesperson is not automatically the strongest sales manager.
On team performance against the agreed plan, forecast accuracy, and demonstrable improvement in the capability and consistency of the sales team over time.
It happens, and it can be a sensible progression when the person demonstrates the wider commercial judgement the Sales Director role requires. It should not be assumed automatically at the point of appointment.