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So nobody can honestly tell you what Head of Sales salaries will look like across the whole of 2027 yet.
What companies can do is look at current advertised roles and sales leadership benchmarks, understand how compensation changes between markets, and build a realistic 2027 budget around the actual scope of the role.
And geography matters much more than many hiring teams expect.
A Head of Sales employed in London, New York, Berlin, Paris, Madrid or Stockholm may be doing broadly comparable work but operating in very different compensation markets.
That means there is no useful global answer to:
What does a Head of Sales cost?
The better question is:
What should this Head of Sales cost in this market, with this revenue responsibility, team and sales motion?
Recent UK EdTech and education sales roles show relatively modest salary bands at one end of the market.
A Series B EdTech Head of Sales vacancy advertised through Tipped Recruitment listed a £60,000 to £70,000 base with OTE up to £90,000.
Michael Page advertised a Head of UK Sales role in EdTech at £60,000 to £70,000.
Other senior UK sales roles move considerably higher. A Sales Director role spanning EdTech and publishing was advertised at £95,000 base plus commission, while an enterprise Sales Director vacancy covering SaaS and EdTech was advertised at £150,000 base plus double OTE and equity. (LinkedIn)
That tells us something important.
The title alone is almost meaningless.
A £65,000 player coach selling into UK schools is not the same hire as a £150,000 enterprise Sales Director leading a team through complex seven figure contracts.
US sales leadership packages can be substantially higher.
For example, Frontline Education recently advertised a US Regional Sales Director role at $140,000 to $150,000 base with OTE up to $300,000. The role included regional leadership, K12 district selling and significant travel. (LinkedIn)
Another US EdTech business, Subject, advertised a Regional Sales Director position at $150,000 to $165,000 base, with aggressive uncapped variable compensation and equity. (LinkedIn)
A US Head of Sales role for an education business operated through Crossover was advertised at $150,000 per year. (LinkedIn)
These examples should not be turned into a universal US salary band.
But they demonstrate why a UK company benchmarking a US sales leadership hire against UK EdTech salaries can quickly become uncompetitive.
The US also tends to place considerably more weight on variable compensation.
A $150,000 base with $300,000 OTE is a very different proposition from a £70,000 base with £90,000 OTE.
This distinction matters for international EdTech companies.
A US headquartered business employing a Head of Sales in the UK may:
pay against the UK market,
pay a premium over the UK market,
use a global compensation band,
or benchmark against US compensation and then geo adjust it.
So I would not advise founders to ask:
What does our US Head of Sales earn?
and simply convert that figure into pounds or euros.
Instead ask:
Where will this person be employed?
Which talent market are we competing in?
Are they responsible for one country, EMEA or global revenue?
Are they building a local function or joining an established US sales organisation?
Those answers matter much more than currency conversion.
Germany is another market where UK salary assumptions can cause problems.
A 2026 German SaaS compensation benchmark based on more than 1,000 signed offers places a Series A or B Head of Sales at approximately €100,000 to €140,000 base and €140,000 to €200,000 OTE. (hyrise)
Hanson Search's 2026 Germany guide puts Head of Sales roles within SaaS and scaleups at roughly €120,000 to €160,000 base. (Hanson Search)
These are broader SaaS benchmarks rather than EdTech specific salary surveys, but that is still highly relevant.
EdTech companies hiring experienced SaaS sales leadership in Germany are competing with the wider German technology market.
You cannot necessarily discount the role because the product happens to be education technology.
France shows the same problem with relying on job titles.
One 2026 French tech sales benchmark places Head of Sales packages at around €70,000 to €100,000 base and €110,000 to €160,000 OTE. (Smile Talent)
Another benchmark, focused on larger teams of around 10 to 25 people, places Head of Sales compensation at €100,000 to €150,000 base and €170,000 to €260,000 OTE. (rocket4rpo.com)
That gap is not necessarily a contradiction.
It shows why you need to understand what the person actually owns.
A first sales leader managing three people and still closing deals personally is different from someone managing twenty salespeople and a substantial revenue number.
Spain can offer a different compensation profile again.
Michael Page recently advertised a Madrid based SaaS Head of Sales role at €50,000 to €70,000 base plus variable compensation and phantom shares. (Michael Page)
Broader Madrid salary data also shows a wide Head of Sales market, with reported compensation varying significantly by seniority and employer. (Glassdoor)
For an international EdTech company, that can make Spain attractive for building a commercial team.
But the same warning applies.
If you need someone who has already led international enterprise SaaS sales, built teams across markets and managed large contracts, comparing them only with a local early stage startup benchmark will give you the wrong answer.
Nordic compensation deserves its own benchmark too.
Recent Stockholm based SaaS leadership roles show substantial packages.
Unit4 advertised a Nordic Sales Director role with a base range of approximately SEK 1.23m to SEK 1.39m per year. (LinkedIn)
Another Nordic Head of Sales vacancy listed SEK 750,000 to SEK 900,000 base with OTE of SEK 1.8m to SEK 2.2m. (LinkedIn)
A Stockholm sales leadership role in payments advertised €8,000 to €10,000 gross per month plus a 20% to 30% performance bonus. (LinkedIn)
Again, these are technology and SaaS signals rather than a dedicated EdTech salary survey.
But that is exactly the talent market EdTech companies often recruit from.
I would stop thinking about one RecruitHer wide Head of Sales salary band.
Instead, start with five questions.
1. Where will the person be employed?
UK, US, Germany, France, Spain and Sweden are not interchangeable salary markets.
2. What geography will they own?
UK only is different from DACH.
DACH is different from EMEA.
EMEA is different from global.
3. Are they a player coach or a sales executive?
Someone personally closing deals while managing three people is not the same profile as someone leading multiple managers.
4. What type of sale are they leading?
School licences at £10,000 ACV create a different talent market from multinational enterprise contracts worth several hundred thousand pounds.
5. What stage is the company at?
Founder led startup.
Series A.
Series B.
International scaleup.
Established education group.
Each creates a different job even when the title remains Head of Sales.
Based on current 2026 market evidence, I would use ranges as market signals rather than fixed salary recommendations.
For 2027 planning, current market signals suggest that UK Head of Sales and player coach roles often sit around £60,000 to £90,000 base, although experienced enterprise and Sales Director hires can move above £100,000 and in some cases towards £150,000. In the US, current EdTech sales leadership vacancies show base salaries around $140,000 to $165,000 or more, with OTE often reaching $200,000 to $300,000+. In Germany and the wider DACH market, SaaS Head of Sales benchmarks can reach roughly €100,000 to €160,000 base, with OTE around €140,000 to €230,000 depending on company stage and scope. France shows a broad range of around €70,000 to €150,000 base across current technology benchmarks, with significant differences between smaller Head of Sales roles and larger leadership remits. In Spain, current Madrid signals can start around €50,000 to €70,000 base for startup Head of Sales positions, while more experienced senior and international profiles can command higher packages. In Sweden and the wider Nordic market, current senior SaaS leadership signals range from roughly SEK 750,000 to SEK 1.4 million base, with enterprise OTE capable of moving significantly higher.
These are not RecruitHer salary survey figures.
They combine current advertised vacancies and broader technology sales benchmarks, because reliable EdTech specific leadership data remains limited in several markets. (LinkedIn)
And they should not be read as direct like for like comparisons.
The scope behind each role matters.
Base salary is only one part of the discussion.
Candidates will want to understand:
the revenue target,
the variable percentage,
whether commission is capped,
current pipeline,
average contract value,
sales cycle,
conversion,
team attainment,
customer retention,
and what portion of the target has already been proven.
This becomes particularly important when recruiting across markets.
A US candidate accustomed to a 50:50 base and variable structure may look very differently at a European package with a heavier weighting towards base.
And a headline OTE means very little if almost nobody in the business achieves it.
This is one of the easiest mistakes to make.
Take a $180,000 US salary.
Convert it into pounds.
Use that as the UK benchmark.
That is not compensation benchmarking.
Neither is taking a £75,000 UK Head of Sales package and assuming €90,000 must be competitive in Germany.
International benchmarking needs to consider the local talent market, employment costs, tax environment, benefits, equity norms, variable compensation and how competitive the required experience is in that market.
Currency is only one piece.
Equity also means different things at different company stages and in different markets.
For a senior hire joining an early stage company, meaningful equity can compensate for some cash difference if the proposition is credible.
At a later stage business, experienced candidates may expect both competitive cash and equity.
Equity should therefore be part of the package design.
It should not be used to justify a salary that is disconnected from the market.
The best time to discover that your package is wrong is before candidates are interviewing.
Map comparable companies.
Look at where the individual will actually be employed.
Compare the scope, not just the title.
Understand the local compensation market.
Test the package with candidates.
Then decide where you are willing to flex.
For international EdTech companies, this becomes particularly important.
The right salary for a Head of Sales in London is not automatically the right salary in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm or New York.
RecruitHer supports EdTech companies with commercial salary benchmarking, market mapping and international search before senior hiring begins.
There is no single global Head of Sales salary. Current 2026 evidence shows significant differences between the UK, US and European markets. Companies should benchmark against the country where the person will be employed, the geography they will own, company stage, team size and the complexity of the sales motion.
Current vacancies indicate that US sales leadership packages can be materially higher, particularly once variable compensation is included. For example, current US EdTech sales leadership vacancies include base salaries around $140,000 to $165,000 with OTE capable of reaching $300,000 or more. UK packages vary substantially depending on seniority and sales scope. (LinkedIn)
Not necessarily. Many international companies benchmark compensation partly against the employee's local market. The correct approach depends on the company's compensation philosophy, the person's location, their geographic responsibility and the talent market the company needs to compete in.
Current SaaS benchmarks suggest Germany and parts of the Nordic market can command significant sales leadership packages, while Spain often sits lower. France has a particularly wide range depending on company stage and team size. These are broad technology market signals rather than EdTech specific salary rankings. (hyrise)
Location, revenue ownership, company stage, team size, customer segment, deal value, enterprise complexity, international responsibility, personal sales quota, variable compensation and equity can all materially change the package.
Emilia Kruszewska is an EdTech recruiter and headhunter and the founder of RecruitHer. She works with EdTech companies across commercial and leadership hiring, helping organisations understand the talent market, benchmark roles and build teams for growth.
I think this version is much stronger for RecruitHer strategically, because it moves you from publishing a fairly standard UK salary article to showing that you understand international EdTech talent markets.
