VP of Sales is the senior leader responsible for building and running a sales organisation — owning revenue targets, pipeline strategy, hiring and developing sales managers and account executives, and aligning the commercial function with the company's growth stage. The role is operationally demanding and deeply tied to company trajectory: a VPS at a Series A startup and a VPS at a Series D company are doing materially different jobs.
What the work actually splits into
Early-stage VPS (Series A–B). You are the first sales leader. There may be no formal sales process, no CRM hygiene, and no manager layer below you. You close deals yourself while simultaneously building the repeatable motion — playbooks, hiring criteria, sales stages, qualification frameworks — that will survive you becoming a manager. This is the player-coach role in its fullest form.
Growth-stage VPS (Series C–D). You run a team of sales managers and AEs. Your job is to systematise what worked early, expand into new segments or geographies, and build the forecasting discipline that a larger company requires. You spend less time on individual deals and more time on pipeline quality, manager development, and cross-functional alignment with marketing and customer success.
Enterprise VPS. You lead a large, segmented sales org covering enterprise, mid-market, and SMB with separate teams and leaders for each. The job is heavily focused on executive selling — being present in strategic deals, developing VP-level relationships with key customers, and managing a complex internal org with distinct motions per segment.
VPS at a PLG company. Product-led growth companies need sales leaders who understand the hand-off from self-serve to assisted. The job is about building an expansion and enterprise motion on top of a bottom-up installed base — different skills from a pure outbound or field sales background.
The employer landscape
Venture-backed SaaS companies are the primary employers of remote VPS talent. Series A through D is the typical hiring window: the company has proven the product and needs to professionalise the commercial engine. Equity is a meaningful part of compensation at this stage; total comp depends heavily on how the equity performs.
Public technology companies hire VPS or SVP Sales with a more operationally defined scope. The role is less about building from scratch and more about running a large, optimised machine with established quota-setting processes, compensation plans, and segmentation strategies.
Private equity-backed software companies hire sales leaders with a mandate to grow revenue ahead of an exit. These roles often involve optimising an existing salesforce rather than building one, with a focus on sales efficiency metrics: CAC, quota attainment distribution, pipeline coverage ratios.
Remote-native companies need VPS leaders who understand distributed team management — how to maintain sales culture, coaching cadence, and accountability across timezones without an office to anchor the team.
What skills actually differentiate candidates
Hiring and developing AEs. The VPS's most durable output is the quality of the sales team they build. Knowing what good looks like for AE candidates at different experience levels, how to structure the interview process, how to onboard effectively, and how to coach underperformers before cycling them out is what separates good VPS candidates from great ones.
Forecast accuracy. Boards and CEOs care most about one thing from the sales leader: accurate forecasts. Building a culture and process where pipeline is honestly qualified and committed numbers are reliable is hard — most sales cultures reward optimism over accuracy. The VPS who delivers forecast accuracy without destroying rep motivation is rare and valuable.
Process discipline without bureaucracy. Sales process matters; CRM hygiene matters; stage criteria matter. But excessive process kills velocity. Knowing which frameworks to install and which to skip for the current company stage is a judgment call that separates experienced VPS candidates from those who import their last company's playbook wholesale.
Cross-functional partnership. The VPS owns revenue but depends on marketing for pipeline, product for competitive positioning, and customer success for expansion and retention. Building productive relationships with peers who have competing priorities — and without the authority to override them — is where many sales leaders struggle.
Five things worth checking before you apply
What is the current quota attainment distribution? If fewer than 50% of AEs are hitting quota, you're walking into a structural problem — territory design, quota setting, product-market fit at the segment level, or all three. Ask for the last two quarters.
What is the relationship between sales and marketing? If the VPS and VP Marketing are misaligned, pipeline generation becomes a negotiation rather than a machine. Understand how leads are sourced, what the handoff looks like, and who owns the pipeline number.
Is there a CRO above the VPS? At some companies, the VPS reports to a Chief Revenue Officer who owns the full commercial org. This affects scope and authority significantly. Understand the operating model before you accept.
What is the ACV and sales cycle? A $10k ACV with a two-week cycle and a $200k ACV with a six-month cycle require fundamentally different skills. Make sure your background maps to the company's commercial model.
What is the board's sales sophistication? Some boards have deep operator experience and useful commercial judgment. Others have pattern-matched on metrics without understanding the underlying drivers. The VPS who can manage board expectations around pipeline, coverage, and attainment will have a better experience than one who is constantly explaining the basics.
The bottleneck at each level
First-time VPS from AE or manager background. The transition from top-performing IC or front-line manager to sales leader involves a significant scope expansion. The temptation is to stay close to deals — sitting in on calls, helping close, acting as super-AE — rather than building the system. The unlock is accepting that your leverage comes from the team, not from your own deals.
Experienced VPS scaling to enterprise. Moving from a high-velocity mid-market motion to enterprise requires patience that goes against everything fast-growth sales culture rewards. Deal cycles are longer, relationships matter more than product features, and a bad enterprise deal is worse than no deal.
Veteran VPS managing a large org. The work becomes increasingly political and executive. Managing down through directors and managers, up to the CEO and board, and across to the CPO and CFO simultaneously requires communication discipline and political navigation that is genuinely different from early-stage sales leadership.
Pay and level expectations
Remote VP of Sales compensation varies significantly by company stage and ACV. At Series A–B startups, base salaries typically run $180,000–$250,000 with variable compensation (OTE) adding $60,000–$120,000 and equity that can be meaningful at exit. At Series C–D and growth-stage companies, base salaries of $220,000–$320,000 with OTE of $100,000–$180,000 are common. At public or late-stage companies, total cash compensation of $400,000–$600,000 is not unusual for a strong VPS.
European remote VP Sales roles at international companies typically run €140,000–€220,000 base with variable; UK-based roles are in a similar range in sterling.
What the hiring process looks like
VPS hiring processes typically run six to ten weeks and involve the CEO, CRO (if present), CPO, CFO, and sometimes the board. Expect detailed case study work — presentation of how you would build out the sales org, a 30-60-90 day plan, and walk-throughs of specific deals you've owned. Reference checks go deep, including calls with former directs, peers, and in some cases customers.
Your professional network matters significantly at this level. Most VPS hires at top-tier companies are sourced through warm introductions rather than direct applications.
Red flags and green flags
Red flags: The company cannot explain why the last VPS left. Quota attainment below 40% in the last two quarters. No CRM or the CRM is not trusted by the team. Marketing pipeline is described as "not reliable." The CEO is deeply involved in individual deals.
Green flags: Clear commercial model with defined ICP, ACV range, and sales cycle. Pipeline that is multi-sourced (outbound, inbound, partner). Marketing leader who speaks in revenue terms, not MQL volume. Defined scope and relationship to any CRO or CEO above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between VP Sales and CRO? The Chief Revenue Officer typically owns the full commercial function — sales, marketing, customer success, and sometimes business development. The VPS owns the direct sales org only. At some companies the titles are used interchangeably; always clarify scope in the interview process.
Is a remote VP Sales role genuinely feasible? Yes, for companies that have already built a distributed sales culture. The remote VPS must be more deliberate about coaching cadence, visibility, and team cohesion than their in-office equivalents. Remote-first companies have built the async and synchronous rhythms to support it; remote-optional companies often have not.
How large a team should a VPS manage? There is no fixed answer, but a common structure is: the VPS manages three to six sales managers, each of whom manages five to eight AEs. An org of fifteen to forty-five AEs is typical for a Series B–C VPS hire.
When does a company need a VPS versus a sales manager? When the company needs to build the function — hiring managers, setting compensation strategy, owning the number to the board — it needs a VPS. When the function exists and needs to be run day-to-day at the front-line level, a senior sales manager or director may be sufficient.
Related resources
- Remote sales manager jobs — the management layer the VPS develops and leads
- Remote account director jobs — senior individual contributor counterpart in enterprise
- Remote head of marketing jobs — cross-functional partner owning pipeline generation
- Remote VP product jobs — peer leader at the product-sales intersection