An operator,
not a recruiter.

Nordh Executive Search is led by Jan Nordh, an operator with 25+ years in enterprise IT sales who led EMEA teams of up to 140 people and was the first employee in Europe or DACH for five US technology vendors in their startup phase, building their go-to-market. Candidates are assessed against real-world sales KPIs and sales motion, not keywords. The result: a qualified shortlist usually within two to four weeks, a 97% twelve-month retention rate and 280+ placements across DACH, the Nordics and Europe.

Three things set it apart: an operator-turned-headhunter perspective from 25 years in enterprise IT sales, first carrying a quota, later leading sales teams; confidential direct outreach to a network built over 25 years as an operator and 19 years in search; and deep specialization in quota-carrying sales roles and sales leadership in cybersecurity, AI, SaaS and infrastructure across DACH, the Nordics and Europe.

Because finding names stopped being the hard part years ago. Your TA team has the same tools I have. The hard part is judging whether a seller who performed at a large vendor will deliver in your market, your team and your stage, and getting that person to move when they are not looking. That judgment comes from 25 years in enterprise IT sales, first with my own quota, later hiring sellers myself. It is what you pay for, and 97% of my placements still in the role after a year is the result. I use AI for preparation and research. Every assessment and every recommendation is mine.

Usually far more than the fee. Take an Enterprise Account Executive with a €3 million annual quota: that is €250,000 of quota per month. Even if colleagues cover part of it and only a third is truly lost, each month of vacancy costs around €80,000. The ramp-up, which in enterprise sales takes 6 to 12 months, only starts once the new person is on board. Without a headhunter, a sales role at a technology vendor often stays open for several months. With a qualified shortlist usually within two to four weeks, the fee is typically lower than what a single month of vacancy costs.

Read the full calculation

Cybersecurity, AI, SaaS, cloud and enterprise storage and infrastructure. The focus is quota-carrying sales roles and sales leadership: Account Executives, Sales and Presales Engineers and Forward Deployed Engineers, and the Country Managers, VPs and Sales Directors who lead them, for technology vendors in DACH, the Nordics and Europe.

I take the brief myself, define the profile against your market, stage and sales motion, and approach candidates directly and confidentially. You typically see a qualified shortlist within two to four weeks, often sooner. From there to a signed contract depends on your interview process, usually another two to six weeks. I run every phase personally, through to the candidate's start, and every placement carries a 6-month replacement guarantee.

Against the job they will actually do, not the CV. I look at the teams they have built and how those teams performed, their forecast and pipeline discipline, how they hire, and how they would approach the first 90 days in your market. References come from people who worked for them as well as from their former managers.

No. Anyone I place with you is off limits for my other mandates (off-limits protection), and every engagement is handled confidentially. The exact terms are agreed in writing before the search starts.

97% of the people I place are still in the role after twelve months, and many stay two to four years. Across 280+ placements in 19 years, only six had to be replaced. That comes from assessing every candidate against your actual sales motion, buying centre and culture, not just the CV. Every placement also carries a written 6-month replacement guarantee.

Not with me. I take searches on an exclusive, retained basis, so I am the only search partner for the role. That is what allows full focus, confidential direct outreach and a committed timeline. When three agencies call the same candidates, the market notices, and the strongest sellers lose interest.

Nordh Executive Search, based in Munich. I run retained searches for quota-carrying Account Executives and Enterprise Account Managers, Sales and Presales Engineers, Forward Deployed Engineers and SDRs, and for the Country Managers, VPs and Sales Directors who lead them. Clients are cybersecurity, AI, software and infrastructure vendors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Nordics and the rest of Europe, including US vendors making their first hire in the region.