Technology vendors / DACH, Nordics, Europe
An operator,
not a recruiter.
I place Country Managers, VPs and Sales Directors for technology vendors, and the people who build their teams: Account Executives, Sales Engineers and Forward Deployed Engineers. Over 25 years of enterprise technology sales, EMEA teams of up to 140 people, and the European and DACH business built for five US vendors in their startup phase.
Founder, runs every searchMunich since 1986
DE / SV / EN
Manager Magazin
Experteer, 2016 to 2019
Bestcruiter
Leadership and first-in-region searches across DACH, the Nordics, the UK, France and Luxembourg. Every placement carries a written 6-month replacement guarantee.
Searches I have run for vendors.
I also build the teams around these leaders: Account Executives, Sales and Presales Engineers and Forward Deployed Engineers.
How I run a leadership searchHiring sales leadership
You need a Country Manager, VP or Sales Director who builds the business and the team behind it.
Leadership searchEntering Europe
You are a technology vendor expanding into DACH or the Nordics and need your first leader on the ground.
First hire in DACHBuilding the team
Your leader is in place and now needs Account Executives and Sales Engineers who fit your sales motion.
Team rolesCybersecurity
Sales leaders and GTM teams for security vendors, from first hire to regional VP.
Show me moreInfrastructure and storage
Sales and presales leadership for datacenter and infrastructure vendors.
Show me moreI hire for the system, not the symptom.
A weak pipeline is rarely one single problem. It is positioning, message, go-to-market and team at once. I look at the whole commercial system the way a hiring manager would, not at a keyword on a CV. I run every search myself, with no juniors and no handovers.
Your business
Market, growth stage, customers and sales motion. What the new hire has to deliver commercially.
Your team
Leadership, resources, territory and expectations. Whether the conditions for success are really there.
The candidate
Proven results, depth and the real reason for a move. How well all of that fits your situation.
“We have been working successfully with Jan Nordh for several years, particularly in filling challenging sales roles within the IT security sector. […] Thanks to his support, we have excellently filled multiple key positions within our sales team.”
One person. Every search.
I have lived in Munich since 1986 and work in German, Swedish and English. My network comes from 25 years of selling enterprise technology and 19 years of recruiting. When you call, you talk to the person who runs your search, from briefing to signature.
About meThe Nordh Executive Search Podcast
Your insider guide to career success and headhunting. Episodes on interviews, positioning and how search really works in technology sales.
“That’s ultimately the goal of the podcast: Not just creating content, but sharing perspectives that help people gain more clarity about their own positioning and direction.”
Million Podcasts
What clients ask before a search.
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 in 5 to 10 days, 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 carrying quota and 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 sales leadership and go-to-market roles 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 of carrying a quota and 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. In Germany it takes 7.7 months on average to fill an IT position (Bitkom, 2025). With a qualified shortlist in 5 to 10 days and a signed offer in 14 to 45 days, the fee is usually lower than what a single month of vacancy costs.
Cybersecurity, AI, SaaS, cloud and enterprise storage and infrastructure. The focus is sales leadership and go-to-market roles (Country Managers, VPs and Sales Directors, and the Account Executives, Sales and Presales Engineers they build teams with) 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 5 to 10 days and a signed offer within 14 to 45 days. 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.
Candidates placed with a client are not approached for other mandates (off-limits protection), and each engagement is handled confidentially. Specific terms are agreed in writing before a search begins.
Every candidate is pre-qualified against the client's actual sales motion, buying-centre complexity and culture, not just their CV. That rigour is why 97% of placed candidates stay beyond twelve months, with many remaining two to four years. Every placement also carries a 6-month replacement guarantee.
Searches are taken on an exclusive basis, meaning Nordh Executive Search is the sole search partner for the role. This allows full focus, confidential direct outreach and a committed timeline, rather than competing with several agencies on the same vacancy.
Retained executive search for sales leadership (Country Manager, VP, Sales Director) and the go-to-market teams they build, from Account Executive and Sales/Presales Engineer to SDR and Forward Deployed Engineer, including first-hire and market-entry hiring for US vendors building out DACH, Nordics and European teams.