How to hire an American sales rep without opening a US entity
We are recruiters, not tax attorneys. Nothing on this page is tax or legal advice. Structure questions belong with your own lawyer or tax adviser.
You don't need a US entity, US payroll or US health insurance to put an American in front of American buyers. An American who already lives in Europe joins through one of three routes, contractor, employer of record or direct employment, at 45 to 50% below the San Francisco benchmark for the same role, holding a full East Coast day from Lisbon, Madrid or Dublin.
The pattern repeats across European companies selling into the US: the product works, the pipeline exists, and deals stall in the last mile because the buyer is talking to someone who reads as an outsider. The reflex answer is a US hire, and with it comes US compensation, a US benefits package, and a stack of questions for your advisers that have nothing to do with selling. The third option lives in your own time zone, and hiring them takes three decisions: the structure, the number, and the screen.
Why the rep doesn't need to live in the market
What a US buyer responds to travels well: someone who grew up in their market, writes their English, and answers during their working day. None of that requires a ZIP code. An American in Lisbon who carried quota against US buyers for eight years is, on the phone, the same seller they were in Boston. On your books, they are a local hire on a European contract.
The three ways to structure the hire
Every version of this hire runs through one of three structures. Each puts the paperwork, the cost and the risk in a different place.
Contractor: fastest start, narrowest fit
The person invoices you through their own registration and you pay the invoice. Nothing changes on your side, which makes it the right shape for a first engagement: two or three days a week, a defined project, a rep building your first US pipeline before either side commits. It holds while the person keeps real independence, their own clients, their own hours, their own tools. Treat a full-time team member as a contractor and most countries will eventually dispute the label, at your cost. Where that line runs is a question for a local adviser, worth asking before month six rather than after.
Employer of record: the default for a full-time hire
An employer of record is a licensed local company that employs the person on your behalf: it holds the contract, runs payroll and contributions, and sends you one invoice. Deel and Remote.com both publish $599 per employee per month for the service. You still choose the person, set the quota and manage the work; the EOR carries the employment mechanics in a country where you have nothing. For a full-time hire outside the countries where you already operate, this is where most companies land.
Direct employment: boring, and boring wins when available
The person lives in the same country as your entity, signs the contract you already use, and joins payroll like any other hire. Nothing about the arrangement is new, including for your accountant. Employing someone directly in a country where you have no entity is possible in some places and paperwork-heavy in most; if that route tempts you, it is the first thing to put to your adviser.
| Route | What you pay | Who holds the contract | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor | Their invoice | They do, through their own registration | Fractional or first engagements with real independence |
| Employer of record | Salary, contributions, $599/mo | The EOR employs them, you direct the work | A full-time hire where you have no entity |
| Direct employment | Salary and contributions | You | They live where your entity already is |
Price it from the US benchmark
The budget conversation starts from what the US-based alternative costs. Base salaries for US commercial roles, from Built In's 2026 data and Glassdoor ranges:
| Role | San Francisco | New York | Rest of US |
|---|---|---|---|
| BDR / AE | $122,572 | $93,443 | $104,062 |
| Head of Sales (range) | $142–257k | $128–233k | $109–204k |
| Director, Sales / Marketing | $196,888 | $170,249 | $150,484 |
| VP, Sales / Marketing | $264,939 | $205,502 | $207,340 |
Base salary, tech industry. Built In 2026; Head of Sales row from Glassdoor ranges. Funded scaleups pay above the all-tech average, so treat these as the conservative end.
A European contract for the same experience prices 45 to 50% below the San Francisco column. Set your budget there, then check it against the person's country with the salary calculator: employer contributions differ enough between Spain, Portugal and Italy to move the loaded number.
Screen for the real thing
The screen is experience, not passport. What we test for is checkable: years operating inside the US market, the roles held there, quota carried against US buyers, and the hours actually worked in past remote roles. People of any nationality who clear that bar belong in the pool; Americans who left the market a decade ago and kept the accent do not.
Four profiles look right in a first call and fail later, and they fail in patterns: the person who moved to slow down, the person trying Europe for a year, the operator whose playbook froze when they left, and the candidate using your offer to raise their price elsewhere. Screening those out before you meet anyone is most of what a specialist is for.
The working day, tested rather than promised
From Lisbon, a 9am to 5pm East Coast day runs 2pm to 10pm local, and Madrid and Dublin sit within an hour of it. That is a real working pattern some people have held for years and others abandon within a quarter, which is why the screen asks for hours held in past roles, never hours pledged in an interview.
Questions employers ask
Why hire the US-facing rep in Europe instead of in the US?
Cost and simplicity. A US hire means US compensation and a set of employment questions for your advisers. An American who already lives in Europe joins on a European contract, and the same experience prices 45 to 50% below the San Francisco benchmark for the role.
What does an American sales rep in Europe cost?
Price the role at 45 to 50% below the San Francisco column above. The calculator runs the numbers per role and country.
Can they hold a full US day from Europe?
From Lisbon, a 9am to 5pm East Coast day runs 2pm to 10pm local. Madrid and Dublin sit within an hour of that. We screen for hours a candidate has held in past roles, not hours promised in an interview.
What if the right candidate is not American but knows the US market?
The screen is experience, not passport: years inside the US market, deals carried against US buyers, command of the register US buyers expect. The pool includes people of any nationality who clear that bar.
Sources
The disclaimer at the top holds all the way down: sourced figures, your adviser's decisions.
- US citizens resident in Europe: FVAP Overseas Citizen Population Analysis, 2022.
- US base salaries: Built In, 2026 tech salary data; Head of Sales range from Glassdoor.
- Deel and Remote.com employer of record pricing, $599 per employee per month: deel.com/pricing, remote.com/pricing, checked 31 August 2026.
Tell us the role.
We'll tell you if this pool fits it.
Twenty minutes, no deck. If the honest answer is "hire in the US" or "hire local," that's what you'll hear.
If this pool can't fill the role, we say so and charge nothing.