Finland · Managing Directors · Country Managers · Heads of Sales
JN Recruitment runs executive search in Finland for machinery, industrial technology and recycling companies — at leadership level, for one of Europe’s most engineering-dense economies. We find the Toimitusjohtajat, Country Managers and Myyntijohtajat who win over Finnish engineers — leaders who talk specification first and small talk never — through confidential retained direct search.
to your first shortlist of referenced Finnish executives
from briefing to signed contract — Finns decide deliberately, but rarely slowly
industrial leadership and sales — no generalist recruiting
searches run in English through Finnish industry networks — no translation layer
Headhunter Finland
Finland designs the world’s forest-industry machinery, mining technology, marine engines and material handling — and buys capital equipment the same way it builds it: on the datasheet, not the handshake. Its leadership market is correspondingly unforgiving. The Toimitusjohtaja who can hold an engineer-to-engineer conversation and still close commercially, the Myyntijohtaja trusted by mills, mines and OEMs — these people are settled, quietly networked and unreachable through adverts. A generalist headhunter for Finland covering finance and IT starts your search from zero.
As a boutique firm focused entirely on industrial B2B, we run executive search for Finland as retained direct search: systematic mapping of your niche — from the Tampere machinery belt to the maritime cluster around Turku and the capital region — confidential approach in English, references worked through Finnish industry networks with people who have actually bought from the candidate, and shortlists with P&L track records verified inside the industry (our glossary explains retained vs. contingency in detail). Finnish executives respect substance; a shallow approach loses them faster than no approach at all.
Typical Finnish mandates: the first Country Manager or Managing Director for an international manufacturer entering the market — often watching the Baltics from Helsinki from day one — the confidential succession of a long-serving Myyntijohtaja, or a General Manager for a Finnish plant or business unit. And for the sales team beneath the leader, the same house runs our sales recruitment for Finland — one partner for the whole commercial organisation.
Positions we fill
From the Toimitusjohtaja of a Finnish Oy to the Myyntijohtaja of a nationwide sales organisation — these are the executive roles our search practice fills in Finland, each referenced at leadership level.
Runs the Finnish Oy end to end — P&L, team, key customers and the parent-company relationship. The Toimitusjohtaja sits outside Finnish employment law, which makes the johtajasopimus negotiation as decisive as the search itself.
The market-entry hire for international manufacturers: wins the first Finnish reference customers, builds the local organisation — and often keeps an eye on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from Helsinki from day one.
Jobs, salaries & recruitmentThe classic second-level executive mandate: succession for a long-serving Myyntijohtaja, key-account strategy across mills, mines and ports, and deals won on technical substance through long tender cycles.
Multi-country commercial leadership run from Helsinki — aligns the Finnish, Scandinavian and Baltic sales organisations, distributor networks and OEM channels into one accountable number.
Owns a product line across engineering, production interface and commercial results — a search that demands genuine niche knowledge of Finland’s forest, mining and material-handling industries, not a database.
Leads the installed-base business — service contracts, spare parts, retrofits for mills and plants across long Finnish distances: the margin engine of machinery suppliers, and one of the market’s scarcest leadership profiles.
Market knowledge
Finnish executive employment has its own legal and cultural logic — from the Toimitusjohtaja’s position outside employment law to collective-agreement extras. The essentials we brief every client on before a Finnish leadership search starts:
Finnish employees give at most one month’s notice by statute, so a Myyntijohtaja or Country Manager employed under the Employment Contracts Act can start remarkably fast. Toimitusjohtaja agreements set their own terms — three to six months is common. We flag each candidate’s notice on the shortlist so the start date is never a surprise.
The Toimitusjohtaja of a Finnish Oy is a company organ, not an employee: the Employment Contracts Act (työsopimuslaki) does not apply, and notice, severance and bonus terms live entirely in the johtajasopimus — the director’s agreement. Candidates know exactly what they give up when they take the title; your offer and its safeguards must reflect that.
Finnish executive packages lean towards a high fixed share — commonly 80% base with a 20–30% bonus — plus a company car and, under most collective agreements, a holiday bonus (lomaraha) of roughly 50% on top of statutory vacation pay for employed leaders. We quote clean annual gross so Finnish offers stay comparable across Europe.
Finnish industry is compact and quietly networked — the executives of your niche mostly know each other from the same mills, fairs and supplier relationships. We approach candidates without naming your company, reference discreetly through people who have actually worked with them, and reveal your identity only at shortlist stage.
Salary benchmarks
What does industrial leadership cost in Finland? Annual gross compensation in EUR for executive roles in machinery, industrial technology and recycling — bonus and holiday bonus included in the annual figure, company car not included:
| Position | Base salary | Total cash (on-target) |
|---|---|---|
| Managing Director / Toimitusjohtaja | €125,000 – 160,000 | €155,000 – 210,000 |
| Country Manager Finland | €95,000 – 120,000 | €120,000 – 155,000 |
| Sales Director Nordics & Baltics | €90,000 – 115,000 | €115,000 – 150,000 |
| Business Unit Director | €100,000 – 130,000 | €125,000 – 165,000 |
| Head of Sales / Myyntijohtaja | €85,000 – 110,000 | €105,000 – 140,000 |
| Head of Service & After-Sales | €78,000 – 98,000 | €95,000 – 125,000 |
Source: JN Recruitment placement and interview data, industrial B2B, Finland. The Helsinki capital region prices 5–10% above the national range; Finnish packages lean towards higher fixed shares than southern Europe.
We run retained executive search for industrial leadership roles in Finland: systematic mapping of every relevant company and executive in your niche, confidential direct approach through Finnish industry networks, structured interviews and references at leadership level with people who have actually bought from or worked with the candidate, salary benchmarking against the Finnish market, and support through offer, johtajasopimus negotiation, resignation and notice until your executive actually starts. Every mandate is handled end-to-end by the consultant who took your briefing.
No. Executive search covers the first and second leadership level: alongside Managing Directors and Toimitusjohtajat, the classic Finnish mandates are Myyntijohtajat (Heads of Sales), Sales Directors with Nordic or Baltic scope, Country Managers and Business Unit Directors — every position with P&L or revenue responsibility that cannot be filled through job adverts. A Myyntijohtaja search in Finnish industry is executive search in every respect: confidential, direct, referenced at leadership level.
Exclusively industrial B2B: machinery and plant engineering — including the mobile-machinery and engineering cluster around Tampere and the maritime and process industries of the south-west around Turku — plus mining technology, material handling, automation, industrial components, and recycling and environmental technology. This focus means we know the executives, their employers and their compensation in your Finnish niche before your briefing call ends.
The large global search firms are strong at listed-company level in Helsinki — but your Toimitusjohtaja for a material-handling subsidiary or your Myyntijohtaja for recycling technology is not where their networks run deep. A boutique with total industry focus starts inside your niche: we know the candidates and their reputations, you work directly with the consultant who owns your mandate, and our fees sit well below big-firm level. In Finland’s substance-first executive culture, niche depth beats brand breadth.
Yes — a large share of Finnish mandates are confidential: replacing an incumbent Toimitusjohtaja or Myyntijohtaja who has not yet been informed, preparing a succession, or entering the market before competitors should know. Finnish industry is compact and word travels between the same mills, fairs and OEMs — so we approach candidates without naming your company, reference discreetly inside the industry, and reveal your identity only to shortlisted, seriously interested executives at the agreed stage.
You typically receive a first shortlist within 2–4 weeks, and most Finnish leadership mandates are signed within 7–12 weeks — Finns decide deliberately, but rarely slowly once the facts are on the table. The start date depends on the level: employed leaders such as a Myyntijohtaja give at most one month’s notice by statute, while Toimitusjohtaja agreements commonly fix three to six months. We keep signed executives engaged and counter-offer-proof until day one.
A Toimitusjohtaja of an industrial subsidiary in Finland typically earns €125,000–160,000 base and €155,000–210,000 total cash; a Myyntijohtaja €85,000–110,000 base and €105,000–140,000 on-target. Packages lean towards a high fixed share, usually include a company car, and employed leaders carry a collective-agreement holiday bonus on top of vacation pay. We benchmark every mandate against current market data before the search starts.
The Toimitusjohtaja of a Finnish Oy stands outside the Employment Contracts Act: no statutory dismissal protection, no statutory notice, no automatic holiday or severance rights — everything is governed by the johtajasopimus. Serious candidates therefore negotiate notice symmetry, severance and pension terms carefully before giving up an employee position — we structure the offer and manage that negotiation so it does not fail at the contract stage.
Yes — that is the point of one specialised house. Executive search covers the Toimitusjohtaja, Country Manager and Myyntijohtaja level; our sales recruitment practice fills the Sales Managers, Area Sales Managers and Technical Sales Engineers who report to them. Many Finnish clients combine both: first the leader through executive search, then the team beneath through sales recruitment — one briefing, one partner, one quality bar.
Our offices are in Germany, Poland and Cyprus — and for Finland that costs you nothing. Finnish professional life runs comfortably in English, so our searches for Finland run in English daily: direct approach through Finnish industry networks, references checked with people who have actually bought from the candidate, and meetings by video or at the sector’s trade fairs. You get local-market depth at leadership level without paying local-agency generalism.
Across Europe
The same retained leadership search opens every market on the continent — pick the country you are hiring in.
Building the sales team below the leader?
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Our mission is simple: placements that open new markets.
30-minute intro call
We come to the call prepared — with a clear view of your target markets and how we would approach your search.
Your contact person Jonas Strambach Director & Senior Recruiter, JN Recruitment +49 1525 2077583 [email protected] Thank you — we’ll get back to you within one business day to schedule your intro call.
An honest read on your vacancy & market — in your first call.
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Before you go
Every month a key sales seat stays empty pushes your expansion plans back — and leaves serious revenue on the table. We fill technical sales positions within weeks, so you hit your expansion targets on schedule.
Jonas Strambach Director & Senior Recruiter, JN Recruitment Free vacancy check · reply within 24 hours
