Italy · Managing Directors · Country Managers · Heads of Sales
JN Recruitment runs executive search in Italy for machinery, industrial technology and recycling companies. From the packaging valley around Bologna to the machine-tool belt of Lombardy, we find the Amministratori Delegati, Country Managers and Direttori Commerciali who carry the Italian P&L — approached directly and confidentially, in Italian, at dirigente level.
to your first shortlist of referenced Italian executives
from briefing to signed contract — start dates then follow dirigente notice periods
industrial leadership and sales — no generalist recruiting
searches run in Italian by consultants who work the Italian industrial districts daily
Headhunter Italy
Italy is Europe’s second-largest manufacturing nation — and its leadership market is built the way its industry is: around family-owned companies, dense industrial districts and long, quiet careers. The Amministratore Delegato of a packaging-machinery builder in Emilia-Romagna or the Direttore Commerciale of a machine-tool company in Lombardy is networked, discreet and loyal until the right mandate arrives in the right way. A job advert never reaches these people, and a generalist headhunter for Italy covering finance, IT and marketing starts your search from zero.
As a boutique firm focused entirely on industrial B2B, we run executive search for Italy from an existing network: the Amministratori Delegati, General Managers and Direttori Commerciali of machinery, industrial technology and recycling niches — from the packaging valley around Bologna to the plastics and automation belt of the north-east. Candidates are approached directly and confidentially, in Italian — and every shortlist comes with P&L track records referenced inside the Italian industry, benchmarked against what dirigente level actually pays (our glossary explains how retained search works).
Typical Italian mandates: the first Country Manager or Managing Director for an international manufacturer entering the market, the confidential generational succession of a Direttore Commerciale in a family-owned company, or a General Manager for an Italian plant or business unit. And for the sales team beneath the leader, the same house runs our sales recruitment for Italy — one partner for the whole commercial organisation.
Positions we fill
From the Amministratore Delegato of an Italian S.r.l. to the Direttore Commerciale of a national sales organisation — these are the executive roles our search practice fills in Italy, each referenced at leadership level.
Runs the Italian S.r.l. or S.p.A. end to end — P&L, team, key customers and the parent-company relationship, typically at dirigente level or as board member. The most confidential search a manufacturer commissions in Italy.
The market-entry hire for international manufacturers: wins the first Italian reference customers, works the industrial districts of the north, builds the local organisation and grows into the Amministratore Delegato role as the entity scales.
Jobs, salaries & recruitmentThe classic second-level executive mandate in Italy: succession for a long-serving Direttore Commerciale, structuring direct sales in the north alongside agent networks in the centre and south.
Multi-country commercial leadership run from Italy — aligns the Italian or Southern European sales organisation, agent and 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 knowledge of Italy’s industrial districts, from Emilia-Romagna packaging to Veneto plastics, not a database.
Leads the installed-base business — service contracts, spare parts, retrofits: the margin engine of Italy’s machine-building nation, and one of its scarcest leadership profiles.
Market knowledge
Italian executive employment is governed by collective agreements up to the very top — dirigenti have a CCNL of their own. The essentials we brief every client on before an Italian leadership search starts:
Notice periods are set by the CCNL and grow with seniority: one to three months is typical for quadri, while dirigenti commonly owe a quarter or considerably more when they resign. Unlike Spain, Italy rarely delivers a fast start date at leadership level — we plan every Italian executive search backwards from the day you actually need the leader on board.
An Italian executive hired as dirigente falls under the CCNL Dirigenti — a separate collective agreement with its own minimum pay, supplementary pension and healthcare funds, higher employer costs and an indemnity-based dismissal logic instead of ordinary protection. A Managing Director or senior Direttore Commerciale expects dirigente status; offering quadro terms to a dirigente-level candidate is a common way to lose them.
Italian executive packages run fixed-heavy — roughly 70–80% base with an MBO bonus tied to company and personal targets, plus a company car (auto aziendale) as standard and the tredicesima consolidated into the annual figure. Long-term incentives remain rare outside private-equity-owned businesses; a commission-heavy offer will not move a secure Amministratore Delegato.
Much of Italian industry is family-owned, and many mandates prepare a generational handover or replace an incumbent who has not been told. We approach candidates without naming your company, reference discreetly inside the district, and reveal your identity only at shortlist stage — in ecosystems as dense as Bologna’s packaging valley, rumours travel faster than contracts.
Salary benchmarks
What does industrial leadership cost in Italy? Annual gross compensation in EUR for executive roles in machinery, industrial technology and recycling — fixed bonus components and tredicesima included, company car not included:
| Position | Base salary | Total cash (on-target) |
|---|---|---|
| Managing Director / Amministratore Delegato | €135,000 – 180,000 | €175,000 – 250,000 |
| Country Manager Italy | €100,000 – 130,000 | €130,000 – 170,000 |
| Sales Director Italy / Southern Europe | €100,000 – 130,000 | €130,000 – 165,000 |
| Business Unit Director | €105,000 – 135,000 | €135,000 – 175,000 |
| Head of Sales / Direttore Commerciale | €85,000 – 115,000 | €110,000 – 150,000 |
| Head of Service & After-Sales | €80,000 – 105,000 | €100,000 – 130,000 |
Source: JN Recruitment placement and interview data, industrial B2B, Italy. Milan and the industrial north price 10–20% above the national range; dirigente packages add employer costs beyond gross salary.
We run retained executive search for industrial leadership roles in Italy: systematic mapping of every relevant company and executive in your niche, confidential direct approach in Italian, structured interviews and industry references at leadership level, salary benchmarking at the correct CCNL level — quadro or dirigente — and support through offer, contract negotiation, resignation and notice period 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 Amministratori Delegati, the classic Italian mandates are Direttori Commerciali (Heads of Sales), Sales Directors, Country Managers and Business Unit Directors — every position with P&L or revenue responsibility that cannot be filled through job adverts. A Direttore Commerciale search in Italian industry is executive search in every respect: confidential, direct, referenced at leadership level.
Exclusively industrial B2B: machinery and plant engineering — including the packaging valley around Bologna and the machine-tool clusters of Lombardy and Piedmont — plus plastics and automation technology in the north-east, industrial components, and recycling and environmental technology. This focus means we know the executives, their employers and their compensation in your Italian niche before your briefing call ends.
The large global search firms are strong at listed-company board level in Milan — but your Amministratore Delegato for a recycling-technology subsidiary or your Direttore Commerciale for packaging machinery is not where their networks run deep. A boutique with total industry focus starts inside your niche: we know the candidates and their reputations in the districts, you work directly with the consultant who owns your mandate, and our fees sit well below big-firm level. In Italy’s relationship-driven industry, niche depth beats brand breadth.
Yes — a large share of Italian mandates are confidential: replacing an incumbent Amministratore Delegato or Direttore Commerciale who has not yet been informed, preparing a generational succession in a family-owned company, or entering the Italian market before competitors should know. We approach candidates without naming your company, take references 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 Italian leadership mandates are signed within 8–14 weeks. The honest caveat is the start date: CCNL notice periods run one to three months for quadri and often considerably more for dirigenti, so your new Amministratore Delegato or Direttore Commerciale usually starts one to two quarters after signing. Italian succession planning should therefore start earlier than feels necessary — and we keep signed executives engaged and counter-offer-proof until day one.
An Amministratore Delegato of an industrial company or international subsidiary in Italy typically earns €135,000–180,000 base and €175,000–250,000 total cash; a Direttore Commerciale €85,000–115,000 base and €110,000–150,000 on-target. Packages are fixed-heavy (around 70–80% base), a company car is standard, and dirigente packages add employer costs beyond gross salary. We benchmark every mandate against current market data before the search starts.
A dirigente sits under a dedicated collective agreement — the CCNL Dirigenti — with its own minimum salary, supplementary pension and healthcare funds, notably higher employer costs and an indemnity-based dismissal system instead of ordinary employment protection. Serious candidates scrutinise classification, indemnity terms and governance before leaving a secure dirigente position — and offering quadro terms to a dirigente-level candidate is a common way to lose them. 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 Amministratore Delegato, Country Manager and Direttore Commerciale level; our sales recruitment practice fills the Sales Managers, Area Sales Managers and Technical Sales Engineers who report to them. Many Italian 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 that is deliberate. Italian executive searches are run by Italian-speaking consultants who work the market daily: direct approach and interviews in Italian, references checked with Italian industry contacts, and candidate 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?
Talk to us — no strings attached. We get back to you within 24 hours.
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
