Portugal · Managing Directors · Country Managers · Heads of Sales
JN Recruitment runs executive search in Portugal for machinery, industrial technology and recycling companies — in Portuguese, at leadership level, never as a footnote to Spain. We find the Diretores Gerais, Country Managers and Diretores Comerciais who carry P&L responsibility across Lisbon and the industrial north, through confidential retained direct search.
to your first shortlist of referenced Portuguese executives
from briefing to signed contract — Portuguese notice periods keep start dates close
industrial leadership and sales — no generalist recruiting
in Germany, Poland and Cyprus — Portuguese mandates run in Portuguese, end to end
Headhunter Portugal
Portuguese industrial leadership is a small world — and a discreet one. The Diretor Geral of a mould-making group in Marinha Grande, the Diretor Comercial who owns the key accounts of a Porto machinery builder: these people are known by name inside their clusters, approached carefully, and never found through job adverts. A generalist headhunter for Portugal covering finance, IT and marketing starts from zero in this market; a wrong approach travels fast through it.
We run executive search for Portugal exclusively in industrial B2B, and we run it in Portuguese. We know which family-owned exporters in the north face succession, which international manufacturers are upgrading their Iberian coverage into real Portuguese leadership, and what a Diretor Geral in your niche actually earns — quoted in 14 payments, benchmarked as annual gross. Candidates are approached directly and confidentially, and every shortlist comes with P&L track records referenced inside the Portuguese industry (our glossary explains retained executive search in detail).
Typical Portuguese mandates: the first Country Manager or Managing Director for a manufacturer that no longer wants to run Portugal from Madrid, the confidential succession of a long-serving Diretor Comercial, or a General Manager for a plant or business unit in the northern manufacturing belt. And for the sales team beneath the leader, the same house runs our sales recruitment for Portugal — one partner for the whole commercial organisation.
Positions we fill
From the Diretor Geral of a Portuguese subsidiary to the Diretor Comercial who finally gives the market its own leadership — these are the executive roles our search practice fills in Portugal, each referenced at leadership level.
Runs the Portuguese Lda. end to end — P&L, team, key customers and the parent-company relationship. As gerente, a registered company officer whose contract, mandate and severance logic differ from a normal employment relationship.
The market-entry hire for international manufacturers: wins the first Portuguese reference customers, builds the local organisation — based in Lisbon or, just as often, in the industrial north — and grows into the Diretor Geral role as the entity scales.
Jobs, salaries & recruitmentThe classic second-level executive mandate: succession for a long-serving Diretor Comercial, or the hire that ends years of remote management from Madrid and gives Portugal its own commercial leadership.
Multi-country commercial leadership across Portugal and Spain — a genuinely bilingual mandate that only works with candidates who treat Portuguese customers as a first market, not an add-on.
Owns a product line across engineering, production interface and commercial results — a search that demands real knowledge of Portugal’s mould-making, metalworking and textile-machinery clusters, not a database.
Leads the installed-base business — service contracts, spare parts, retrofits — for the machinery running in Portuguese plants and mould shops: a scarce leadership profile the clusters compete for.
Market knowledge
Portuguese executive employment has its own legal and cultural logic — from gerente mandates to probation periods that scale with responsibility. The essentials we brief every client on before a Portuguese leadership search starts:
Portuguese employees resigning from an indefinite contract owe roughly 30 days’ notice with up to two years of service and 60 days beyond that — and while some executive contracts negotiate longer terms, a Portuguese leader typically starts within a quarter of signing. Compared to the DACH standard of six to twelve months, Portuguese succession moves remarkably fast.
The gerente of a Portuguese Lda. is a registered company officer with a mandate, not a standard employee — and senior positions of trust are commonly held under the comissão de serviço regime, which either side can end with notice. Candidates know what protections they are trading when they move; your offer and its severance logic must reflect that.
Portuguese probation scales with responsibility: up to 240 days for management and positions of trust — generous time to see a new Diretor Geral or Diretor Comercial perform before the contract hardens. Packages run fixed-heavy, quoted in 14 annual payments, with a company car and meal allowance as standard at leadership level; pure-commission logic does not travel here.
Portugal’s industrial clusters are tight-knit — Marinha Grande’s mould makers and the Porto–Braga belt all know each other. Many mandates replace an incumbent who has not been told, or prepare a family-business succession. We approach candidates without naming your company, reference discreetly inside the industry, and reveal your identity only at shortlist stage.
Salary benchmarks
What does industrial leadership cost in Portugal? Annual gross compensation in EUR for executive roles in machinery, industrial technology and recycling — 14 payments consolidated, fixed bonus components included, company car not included:
| Position | Base salary | Total cash (on-target) |
|---|---|---|
| Managing Director / Diretor Geral | €95,000 – 130,000 | €120,000 – 170,000 |
| Country Manager Portugal | €70,000 – 95,000 | €90,000 – 125,000 |
| Sales Director Iberia | €75,000 – 100,000 | €95,000 – 130,000 |
| Business Unit Director | €70,000 – 95,000 | €90,000 – 120,000 |
| Head of Sales / Diretor Comercial | €60,000 – 80,000 | €80,000 – 110,000 |
| Head of Service & After-Sales | €55,000 – 75,000 | €70,000 – 95,000 |
Source: JN Recruitment placement and interview data, industrial B2B, Portugal. Greater Lisbon prices 10–15% above the national range; the industrial north remains more affordable than its export strength suggests — noticeably below Spanish levels for the same title.
We run retained executive search for industrial leadership roles in Portugal: systematic mapping of every relevant company and executive in your niche, confidential direct approach in Portuguese, structured interviews and industry references at leadership level, salary benchmarking against the Portuguese market, 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 Diretores Gerais, the classic Portuguese mandates are Diretores Comerciais (Heads of Sales), Country Managers, Sales Directors and Business Unit Directors — every position with P&L or revenue responsibility that cannot be filled through job adverts. A Diretor Comercial search in Portugal’s industrial clusters is executive search in every respect: confidential, direct, referenced at leadership level.
Exclusively industrial B2B: machinery and plant engineering — including the mould-making and plastics cluster around Marinha Grande and Leiria and the metalworking and textile-machinery belt from Porto to Braga — plus automation and industrial technology, industrial components, and recycling and environmental technology, a sector scaling fast on EU circular-economy funding. This focus means we know the executives, their employers and their compensation in your Portuguese niche before your briefing call ends.
The large global search firms cover Portugal from Lisbon or Madrid at board level — but your Diretor Geral for a recycling-technology subsidiary or your Diretor Comercial for metalworking 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 Portuguese clusters, you work directly with the consultant who owns your mandate, and our fees sit well below big-firm level. In a market this tight-knit, niche depth beats brand breadth.
Yes — and in Portugal it matters more than most places: the industrial community is small, and rumours travel fast between Leiria, Porto and Lisbon. Whether you are replacing an incumbent Diretor Geral who has not yet been informed, preparing a family-business succession, or entering the 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 Portuguese leadership mandates are signed within 6–10 weeks. Portugal then has a structural advantage: notice periods run roughly 30 days for shorter tenures and 60 days beyond two years of service, so your new executive often starts within a quarter of signing — months earlier than an equivalent hire in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. We still map every candidate’s contractual notice before you make an offer.
A Managing Director / Diretor Geral of an industrial subsidiary in Portugal typically earns €95,000–130,000 base and €120,000–170,000 total cash; a Diretor Comercial €60,000–80,000 base and €80,000–110,000 on-target. Portuguese packages are quoted in 14 annual payments, run fixed-heavy, and include a company car and meal allowance as standard at leadership level — noticeably below Spanish levels for the same title. We benchmark every mandate against current market data before the search starts.
Two constructions matter. A gerente of a Portuguese Lda. is a registered company officer on a mandate rather than a standard employee — with its own termination and severance logic. Senior employees in positions of trust, meanwhile, are commonly appointed under the comissão de serviço regime, which either side can end with notice, and probation for management roles can run up to 240 days. Serious candidates scrutinise which construction you offer and what happens if it ends — we structure the contract discussion so it does not fail at that stage.
Yes — that is the point of one specialised house. Executive search covers the Diretor Geral, Country Manager and Diretor Comercial level; our sales recruitment practice fills the Sales Managers, Area Sales Managers and Technical Sales Engineers who report to them. Many 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. Portuguese executive searches are run by Portuguese-speaking consultants who work the market daily: direct approach and interviews in Portuguese, references checked with Portuguese 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?
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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
