At a glance
- Time to signed offer
- 2 weeks
- Candidates identified
- 20
- Shortlist presented
- 5
- Hires closed
- 1 Country Head
- City
- Munich
- Status today
- 100+ B2B clients · break-even
The challenge
A corporate parent. A new venture. A two-week window to hire its leader.
A corporate group was launching a new B2B subscription-eyewear business in Germany and needed a Country Head to stand it up. The brief was unusually tight: deep knowledge of the German optical and eyewear industry, the commercial chops to build a B2B book of business from zero, and — hardest of all — the entrepreneurial appetite to leave a stable corporate role for a start-up.
Most leaders who fit the industry profile were comfortable inside large corporates. Most start-up operators didn't have the eyewear depth. The pool that sat in the overlap was small, hard to reach, and not browsing job boards.
The engagement
A retained executive search, run confidentially and at speed.
We took the mandate on a retained basis, mapped the German eyewear and optical leadership market end-to-end, and ran direct, confidential approaches against a precise long-list. The bar was set jointly with the client in the first briefing and held all the way through to offer.
We supported both sides through every step — calibrating the corporate-to-startup conversation with candidates, framing compensation and equity for the client, and running tight back-channels so nothing stalled between interview rounds.
Roles hired
One mandate, one leader, full P&L from day one.
Country Head, Germany
Owner of the German market launch: P&L, go-to-market, B2B partnerships and key accounts, hiring the founding team, and operations. Reporting into the corporate parent while running the venture with start-up autonomy.
Candidate landscape
A narrow overlap between industry depth and start-up appetite.
Eyewear & optical industry insiders
Senior commercial leaders inside German optical retail, eyewear brands and lens manufacturers — the people who already knew the buying behaviour of opticians and B2B optical channels.
Corporate operators ready for start-up risk
Leaders inside larger groups who were privately looking for an entrepreneurial next step — full P&L, real ownership, and the chance to build rather than maintain.
Munich & DACH commercial leaders
Country Manager, Commercial Director and General Manager profiles based in Munich or willing to be Munich-based, with strong DACH B2B networks.
Subscription & D2C-to-B2B operators
Operators who had built recurring-revenue businesses and understood the unit economics, retention dynamics and channel mechanics of a subscription model sold into B2B.
How we ran it
Two weeks, three phases.
- Week 1
Briefing & market mapping
Detailed kickoff with the client, industry mapping across German optical and eyewear leadership, and direct outreach. 20 candidates identified and qualified against the brief inside the first week.
- Week 2
Shortlist & client interviews
Five-candidate shortlist presented with structured assessments. Client interviews scheduled back-to-back. The client connected strongly with one candidate and moved to offer immediately.
- Close
Offer, signature, start
Contract negotiated and signed inside the two-week window. The new Country Head started within one month and stepped straight into building the German operation.
The outcome
A live business, a happy client, a leader scaling the country.
The Country Head started within a month of signing and has since scaled the German business to 100+ B2B clients and brought it to break-even — a fast trajectory for a category launch.
The client highlighted the speed and precision of the search — a tightly qualified shortlist, no noise, and full support for both sides through the decision. The candidate landed in a role they couldn't have found through normal channels, and the corporate parent secured a leader who fit the brief exactly.
FAQ
Country Head searches in Germany, answered.
- Why use executive search for a Country Head role?
- The strongest Country Head candidates are sitting in senior corporate roles, are not on the market, and only respond to a credible, confidential approach. Executive search is the only model that reliably reaches them, qualifies them against a precise brief, and manages the whole decision — for both sides.
- How was a 2-week timeline possible?
- A sharp brief, a focused industry, a senior consultant on the search from day one, and a client who could move fast on interviews. We mapped the market in week one, presented five qualified candidates at the start of week two, and the client signed the offer before the window closed.
- How do you assess corporate-to-startup fit?
- Beyond the CV, we test for ownership instinct, comfort with ambiguity, willingness to build the team and the systems from scratch, and a realistic view of compensation trade-offs. We have those conversations directly with candidates before they ever meet the client.
- How do you de-risk the move for the candidate?
- We frame the corporate parent's commitment honestly, walk through the venture's plan, decision rights and runway, and help the candidate stress-test the offer against their personal situation. The goal is a leader who joins with eyes open and stays.
- What does support look like after signing?
- We stay close to both sides through notice period, onboarding and the first months in role — flagging anything that could derail the start, and helping the new leader make their first hires when they're ready.
Related
Service: Executive Search →
Retained, confidential search for senior leadership and country-launch roles across Europe.
Industry: E-commerce →
How we partner with subscription, marketplace and D2C/B2B businesses launching in new markets.
Roles we hire →
Country Head, General Manager and commercial leadership roles we run across DACH and Europe.
Launching a venture in Germany?