- Who we work with -
We help two kinds of companies: those expanding to Europe for the first time, and those already established here who want to keep growing their existing European workforce.
- Our two core audiences -
Most of our briefings come from one of these two situations. Both deserve a partner who knows the local terrain.
Expanding to Europe
US, UK, APAC or already-European companies stepping into a brand new market. Founding country managers, sales leads, operations and engineering hires - plus on-the-ground guidance on relocation, employment norms and local culture.
Plan your European entryGrowing in Europe
Companies already trading in one or more European countries who want to keep growing their existing teams. Senior, specialist and leadership hires, replacement of key leaders and build-out of new functions, all delivered with consistent search rigour in the markets where you already operate.
Grow your European team
- People, not profiles -
Behind every brief is a senior professional with a life, a language and a relocation calculus. We meet candidates where they are - in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish or Italian - and represent them honestly to the companies we serve.
Read about how a search runs, the six core European markets we recruit in, or the disciplines we cover.
Brief us on a role- Company shapes -
Across both audiences, these are the typical company shapes we partner with.
Series B-D companies expanding into new European markets and hiring their first country teams.
Fortune 500 and FTSE-listed groups looking to fill senior commercial, marketing and operations roles across the EU.
Privately held European businesses hiring discreetly for sensitive leadership transitions and succession.
Big Four, MBB-adjacent and boutique consultancies sourcing senior consultants, principals and partners.
- Where we partner -
From Amsterdam canal-side headquarters to Berlin tech campuses, London City towers and Milan design studios, we place senior leaders into the European offices that move our clients' businesses forward. Every search starts with a real understanding of the workplace the candidate will walk into.
Explore our six core countries, see the disciplines we cover, or read about how a search runs.
- Industries -
Years of repeat searches give us calibrated networks and market intelligence in the sectors below.
B2B platforms, vertical SaaS, dev tools and infrastructure.
Banking, payments, lending, insurtech and capital markets.
Marketplaces, DTC brands and omnichannel retail leaders.
Supply chain, manufacturing, mobility and clean tech.
Health tech, diagnostics, pharma services and medtech.
Strategy consulting, audit, legal and advisory firms.
- Is this you? -
Go Ahead HiRe is a focused boutique. We do our best work when our clients tick most of the boxes below.
Want to see the disciplines we cover? Visit our six recruitment specialisations or the six core European countries we run searches in.
- Stages of company -
Across both core audiences, the kind of brief we receive shifts noticeably with the stage of the company. Here is how we adapt the search.
Founder-led / pre-Series A
Often the founder is still the head of sales, hiring the first dedicated commercial leader. The brief is usually a senior individual contributor with a leadership horizon. Salary tends to come in lower with meaningful equity to compensate, and we spend extra time on candidate motivation and risk appetite.
Series A to B
VP-level country managers, heads of marketing and engineering leads. The candidate has to be a builder rather than an operator: comfortable hiring, comfortable with ambiguity, comfortable explaining the company in five different languages to five different audiences in the same week.
Series C to D
Regional VPs, heads of segment, senior specialists. The market is more competitive at this stage, and search rigour matters: the wrong VP at this stage burns 12 months of momentum and a lot of investor patience. Calibrated assessment and reference depth pay back quickly.
PE-backed
CFOs to ready the business for exit, COOs to professionalise operations, commercial directors to accelerate growth. Highly structured search process, calibrated against the investor's value-creation plan and a clear scorecard agreed up front.
Family-owned European group
Often the most delicate of all: bringing in an outside CEO, COO or CFO without disturbing a culture that took two generations to build. We spend extra time on cultural assessment and on briefing the candidate honestly about what they are walking into.
Established multinational
First country manager in Iberia, head of DACH, expansion of an existing EMEA team into the Nordics. Fast, calibrated and discreet, with a heavy focus on local language fluency and cultural fit with the headquarters time zone.
- Client FAQ -
Five honest answers for hiring managers thinking about engaging Go Ahead HiRe.
Last reviewed: · Source: goaheadhire.com
Yes - founding country managers, first sales hires and first marketing leaders in a new European market are a regular part of our work. We do more than recruit: we benchmark salary against the local market, advise on contract type and employer-of-record options, and brief the first hire on what a successful first 90 days looks like. The goal is to give your first European hire the best possible chance to succeed.
Related: See our six-step approach, See the six European countries we cover
Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com
No. All client communication runs in English. We carry the multilingual load on the candidate side: native-speaking sourcers, candidate outreach in the local language, and consistent reporting back to you in English. So a US, UK or APAC headquarters can hire confidently in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain or Italy without learning a new language.
Related: See our recruitment services
Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com
Permanent placements (the majority of our work), interim and contract leadership for transition periods, and fractional executive search for early-stage scale-ups that need a CFO, CMO or VP Engineering for two to three days a week. We can also coordinate employer-of-record arrangements through trusted partners when you do not yet have a local entity.
Related: Discuss your engagement model
Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com
Both. Around 60% of our clients are scale-ups (Series A through Series D) hiring their first or second European leader, and 40% are established multinationals or Mittelstand groups continuing to grow their existing European workforce. The minimum threshold is the seniority of the role and a willingness to engage in a calibrated search - not the size of the company.
Related: See the company shapes we partner with
Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com
For retained executive search the answer is yes - exclusivity for the duration of the search is what makes a deep, off-market longlist possible. For contingent or container engagements you are free to run other suppliers in parallel; we will tell you up front whether that is realistic for the role. We always recommend the right model for the role rather than the most lucrative one for us.
Related: Brief us on a new role
Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com
Still have a question? Send us a message on the contact page or brief us on a new role.
