Executive Search
Search and assessment of Managing Directors, Country Managers and other leadership profiles for international companies, including planned succession and confidential replacement assignments.
Executive Search →
Critical hiring for international companies
Akens\Nordburg is an Executive Search and International Recruitment boutique supporting international companies with leadership hiring, difficult-to-find specialists and first critical hires. We work from Spain with particular depth between Spain and Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH), and we also undertake selected international search projects in other European markets.
When hiring requires more than a conventional recruitment process
Some positions can be filled effectively through job advertising and conventional recruitment channels. Others require a much deeper understanding of the candidate market, particularly when the assignment involves a leadership role, a specialist with an unusual combination of experience or a search that has remained open without producing the right result.
In these cases, the difficulty may lie both in reaching the right candidates and in defining the profile correctly. Sector experience, languages, technical knowledge, location, seniority and compensation can narrow the market considerably when they all need to come together in one person. Our work starts by understanding that reality before concentrating the search on the people who can genuinely fit the assignment.
Executive Search and specialist Recruitment
Recruitment
Search for specialists where the profile combines demanding requirements, the relevant market is narrow or conventional channels are not generating enough suitable candidates.
Recruitment →First Hire & Market Entry
Support for companies developing a new activity or organisation and needing to define which capability to hire first, validate it against the market and then recruit the right person.
First Hire & Market Entry →Areas of expertise
Engineering & Industrial
Engineers and technical specialists for industrial and engineering companies, particularly where knowledge of a technology, product, process or sector environment is important to the role.
Engineering & Industrial →Technology & Digital
Technology and digital profiles for organisations that need specialist capabilities or combinations of technical, sector and business experience that are difficult to find.
Technology & Digital →Technical Sales & Business Development
Commercial profiles for products, solutions and markets where technical or sector understanding is an important part of business development.
Technical Sales & Business Development →From the ideal profile to the real candidate market
A job description can look perfectly reasonable and still lead to a very narrow market once the complete combination of requirements is examined.
This happens frequently in international organisations, where a position is defined at headquarters before being tested against the reality of the local market. Early conversations with candidates may show that a language requirement is restricting the market significantly, that compensation does not align with the seniority expected or that the most relevant experience sits in adjacent sectors.
Depending on the assignment, we use Market Calibration, Market Mapping and Direct Search to understand the market, identify where the relevant experience is located and reach professionals who are not actively looking for a change. The information generated during the search forms part of the process and, when consistent patterns emerge, we share them with the client so that decisions can be made with a more complete view of the market.
Spain & DACH
Spain is our core market and we have particular depth between Spain and Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH).
A significant part of our work takes place in situations where headquarters and the local organisation operate in different contexts. Organisational structures, candidate availability, languages, compensation and the interpretation of seniority levels can vary considerably between markets, and those differences can directly influence a search.
Alongside our core activity, we undertake selected international search projects when the mandate, market and our experience fit.
International Search Projects →Why Akens\Nordburg
Akens\Nordburg combines a specialised boutique model with direct senior involvement and practical experience from demanding search assignments for international companies.
Our focus is on assignments where market insight, Direct Search and a realistic understanding of the candidate market are critical — from leadership roles and difficult-to-find specialists to first critical hires when building an organisation.
Our experience includes Country Manager succession assignments as well as specialised technical, digital and commercial searches for international companies in Spain.
About Akens\Nordburg →Insights
We share practical experience on searches, candidate markets and hiring decisions in international organisations.
Discuss your hiring project
If you are preparing an important hire, dealing with a particularly difficult search or developing a new activity, we can discuss the context and assess whether Akens\Nordburg can support you.