Construction Recruitment Agency in Belgium

Archetype recruits salespeople, sales managers and senior leaders for construction companies in Belgium: building-product and equipment manufacturers, general contractors and site-services firms. Our core business is sales, marketing and management profiles, which account for over 90% of our assignments. We work in French, Dutch and English, on a retainer, with an average of 12 weeks to hire and a 6-month replacement guarantee. The firm has been doing this since 1993.

A sales engineer and a site manager review building plans on a tablet beside a residential construction site — Construction is one of the nine sectors in which Archetype recruits sales and leadership profiles.

A crowded market with few strong salespeople

At the end of 2025 Belgium had 154,548 VAT-registered construction businesses, with 15,289 start-ups and 14,294 de-registrations during the year, according to Statbel. For a manufacturer or distributor, that means a fragmented contractor base that changes every year.

This profile is in demand and hard to find. Le Forem, the Walloon public employment service, put the technical sales representative on its 2026 shortage list, with a level of tension it describes as low, citing a lack of product knowledge and experience, and notes that at least a third of people in the role are over 50.

What a construction salesperson has to sell

For a manufacturer, the sale often starts before the tender, with the architect or engineering consultant who writes a product into the specification. A rep who waits for the tender to be published is already late. They then follow the project through the main contractor, subcontractors and merchants over many months. At a general contractor, business development is closer to strategic account management: knowing public and private clients, getting in early and defending a bid in front of a committee.

Method

Who decides what on a construction project, and which salesperson should see them

Simplified view: the chain varies by product and by public or private market. It is where our scorecard starts.

We support clients and candidates before, during and after the hire. Not out of courtesy, but by design. The first three months of a sales or management hire shape what happens for the next three years. If onboarding fails, the placement is lost, regardless of how good the sourcing was. That’s why our support doesn’t stop at contract signing. It’s also why our clients come back: they aren’t signing for a recruitment, they’re signing for a long-term partnership.
The Archetype method, since 1993

Roles we fill

Sales Director or Head of Sales at a building-product manufacturer
Specification and technical sales engineers who work with architects and consultants
Key Account Managers for contractors and merchants
Project Business Developers, Area Sales Managers, Marketing Managers
Managing Directors, Country Managers, Business Unit Directors

Most Belgian sales territories cross the language border, so the role is won or lost in the customers’ language: Dutch for Flanders, where 48% of our assignments take place, French for Brussels and Wallonia, English when head office is abroad. Construction is one of the nine sectors Archetype works in.

Method, timing and fees

Our first call challenges the brief: do you need a specifier, a project hunter or an account manager? You get a written proposal within 48 to 72 hours. Then five steps: briefing, sourcing strategy, structured screening, detailed candidate presentation with scorecard, interview transcripts, validated job description and a KOAN test, and follow-up before, during and after the hire. Allow 12 weeks on average from signed assignment to signed candidate. Fees are set before the assignment starts, in a written proposal, on a retainer basis: never a success fee. 6-month replacement guarantee.

About Archetype

Archetype is a Belgian family business founded in 1993 by Marc Diamant and now co-managed with Davy Diamant and Steve Diamant. A member of Federgon, it won Talent Business Innovation of the Year 2025 for its ethical and structured use of AI.

Construction recruitment: common questions

How much does it cost to hire a construction sales profile?

Fees are set before the assignment starts, in a written proposal, on a retainer basis: never a success fee. 6-month replacement guarantee.

How long does it take?

12 weeks on average, from signing the assignment to the candidate signing.

Do you recruit site managers or works supervisors?

No. We recruit sales, marketing and leadership roles. For site and technical roles, a technical recruitment specialist or a temporary staffing agency is the better choice.