Sales Director Recruitment in Belgium

Archetype is a Belgian recruitment agency that recruits sales directors for SMEs, mid-sized companies and group subsidiaries in Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia and the Netherlands. When you need to recruit a sales director in Belgium, we go after candidates who are already in post, check that they can lead managers and protect a margin, then present you with assessed finalists. Our sales director recruitment runs on a retainer, never on a success fee, and takes 12 weeks on average. A 6-month replacement guarantee applies. Tell us about the role and you will receive a proposal within 48 to 72 hours.

(translate) Directeur commercial présentant son plan à trois responsables régionaux — (translate) Un directeur commercial dirige des managers : c’est ce que nous évaluons en premier.

Sales Director, Head of Sales or Sales Manager: which role are you opening?

Senior sales hires often go wrong because of the job title. Before we search, we agree the real level of the role with you, because it changes the profile, the package and the pool of candidates.

As a general rule	Sales Manager	Head of Sales	Sales Director
Who they lead	Salespeople	A team still being built, sometimes still small	Managers, sometimes across several countries or channels
Time horizon	The month, the quarter	The year, building the structure	The strategic plan, the margin
Sits on the management committee	Rarely	Depends on the size of the company	In most cases
Our dedicated page	Sales Manager recruitment	Head of Sales recruitment	This page

If you are torn between an internal promotion and an external hire, our article on whether to promote internally or recruit a sales director sets out the right questions. The two options are easier to compare when you use the same assessment grid for both.

What we check in a sales director

Sales director CVs tend to look alike: revenue growth, team size, sector. What separates candidates shows up elsewhere. We look at three dimensions, drawn from the three-dimensional salesperson concept behind our sales training programmes:

Height: the ability to hold a conversation with a management committee and with clients’ decision-makers, and to defend a plan and the trade-offs behind it.
Breadth: command of everything around the sale, from marketing and pricing to sales data.
Depth: an understanding of your clients’ sector and of their long-term challenges.

For each finalist, we combine an in-depth interview, role-plays and a case study drawn from your own situation, an analysis of management competencies and the KOAN test. KOAN is the tool we have used for 30 years: it shows what drives the candidate, what holds them back and how they react under pressure. For a sales director who will have to carry a change programme, that last point matters more than the rest.

Our first call isn’t about validating your brief. It’s about challenging it. Most agencies take the order, go sourcing, and come back with ten CVs. We put the requirement back on the table first: is the role properly defined, does the scorecard hold up, is the market aligned with your range? If the brief drifts, so does the sourcing. This discipline isn’t comfortable for everyone, but it’s what’s kept us in business for 33 years in an industry where half of all firms don’t make it past five.
The Archetype method, since 1993

The sales director brief in six questions

These are the questions we ask on the first call. If you have the answers, the assignment gets off to a quick start. If you do not, finding them is the work of the first 12 days.

Brief checklist, Sales Director

Is the role defined? Who reports to the sales director, who do they report to, and which channels and countries do they cover?
Does the scorecard hold up? Three to five measurable results expected at 12 months.
Is the salary range in line with the market? Base salary, variable pay, company car and benefits included.
Which languages are genuinely needed day to day: Dutch, French, English?
What change must the candidate drive: growth, reorganisation, a new channel, taking over a struggling team?
Who decides, and over how many meetings? Your side of the process is part of what you promise the candidate.

If an answer is missing, we tell you before sourcing starts.

How the assignment runs

Discovery call. Needs analysis and a challenge of the role. You receive our proposal within 48 to 72 hours.
Preparation. A summary of the requirement, the questions still to clarify, the job scorecard, the sourcing strategy and, for exclusive assignments, an employer branding proposal.
Second call and signature, 12 days on average after first contact.
Direct approach of sales directors in post, in Belgium and the Netherlands, in Dutch, French or English.
Presentation of finalists with scorecard, interview transcripts and validated job description.
Onboarding follow-up for the first three months, with the new sales director and with you.

Fees and timescales for sales director recruitment

We only work on a retainer, never on a success fee. The fee is agreed before the assignment starts, written into our proposal, and does not change afterwards. For a sales director, the management level and the language requirements weigh on the amount, as do the technical complexity of the offer and the complexity of the assignment.

Allow 12 weeks on average between the signing of the assignment and the candidate’s acceptance, then their notice period. To estimate the package to offer, read how much to budget for recruiting a sales director in Belgium. To prepare the roadmap for the first months, see the sales director job description and its priority responsibilities.

When the hire is part of a wider transformation

A new sales director rarely joins a neutral team. For an industrial equipment manufacturer, we first defined with the board the skills its salespeople would need in the future, assessed 40 salespeople and distribution partners, launched sales and management training programmes, and then recruited the missing key profiles, such as a Sales Director. For a consumer goods multinational, we carried out an assessment of the management team and recruited the sales leadership. Recruiting after measuring the existing team avoids hiring the wrong person for the wrong problem. Our pre-hire assessment is also available if you already have your candidates.

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.

Frequently asked questions about recruiting a sales director

How much does it cost to recruit a sales director?

It depends on the role: management level, languages required, technical complexity of what is sold and how hard the assignment is. At Archetype, the fee is set before launch in a written proposal, on a retainer and never on a success fee. It includes the assessment of finalists and a 6-month replacement guarantee. Tell us about the role and you will receive the proposal within 48 to 72 hours.

How can I recruit a sales director quickly in the Benelux?

Come to the first call with a clear brief: scope, scorecard, salary range, languages, decision-makers. The assignment is signed within 12 days on average and the recruitment takes 12 weeks on average. We do not promise less: a sales director has to be recruited from a current post, and assessing them properly takes time.

Why use a recruitment agency rather than post a job advert?

Sales directors who are succeeding in their current role rarely answer job adverts. They have to be approached, the project has to be presented credibly, and then you need to check that they can lead managers. That is the work of an agency specialised in sales and management profiles.

What happens if the sales director leaves the company?

A 6-month replacement guarantee applies if the candidate leaves. We also follow the first three months of onboarding.

Can you recruit a Dutch-speaking or trilingual sales director?

Yes. We run assignments in Dutch, French and English, and 48% of our assignments take place in Flanders. Language requirements are one of the criteria that set our fee.