Start-up Recruitment Agency in Belgium

Archetype recruits the first salesperson, Head of Sales, Chief Revenue Officer or Country Manager for start-ups, scale-ups and foreign companies opening in Belgium. Our core business is sales, marketing and management profiles, which account for over 90% of our assignments. Assignments run in French, Dutch and English, on a retainer, take 12 weeks on average and carry a 6-month replacement guarantee. Archetype is a family business founded in 1993.

Start-up founder and new sales manager at a whiteboard in a Brussels office — Archetype recruits the first salesperson and Country Manager for companies opening in Belgium.

Why the first sales hire is so hard to find

The role asks for two things rarely found in one person: selling without a known brand, and doing it in a country with three languages. Public employment services already flag pressure on B2B sales roles. In Flanders, the VDAB 2026 shortage list counts 227 occupations, including the B2B sales representative. In Wallonia, Le Forem added the sales manager to its 2026 list of shortage occupations.

A start-up has one more handicap: candidates compare your offer with an established group that provides a company car, a proven commission plan and a support team. To win them over, you need to show what they will build, who they will join and how their variable pay will follow revenue.

Opening Belgium from abroad

Many French companies expanding into Belgium come to us. Their first Belgian hire has to do everything at once, and three topics need settling:

Language: a large share of clients is in Flanders and expects a Dutch-speaking contact. A French-only Country Manager limits the territory to Brussels and Wallonia.
Package: company car, meal vouchers and commission structures are negotiated differently from France. The salary range has to match the Belgian market.
Distance: the first salesperson reports to a head office that is not on site, so autonomy and reporting discipline matter as much as a network.

Sales roles young companies need

A first Business Developer or Account Manager to sign the first Belgian clients;
Head of Sales when the team grows beyond one salesperson;
Chief Revenue Officer to align sales, marketing and customer success;
Country Manager for a foreign subsidiary setting up in Belgium.

Established tech companies with SDRs and Account Executives will find more on our tech sales recruitment page.

Decision grid

Who to hire at each stage of your Belgian business

Stage	Role to hire	What they must prove	KOAN competencies to check first
Market entry	Country Manager or first Business Developer	Signing clients without local references	Perseverance, Influencing Strategies
First clients signed	Account Manager	Growing accounts and earning references	Customer Orientation, Responsiveness
Team of three to five	Head of Sales or Sales Manager	Hiring, coaching, setting one method	Methods, Example to Others
Several countries or teams	Chief Revenue Officer	Owning one revenue target across sales and marketing	Results-Orientated Approach, Commitment to Organization

Competencies taken from the 10 dimensions of the KOAN Sales model, the assessment tool Archetype has used for 30 years.

Archetype is a family business. Marc Diamant founded the firm in 1993. His sons Davy and Steve joined him in late 2023. That continuity isn’t an anecdote: it’s what lets us hold client relationships across 20 years without method discontinuity, without turnover wiping out file memory, without changing direction every three years to chase the latest HR trend. Stability, in a trust business, counts.
The Archetype method, since 1993

Method, timing and fees

In a young company the role often does not exist on paper yet. The first call is used to write it with you: scope, six-month objectives, reporting line and pay. You get a proposal within 48 to 72 hours, then the assignment follows five steps from briefing to post-hire follow-up, with a KOAN test for every candidate presented. Average time: 12 weeks.

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.