subsidiary director recruitment agency and headhunters
your next subsidiary director, in good hands.
We combine our data, our sector experts and our AI algorithms to identify the headhunter most relevant to your role, whether it's opening up France for a foreign group or running the subsidiary of a mid-sized company.
- no setup fees, pay on hire
- guaranteed replacement
they hire their executives with muzzo
how do you hire a subsidiary director through a recruitment agency?
A good subsidiary director answers for a full P&L to a distant head office. Muzzo gives your role to the headhunters who place this profile most, checking the P&L and reporting. Fee of 5 to 30%, paid on hire. Leaves within 3 months: we restart the search free.
how it works
you only pay if you hire
01
you describe the role
Using the form above: the role, your company, the scope. The rest is scoped in your first conversation with the Muzzo team.
02
our data chooses the headhunters
Our AI picks those who have hired the most subsidiary directors, from more than 2,500 selected headhunters.
03
you meet the best profiles
Approached and qualified by headhunters who are executive experts. You choose who you meet.
04
you hire, then you pay
Not before. If your new hire leaves within 3 months, we restart the search at no cost.
they hired with muzzo
Muzzo's strength is the diversity of its recruiters: there is always someone listening to our needs.
With Muzzo, I get the reactivity of a marketplace and the quality of a search firm.
let's talk about your role
Antoine and the Muzzo team help you scope your role and choose the right headhunters. Describe your role in the form: we'll call you back to discuss it.
Antoine GigomasCEO and co-founder of Muzzo
one last question?
With Muzzo, you set the fee, between 5 and 30%, and you only pay it on hire: no deposit, no fixed fees. A director of a small subsidiary and a statutory representative carrying a P&L of tens of millions don't take the same search. The fee follows that difficulty, and the Muzzo team helps you set it.
You have a double guarantee. If your new hire leaves within 3 months, for example because the real mandate doesn't match the brief, we restart the search at no cost. If we find no replacement within 4 months, we refund 50% of the fees. On average, 94% of Muzzo hires are still in post after 3 months.
executive headhunters are ready to start
A hire signed in under 26 days. You only pay when you hire.
the reality
a subsidiary director is judged by the P&L they report to head office
a good subsidiary director runs a P&L, not job ads
They already answer for revenue, margin and a team in front of a head office, French or foreign. They aren't looking for a job. An executive headhunter knows when and how to approach them.
a strong sales track record doesn't make a subsidiary director
The role means defending a budget in front of a head office you don't see every day, sometimes in another language and another time zone. The headhunter tests that conversation, not just past results.
a hiring mistake shows up in the monthly reporting
Numbers that don't arrive on time, a local team falling apart, a head office losing confidence. The headhunter checks the P&Ls actually carried before introducing anyone.
the roles
the subsidiary leadership profiles our headhunters go after for you
From a first subsidiary to leading a group of subsidiaries, each search goes to a headhunter who has already hired that profile.
France subsidiary director for a foreign group
They open or grow the French operation of a group whose head office is elsewhere, with a statutory mandate and reporting in the head office's language.
subsidiary director for a mid-sized company
They run a French subsidiary within a smaller group, often with closer ties to the shareholder and fewer processes.
subsidiary managing director
As the subsidiary's statutory representative, they carry legal responsibility for the P&L on top of their operational leadership.
subsidiary director after an acquisition or buyout
They take over a subsidiary at the time of an acquisition or a raise, with a fund or a new shareholder expecting fast results.
subsidiary operations director
They support or stand in for the subsidiary director on operational execution, often at a larger subsidiary.
the method
an executive headhunter, not an agency that does everything
A subsidiary director is judged by the P&L they report to head office. So the method starts from what the role has to carry.
we scope the mandate and the reporting
Subsidiary of a foreign group or a mid-sized company, statutory mandate or not, reporting frequency and language: the brief describes what the role will have to report to head office.
a headhunter who places subsidiary directors
From more than 2,500 selected headhunters, your role goes to those who place the most people in subsidiary leadership.
a P&L actually carried, checked before the interview
The headhunter asks the profile to detail a P&L they carried: the scope, the decisions made alone, what head office approved or rejected. Then they cross-check with references.
the figures
hiring a subsidiary director in figures
€92k
median gross annual pay for company management executives at companies with 250 employees or more, against €72k below that1
19,100
foreign-controlled companies employ 2.3 million people in France, 13% of employment in non-agricultural, non-financial market sectors2
1,878
foreign investment decisions were recorded in France in 2025, creating or maintaining 47,734 jobs3
- Apec, private-sector managerial pay in 111 job families, 2025 edition, p. 42 (company management) (opens a new window), 2025 data
- Insee Focus no. 368, employment in France under foreign control in 2023 (opens a new window), 2023 data
- Business France, 2025 international investment report (opens a new window), 2025 data
hiring a subsidiary director: what you need to know
The subsidiary director answers for a full P&L in front of a head office they don't see every day, sometimes in another language. Good profiles are in post, already in a leadership role, and don't answer job ads.
An executive headhunter knows how to approach them and asks the right questions: what P&L scope, what statutory mandate, what reporting pace head office expects. This page covers running a specific subsidiary; for general management more broadly, see our general management page.
statutory representative or operational director: what status for a subsidiary director?
read onIn many subsidiaries, the director is appointed as statutory representative: they represent the company to third parties and carry legal liability, on top of their operational leadership. Some groups prefer to separate the two roles, especially when launching a subsidiary.
Decide this status before the search: it changes the profile to look for, their pay and, sometimes, whether they can hold an employment contract alongside the mandate. Talk to your lawyer from the brief stage.
Running the French subsidiary of a foreign group means defending a budget in front of a head office that doesn't know the local market well, sometimes in a language that isn't their own. Running the subsidiary of a French mid-sized company puts the director closer to the shareholder, with fewer processes but less delegated budget autonomy.
According to Apec, the subsidiary's size matters more for pay than who it reports to: a median of €72k at companies with fewer than 250 employees, €92k above that. Specify the subsidiary's actual headcount in the brief, not the group's.
The CV lists revenue and team size. The interview has to show something else: what the profile decided alone, and what they had to get approved by a distant head office.
A case study works well: an unexpected budget variance, five minutes to explain how they would inform head office and what decision they would take locally. The headhunter does this first screen before introducing anyone, and checks with references the P&Ls the profile says they carried.
The France subsidiary director role for a foreign group remains an active pool: according to Business France, 1,878 foreign investment decisions were recorded in France in 2025, creating or maintaining 47,734 jobs. Every setup or expansion means, at some point, hiring the person who will answer for it to head office.
On headcount, Insee counts 19,100 foreign-controlled companies in France, employing 2.3 million people, 13% of employment in non-agricultural, non-financial market sectors. A large pool, but concentrated on a few profiles used to international reporting: the brief has to specify the language and frequency head office expects before launching the search.
your questions about hiring a subsidiary director
Yes. According to Business France, 1,878 foreign investment decisions were recorded in France in 2025, creating or maintaining 47,734 jobs, each one potentially leading to opening or strengthening a subsidiary. Insee also counts 19,100 foreign-controlled companies already established in France, employing 2.3 million people.
Yes, clearly. According to Apec, the median for company management executives is €72k at companies with fewer than 250 employees, and €92k above that (2025 edition). Give the subsidiary's actual headcount in the brief, not the group's.
The managing director runs a company with no parent company, or one that has one without depending on it day to day. The subsidiary director reports to a head office, French or foreign, on a reporting schedule set by the group. For general management more broadly, see our general management page.
The country manager often launches a country with no structure already in place, a common role at scale-ups. The subsidiary director takes over an entity that's already set up, with its existing P&L, team and reporting. For launching a country, see our country manager page.
With a real case rather than a list of past results. Ask them to describe a budget variance managed with a distant head office: what they decided alone, what they got approved. Our headhunters run this first test and check the P&Ls mentioned with references.
by Antoine Gigomas, CEO and co-founder of Muzzo ·
