General Manager Search: Process, Cost and Timeline (Italy 2026)
A general manager search takes four to seven months through a retained firm and costs a third of first-year pay. It works when the brief is a scorecard rather than a job description, and when someone competent holds the seat while the search runs.
Start with a scorecard, not a job description
A job description lists what someone should be. A scorecard lists what has to be true in eighteen months: margin restored to a stated level, a functioning operating cadence, a management team that can run without the owner. Candidates self-select against outcomes far more accurately than against requirements.
The realistic timeline
What the search costs
- Retained firm: 25 to 33 percent of first-year total pay, billed in three instalments
- Contingent firm: 15 to 25 percent, paid on placement, with less depth of assessment
- Direct approach by the board or owner: no fee, but months of leadership time
- Interim cover during the search: a day rate for the months it runs, and no drift
The question most searches skip
Who runs the company for the next six months? An empty general manager seat costs more than the search fee: decisions queue, the management team hedges, and the best people update their profiles. Deciding the cover before the search starts is what turns a long search into an acceptable one.
Where searches fail
- A brief written to justify a title rather than solve a problem
- Interviewing for likeability instead of for a plan
- No reference call with someone who reported to the candidate
- No agreement on what authority the new person will actually hold
https://niklaslindahl.com/guides/general-manager-search