Executive Search | Industrial | Italy
Key Takeaway
Italy is the EU’s second-largest manufacturer after Germany (Eurostat). In fact, manufacturing generates about 16% of its value added (ISTAT). Its strongest subsectors are machinery and equipment, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals, and machinery is also Italy’s largest export category. However, each subsector needs a different kind of leader, and most industrial searches in Italy don’t screen for that difference. Meanwhile, three things are opening a short window to hire. These are new investment incentives, the close of the PNRR in 2026 and a wave of family succession. For this reason, companies that start searching early will reach the best leaders first.
Data current as of October 2026.
Globally, industry accounts for about 26% of GDP (World Bank, 2024). In Italy, manufacturing employs about 4 million people (ISTAT). Most of it is concentrated in Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont, often in specialised industrial districts. As a result, Italian plants now need leaders who can do four things at once. First, they must automate and cut energy use. Second, they need to absorb some of the highest industrial energy prices in Europe. In addition, they have to defend export margins against new tariffs. Finally, they must work within national collective agreements and plant-level union representation.
Why Executive Search Matters for Industrial Companies in Italy
Executive search for the industrial sector in Italy is a retained, research-led process for hiring senior industrial leaders. Typical roles include plant directors, operations directors, general managers and CEOs. In practice, it covers machinery, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, automotive components, chemicals and other manufacturing. Locally, it is usually called ricerca e selezione di dirigenti or head hunting industriale.
Today, however, three forces are changing the brief.
Transizione 5.0 and the PNRR
Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is worth about €194 billion, the largest in the EU (Italia Domani). Among other things, it funds Transizione 5.0. That programme offered around €6.3 billion in tax credits for investments that combine digitalisation with certified energy savings (MIMIT). Now that the PNRR closes in 2026, companies must deliver and certify those projects. Consequently, they need leaders who can turn incentives into measurable results.
Energy and decarbonisation
Italian manufacturers pay some of the highest electricity prices in the EU (Eurostat). In addition, the EU emissions trading system and the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) raise the cost of carbon. Energy has therefore become a board-level cost, not just a technical one.
Succession and private equity
Most Italian manufacturers are family-owned (AIDAF). At the same time, many are passing to a new generation or to private equity investors. In both cases, the company often brings in a professional leader from outside the family for the first time.
Mario Draghi’s 2024 report on European competitiveness warned: “If Europe cannot become more productive, we will be forced to choose” (European Commission). Few countries feel that more sharply than Italy. After all, productivity in industry depends on leadership. In fact, two plants with the same machines can perform very differently depending on who runs them.
The Industrial Sector in Italy in Numbers: What the Data Shows
Labour market: The labour market looks contradictory. On the one hand, employment reached record highs, and unemployment fell to around 6% in 2025 (ISTAT). On the other hand, companies reported that close to half of their planned hires were hard to fill (Unioncamere, Excelsior).
Leadership pool: However, neither figure says much about senior talent. Consider plant directors who have delivered a Transizione 5.0 project and negotiated with the RSU. If they have also kept export margins intact, they are almost always employed. For example, the real pool for a plant director in Brescia or Bologna is a few dozen people, not thousands.
Demographics: Italy has one of the oldest populations in Europe (Eurostat). Moreover, many skilled engineers and managers have built careers abroad. As a result, bringing them back is often part of the search.
Skills: The pool is shrinking too. For instance, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 notes that employers expect “39% of key skills required in the job market to change by 2030”. Meanwhile, many of the managers and founders who built Italy’s industrial districts are nearing retirement.
This is the core problem industrial exec search solves in Italy. In short, it finds leaders who are not looking and gives them a credible reason to listen.
Executive Search for Industrial Leadership Profiles in Italy
Hardest industrial leadership roles to fill in Italy
| Role | Main driver | Scarce capability |
|---|---|---|
| CEO / General Manager (first non-family leader) | Generational succession and private equity | Professionalising a family business without losing its technical edge |
| Plant Director / Direttore di Stabilimento | Automation and Transizione 5.0 | Delivering certified energy and productivity gains while negotiating with the RSU |
| Operations Director (multi-site) | Acquisitions and consolidation | Integrating plants bought from different family owners into one operating model |
| Energy and Sustainability Director | High energy prices, ETS and CBAM | Energy procurement plus carbon and CSRD reporting that customers accept |
| Digital Manufacturing Director | Transizione 5.0 | Turning automation and data into OEE gains that qualify for incentives |
| Supply Chain Director | Geopolitical and energy disruption | Building resilient European sourcing without losing cost competitiveness |
| Export / Commercial Director | Tariffs and global demand | Defending margins on engineered products in the US, Asia and the Middle East |
Labour Relations Are Often Underestimated
In executive search for plant roles, companies most often underestimate labour relations. Across Italy, pay and conditions are set by national collective agreements (CCNL), such as the metalworkers’ contract. These terms are then negotiated at plant level with the RSU. As a result, a plant director from abroad can be an excellent engineer and still struggle in a first negotiation with CGIL, CISL and UIL representatives.
Family Governance Is the Second Blind Spot
In many Italian manufacturers, the founding family stays on the board after appointing an outside CEO. Therefore, a strong operator who cannot earn the family’s trust will not last, however good the numbers.
How Executive Search for Industrial Leaders in Italy Works
A good industrial search follows a clear process. In addition, it plans for the practical details of the move.
How We Run the Search
Our Plant-to-Board method assesses every candidate on the shop floor and in front of a board. It runs in five stages:
- Defining the company’s situation: succession, turnaround, expansion or digitalisation.
- Mapping the market in Italy and among Italian executives working abroad.
- Confidential approaches to candidates.
- A structured assessment built on union negotiation, family governance and energy cost scenarios.
- In-depth referencing.
In our experience, the assessment is the stage of an exec search that most often changes the final ranking. Overall, most searches take 12 to 20 weeks from brief to signed offer.
Plan Around Notice Periods
A well-run exec search for a senior industrial role also plans around Italian notice rules. For example, industrial executives employed as dirigenti usually have notice periods measured in months under their collective agreement. In addition, many wait for their annual MBO payout before moving. As a result, a realistic start date is five to seven months after the search begins.
Why the Right Hire Matters
Jim Collins described the principle in Good to Great: great companies “first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats”. In Italian industry, therefore, a failed first non-family CEO can be costly. For example, it can set a family business back by years and make the next appointment harder.
How to Choose a Search Firm
Not every exec search firm is equipped for industrial mandates in Italy. Before appointing one, therefore, ask three questions:
- Has it recently filled comparable roles in Italian manufacturers?
- Can it reach Italian executives abroad?
- How does it assess labour relations and family governance fit beyond interviews?
Zavala Civitas has run executive search mandates since 1971, with offices in Madrid, Shanghai, Toronto and São Paulo. This guide was written by Fernando de Zavala, Partner at Zavala Civitas.
Read more about our industrial sector executive search practice. Alternatively, if you are planning an industrial exec search in Italy, contact our team for a confidential conversation.
About the author Fernando de Zavala
Partner | Zavala Civitas
Fernando de Zavala is a Partner at Zavala Civitas. Over around 30 years, he has worked in human capital and executive search across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. During that time, he established the firm’s offices in Shanghai and Barcelona. Today, he leads executive search and leadership advisory mandates across Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany.
Executive Search for Industrial Roles in Italy: Frequently Asked Questions
What is executive search for the industrial sector in Italy?
It is a retained, research-led process for hiring senior leaders such as plant directors, operations directors, general managers and CEOs across machinery, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and other industrial companies in Italy. In particular, it focuses on approaching qualified candidates who are not actively looking for a new role.
What is the difference between executive search and recruitment?
Recruitment usually fills roles by advertising and screening applicants. By contrast, executive search is retained for senior positions: the firm maps the whole market, approaches candidates directly and confidentially, and assesses them in depth before presenting a shortlist.
How are Transizione 5.0, energy costs and family succession changing industrial hiring in Italy?
They are adding new requirements to senior industrial roles. On top of cost, quality and safety targets, leaders now need to deliver certified digital and energy savings and manage some of Europe’s highest energy prices. In many family firms, they must also become the first professional manager the owners have trusted.
Which industrial roles are hardest to fill in Italy?
The hardest roles combine operations and governance. For example, they include first non-family CEOs, plant directors who can deliver Transizione 5.0 projects with the RSU, operations directors who can integrate acquired plants, and energy leaders who can cut costs and carbon at the same time.
How long does an industrial executive search take in Italy?
Most searches take 12 to 20 weeks from brief to signed offer. However, industrial executives often have notice periods of several months under their collective agreement and may wait for their annual bonus. As a result, the new leader usually starts five to seven months after the search begins.
Methodology and Citations
Zavala Civitas combines market mapping with structured assessment through its Plant-to-Board method. This assessment covers plant leadership, labour relations and family governance fit. In addition, the analysis draws on public data from ISTAT, Eurostat, Unioncamere Excelsior, MIMIT and AIDAF. It also uses the World Bank, the Draghi report and the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025.
- World Bank. Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP).
- ISTAT. Conti nazionali, Rilevazione sulle forze di lavoro and foreign trade statistics.
- Eurostat. Manufacturing, electricity prices and population statistics.
- Unioncamere. Sistema Informativo Excelsior.
- MIMIT. Transizione 5.0.
- Italia Domani. Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza.
- AIDAF. Italian family business data.
- European Commission. (2024). The Future of European Competitiveness (Draghi report).
- World Economic Forum. (2025). The Future of Jobs Report 2025.
- Collins, J. First Who, Then What.
