Appointing a Country Manager to Lead Expansion Across the German Market

The client is a Swedish leisure company with an expanding portfolio of adventure parks in Europe. The company has a bold strategy to grow from a handful of current German locations to a national footprint of more than 100 sites over the next ten years. The company’s success in Germany is directly linked to the operational quality and commercial momentum created at each individual unit. Germany is one of the most strategically important markets in the client’s European development, combining the scale of consumer with the operational complexity of multi-site leisure expansion.

The Country Manager role was a new appointment – elevating what had been a more junior regional position to a senior leadership position with full accountability at a country level. The incoming Country Manager will oversee operational performance of existing sites, identify and launch new locations, manage P&L, develop the local team, and build the company’s brand and community relationships across the German market. The quality of this appointment was therefore very important, because the company’s long-term growth in Germany was directly linked to the execution at the site level.

Finding the right candidate in Germany added a real level of complexity to the search. The role required fluent German and English, extensive experience in multi-unit chain operations – preferably in leisure, quick-service food, or consumer retail – and the strategic autonomy to lead a country operation with limited in-market infrastructure to inherit. Throughout, the confidentiality of the engagement dictated the approach to the candidate market, and the German executive talent market for this particular profile required a thorough and patient process.

The search was designed to identify senior operations and general management professionals with multi-unit chain experience in Germany, with a focus on candidates from leisure, quick service, or consumer-facing sectors with proven P&L ownership and team leading experience. The process was multi-layered, with initial and subsequent interviews with the hiring team, candidates visiting the site, and in-person meetings in Stockholm with the client’s group CEO and CMO, a strategic move to gauge an organization’s suitability and preparedness for the commercial challenges of directing the German market.

After a long search, a Country Manager was found to run the client’s German operations. With the contract signed and a June 2025 start date confirmed, the selected leader had the multi-unit operational background, chain management experience, and bilingual capability needed for the role. Onboarding could begin immediately as background and qualification checks were completed prior to the start date.