Executive search · Lisbon, Portugal

Executive Search in Lisbon

Pitch N Hire's executive search helps Lisbon, Portugal companies hire senior engineering and leadership roles — heads of engineering, architects, and functional leaders — through a discreet, research-led process. PNH maps the market, approaches passive candidates and runs structured assessment, so a Lisbon business fills business-critical leadership roles with rigour rather than relying on inbound applications.

Executive Search: how it works for Lisbon teams

Executive search is a targeted, research-led method for hiring senior and hard-to-fill leadership roles, where the best candidates are usually employed and not actively applying. Instead of posting a job and waiting, Pitch N Hire maps the relevant talent market, discreetly approaches qualified passive candidates, and runs structured, evidence-based assessment against the role's real requirements. This is used for engineering leadership, architecture, and specialist senior roles where a wrong hire is expensive and confidentiality matters. PNH's search process pairs experienced recruiters with structured interview tooling to keep the assessment consistent and defensible, whether the role is based locally or leads an offshore team.

  • Research-led mapping of the relevant leadership market
  • Discreet approach to qualified passive candidates
  • Structured, evidence-based senior assessment
  • Suited to engineering leadership and business-critical roles
  • Protects your employer brand and confidentiality
  • Higher-quality, more comparable shortlists

How executive search works with Pitch N Hire

  1. 1

    Role & success profile

    We work with you to define the mandate — responsibilities, the outcomes the leader must deliver, and the competencies and experience that predict success in your context.

  2. 2

    Market mapping

    PNH researches and maps the relevant talent market, building a longlist of qualified people in comparable roles at comparable organisations — including those not actively looking.

  3. 3

    Discreet approach

    Candidates are approached confidentially and professionally, protecting your employer brand and the candidates' current positions while gauging genuine interest and fit.

  4. 4

    Structured assessment

    Interested candidates go through structured, evidence-based interviews and scorecards against the success profile, so the shortlist is comparable and defensible, not gut-feel.

  5. 5

    Shortlist to offer

    You interview a small, high-quality shortlist; we support referencing, offer negotiation and a careful close, given how much a senior hire matters.

Roles executive search covers

Research-led search suits senior and business-critical roles where a mis-hire is costly:

VP / Head of Engineering
CTO and technical co-founder searches
Software / solution / enterprise architects
Engineering and delivery directors
Heads of Data, ML or Platform
Product and design leadership
Functional leaders (Finance, Ops, People)
Leaders for offshore / GCC teams

The Lisbon hiring market for this role

Lisbon is Portugal's economic and startup capital and one of Europe's hottest nearshore destinations, home to a wave of international engineering offices, unicorns and scale-ups drawn by talent, lifestyle and lower costs than London or Berlin. Hosting the Web Summit each year has cemented its profile, and rapid inbound relocation has tightened the market for experienced software, product and data engineers across fintech, SaaS and travel-tech.

Lisbon talent is highly international and English-fluent, strong in JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, cloud and product engineering, fed by universities and a large influx of relocating professionals. The pool is deep for a city its size, but heavy competition from foreign employers has pushed up senior salaries and made experienced hires slower to secure — a common reason Lisbon teams add offshore capacity.

Cost & the offshore option in Lisbon

Lisbon commands Portugal's highest developer pay, though still well below London or Dublin — senior software engineers often in the region of €45k–€70k gross, with premiums for cloud, data and AI skills. Offshore augmentation from India typically delivers comparable seniority at a lower blended rate, which is why cost-conscious Lisbon scale-ups run hybrid local plus offshore teams.

For Lisbon founders and engineering leaders competing with well-funded international offices, PNH offers an offshore pod: vetted India-based engineers employed through an Employer of Record, overlapping several working hours with Lisbon's WET/WEST time, to add delivery capacity quickly without bidding against relocated talent or setting up a new entity.

Ways to work with Pitch N Hire in Lisbon

You can engage Pitch N Hire in whichever way fits your Lisbon team's stage and workload — and mix them as you scale:

Staff augmentation — Add individual vetted engineers to your existing team under your direction — the fastest way to close a specific skills or capacity gap.
Dedicated offshore team — Stand up a full managed pod from India for a whole workstream, with the roles, seniority and structure you specify.
Contract / project capacity — Bring on flexible talent for a fixed scope or period, then scale down cleanly when the work is done — no permanent headcount.
Recruitment / RPO — Have PNH run sourcing, screening and shortlisting for roles you want based locally in Lisbon.
Employer of Record — Employ your India-based hires compliantly through PNH, with payroll, tax and benefits handled end-to-end.

Why Lisbon companies choose Pitch N Hire

Vetted talent, fast

A pre-screened India talent pool means matched shortlists in days, not the months a local permanent hire can take.

You stay in control

You interview and choose every person; Pitch N Hire surfaces qualified candidates and handles the operational load.

Compliance handled

Offshore hires are employed through PNH's India Employer of Record — payroll, tax and statutory compliance are taken care of.

Lower blended cost

Building part of your team offshore keeps comparable seniority on the roster at a lower total cost than local-only hiring.

Overlapping hours

Engineers work on overlapping working hours and inside your tools and sprints — collaboration, not black-box outsourcing.

One partner, many needs

Staffing, recruitment, EOR and the ATS/interview software come from one provider, so hiring stays joined-up as you scale.

FAQ

Executive Search in Lisbon — FAQs

What roles does executive search cover for Lisbon companies? +
Executive search suits senior and hard-to-fill roles for Lisbon companies — heads of engineering, architects, and functional leaders — where the strongest candidates are employed and must be approached discreetly rather than sourced from applications.
How is executive search different from standard recruitment in Lisbon? +
Standard recruitment works an active applicant pool; executive search proactively maps the Lisbon-relevant market and approaches passive senior candidates with a discreet, research-led, structured-assessment process built for business-critical leadership hires.
Is the search confidential? +
Yes. For sensitive Lisbon leadership hires PNH runs the search discreetly — approaching candidates confidentially and protecting both your employer brand and the candidates' current roles throughout the process.
Can you find leaders for our offshore team too? +
Yes. PNH can run executive search for leaders of India-based or offshore teams as well as local Lisbon roles, using the same research-led, structured process to secure the right senior person.
How much does executive search in Lisbon cost? +
Cost depends on the roles, seniority and engagement length. Building capacity offshore from India through Pitch N Hire is typically a materially lower blended cost than hiring the same seniority locally in Lisbon, and PNH gives you a clear quote for your specific requirement — talk to the team for pricing.
How do I get started with executive search for my Lisbon team? +
Share your requirement with Pitch N Hire — the roles, skills and timeline. You'll get a matched shortlist or a tailored plan within days, interview and select the people yourself, and onboard them into your Lisbon team, with PNH handling employment and compliance.
Are the candidates vetted before they reach my Lisbon team? +
Yes. Every candidate Pitch N Hire puts forward for a Lisbon company is pre-screened for skills, experience and communication, and assessed with structured interviews — so your shortlist is genuinely qualified and you keep the final hiring decision.
Can I hire a whole team or just one person in Lisbon? +
Both. A Lisbon company can start with a single vetted specialist and scale to a full offshore pod as the roadmap grows, or stand up a whole team from day one. Pitch N Hire flexes capacity up or down with short notice, so you commit only to what you need right now.
How does time-zone collaboration work with an offshore Lisbon team? +
Pitch N Hire structures offshore engagements around a daily working-hour overlap with your Lisbon team, plus clear async handoffs for the rest of the day. Engineers join your standups, tools and code review under your direction, so it feels like an extension of your team rather than a hand-off to a separate vendor.
What if an augmented Lisbon hire isn't the right fit? +
You interview and approve every person, which keeps the fit-rate high — but if someone isn't working out, Pitch N Hire replaces them quickly from its vetted pool and manages the transition, so your Lisbon team's delivery keeps moving.
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