Eight markets. Eight sets of rules.
Who approves a senior appointment, how long notice runs, whether a non-compete binds and what a board has to disclose all change at the border. Each page below is written for its own market rather than translated from a template, with the governance framework, the realistic timeline and the fee bands that apply there.
Where we search, and what changes in each one
Open a market for its governance framework, notice conventions, non-compete position, realistic timeline and fee bands.
United Kingdom
London · Manchester · Birmingham · Leeds · Edinburgh · Bristol
Three to six months’ notice, garden leave, and Senior Managers Regime approval before an appointee can start.
United States
New York · Bay Area · Boston · Chicago · Austin · Seattle
At-will employment and a fast start date, but an offer dominated by unvested equity and state-by-state non-compete law.
United Arab Emirates
Dubai · Abu Dhabi · DIFC · ADGM · Sharjah
A Gulf-wide catchment, packages built from basic plus allowances and gratuity, and visa transfer in the timeline.
Germany
Munich · Frankfurt · Berlin · Hamburg · Stuttgart · Düsseldorf
Supervisory board appointment, notice to quarter-end, and a non-compete the employer must pay at least half salary to enforce.
Netherlands
Amsterdam · Rotterdam · Utrecht · Eindhoven · The Hague
A works council advice right over director appointments, and DNB or AFM suitability testing before a regulated start.
Belgium
Brussels · Antwerp · Ghent · Leuven · Liège
Working language as the binding filter, board gender requirements, and packages with a 13th month and double holiday pay.
Austria
Vienna · Graz · Linz · Salzburg · Innsbruck
A market small enough to map exhaustively, supervisory board approval, and pay quoted across fourteen payments.
Australia
Sydney · Melbourne · Brisbane · Perth · Adelaide · Canberra
Five capital markets, superannuation inside the package, restraint clauses that are litigated, and director ID.
Four things that break a cross-border search
These are the errors we see most often when a search process designed for one market is applied to another.
Who approves the appointment changes at the border
In Germany and Austria a management board appointment is made by the supervisory board, on its meeting calendar. In the Netherlands the works council has an advice right over director appointments. In the UK and US a board appointment runs through a nomination committee and, for listed companies, into public disclosure. A search timetable that has not established the approving body in week one will slip.
Notice decides the start date, and it varies enormously
US executive notice is typically two to four weeks. UK notice is three to six months with garden leave on top. German and Austrian notice commonly terminates at quarter-end and can run six to twelve months. Belgian notice is seniority-based. Quoting time to offer without time to start is how a hiring plan goes wrong by two quarters.
Non-compete rules are not comparable between markets
Germany requires the employer to pay at least half of last remuneration for a post-contractual non-compete to bind. Austria caps it at one year. The UAE caps it at two. In the US it is state law and the federal rule was set aside in 2024. In Australia restraints are enforceable but actively litigated. We establish restrictions during research, not at offer stage.
Regulated and board appointments need approval before they start
The UK Senior Managers Regime, Dutch DNB and AFM suitability testing, German BaFin assessment, Australian APRA fit-and-proper and DFSA or FSRA approval in DIFC and ADGM all sit between acceptance and start. So does an Australian director identification number. None of it is optional and all of it takes weeks.
Before you commission a cross-border appointment
Executive search services
Levels, deliverables, fees and how a search is scoped.
The process and timeline
Week by week from brief to start, including notice and approval.
Fees
2026 bands in four currencies, and what retained really costs.
Search firms compared
Retained, contingency, fixed fee and in-house — honestly.
Talent mapping by market
Understand the market before you commit to a search.
The resource library
Every guide, market page and answer in one place.
Appointing across more than one market?
Tell us the roles and the countries. We will say who approves each appointment, how long it realistically takes to a start date, and what it will cost.
Start a conversation