Executive search firm website with sector pages in Berlin (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

An executive search firm in Berlin wins retained mandates on visible sector expertise, not on a generic services page. The right website combines sector pages in German and English, a direct ATS integration and a GDPR-compliant application flow, for a 2026 market budget of 15,000 to 28,000 EUR. Done properly, it brings in roughly 25 % more qualified unsolicited applications and shortens the first client meeting, delivered in about 8 weeks.

What the website must do for a Berlin search firm

A Berlin boutique with 8 consultants works two audiences at once: hiring companies (scale-ups, Mittelstand groups relocating teams to Berlin, international firms opening a German entity) and senior candidates who are not actively looking. The CFO of a fintech wants to know whether the firm understands the market, how many senior placements it closed in finance, and how quickly it delivers a shortlist. The candidate wants to see confidential roles, understand how personal data is handled and apply in under 3 minutes.

The structure that works in 2026 relies on standalone sector pages: technology and SaaS, fintech and banking, life sciences, industry and energy, consumer and retail, professional services, public sector and NGOs, interim management. Each page lists typical roles, observed salary bands, two or three anonymised recent searches and the lead consultant with a photo and LinkedIn profile. That page, not the homepage, is what ranks for « Headhunter CFO Berlin » or « executive search fintech Germany ».

ATS and GDPR: the two topics that derail projects

ATS integration carries the most technical weight. Bullhorn is the standard in international search firms and needs a dedicated API account and careful field mapping. Personio and Greenhouse, common among Berlin tech clients, expose job feeds and application endpoints that are simpler to wire. Without this connection, a consultant spends 20 to 40 minutes a day copying roles and re-keying CVs received by email.

GDPR is the second sensitive topic, and German regulators enforce it seriously. A CV holds personal data, and common practice is to keep it no longer than 6 months after a rejected application unless the candidate consents to a talent pool, typically capped at 2 years. The form needs an unticked consent box, a clear purpose statement, a privacy policy in German and English and a deletion procedure. Files must sit in the ATS or on EU hosting, never in a shared inbox.

For a firm of this size, the sensible approach is to scope the site as a premium showcase and the ATS integration as a specific module. At Kolonell, a Premium showcase site sits between 3,050 and 5,340 EUR, while ATS integration and languages are priced in the quote after reviewing the tool you use. If you need a client portal with shortlist tracking, that becomes a custom web application.

Content and SEO: winning role-level searches

Executives who retain a search firm rarely type « executive search » alone. They search « Headhunter Vertrieb SaaS Berlin », « interim CFO Germany » or « English-speaking engineering manager Berlin ». Each sector page should target 3 to 5 precise job titles, with a paragraph on the local market, a salary band and an average time to shortlist (often 3 to 5 weeks). German and English searches use different vocabulary: « Personalberatung », « Fach- und Führungskräfte », « Direktansprache ». Machine translation misses these nuances.

A realistic rhythm is 2 articles a month: salary benchmarks, negotiation advice for senior hires, notes on relocating talent to Germany. A monthly SEO programme keeps this going without taking more than 2 hours a month from consultants.

Mini case study

Jonas, managing partner of an 8-consultant search firm in Berlin, receives 140 unsolicited applications a month, of which 35 are usable. He invests 22,000 EUR in the website and 4,500 EUR in the Bullhorn integration, 26,500 EUR in total. With 25 % more qualified applications, he reaches about 44 usable profiles a month, 9 more. If that yields one extra placement per quarter at an average fee of 33,000 EUR (30 % of a 110,000 EUR salary), the firm adds 132,000 EUR of annual revenue. Add the time saved: 30 minutes of re-keying per consultant per day, about 880 hours a year for the team. Payback is counted in months, not years.

FAQ

How much does an executive search firm website cost in Berlin in 2026?

As a 2026 order of magnitude, budget 15,000 to 28,000 EUR for a custom German-English site, plus 3,000 to 6,000 EUR for the ATS integration. Written sector pages add 3,200 to 6,000 EUR depending on volume.

Which ATS is easiest to connect?

Personio and Greenhouse have clean job feeds and APIs, often wired in 5 to 8 days. Bullhorn needs more configuration, count 10 to 15 days.

How long can we keep a CV received through the site?

Common German practice is 6 months after a rejected application, or up to 2 years with explicit talent-pool consent. The form must state the period and offer deletion on request.

Do we really need both German and English?

In Berlin, yes: many hiring managers work in English while Mittelstand clients expect German. Native copy editing costs 0.14 to 0.20 EUR per word, about 2,000 EUR for a 12,000-word site.

What timeline should we plan?

About 8 weeks: 2 weeks of scoping and content, 4 weeks of design and build, 2 weeks of ATS testing, copy editing and launch.

Let's scope your project. Sector pages, a connection to your ATS and a GDPR-compliant application flow, delivered in about 8 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.