The Hiring Rules That Apply to Your Industry and Not Your Neighbour’s

A guide to sector-specific senior appointment requirements in Europe. Legal references current as of August 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.

Most employment law is horizontal. Working time, dismissal protection, discrimination, health and safety: broadly the same obligations whether you make cement or write software. It is the part of the rulebook every HR function knows.

Then there is the vertical layer, and it is the one that catches companies out. In a dozen European industries, regulation does not merely govern how you hire. It specifies who you must hire, what qualifications they must hold, sometimes whether the regulator has to approve them personally, and increasingly what your leadership as a whole must look like. A medical device manufacturer and a marketing agency of identical size, in the same city, operate under materially different senior appointment obligations.

Large companies absorb this through dedicated regulatory affairs and compliance functions. Mid-sized companies frequently do not, and the failure mode is predictable: the obligation is discovered during an audit, a certification renewal, a funding round or a sale, at which point the appointment has to be made under time pressure from whatever candidates happen to be available.

This guide sets out both layers across ten industries.

Two kinds of rule

It helps to separate them, because they behave differently.

Rules about who you must appoint. These mandate a specific individual in a specific role, usually with qualifications defined in the legislation itself. They are binary: you either have a qualifying person or you do not, and if you do not, you often cannot legally operate. They apply regardless of company size, though several contain carve-outs for smaller businesses.

Rules about what your leadership must look like. These govern the composition of your board or executive team rather than any single appointment. They are proportional rather than binary, they usually attach to listing or to state ownership, and they have expanded significantly since 2022.

Most companies are aware of at most one of the two. The industries below are affected by one, the other, or both.

Sector requirements at a glance

The industries where the law names the job

Pharmaceuticals and biotech: the Qualified Person

Under Article 48 of Directive 2001/83/EC, every manufacturer or importer of medicinal products in the EU must have the services of at least one Qualified Person, permanently and continuously. Article 49 sets the qualifications: a university degree in pharmacy, medicine, veterinary medicine, chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and technology, or biology, plus at least two years of practical experience in a GMP-authorised manufacturing or quality control environment. Article 51 makes the consequence concrete: no batch may be released to the EU market without certification by a Qualified Person.

Two features make this the most demanding appointment rule in European industry. The Qualified Person is named on the manufacturing authorisation itself, so without one the company cannot operate. And the responsibility is personal: the individual, not the company, certifies each batch, and carries potential legal and criminal exposure for doing so. Recruiting a Qualified Person is therefore not a normal senior hire. The pool is small, the individuals know their value, and the vacancy stops production.

Medical devices: the Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance

Article 15 of the Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745, mirrored in the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation, requires every manufacturer and every EU authorised representative to have at least one Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance. The regulation specifies two qualification routes: a university qualification in law, medicine, pharmacy, engineering or another relevant scientific discipline plus one year of experience in regulatory affairs or quality management for medical devices, or four years of such experience without the degree.

The provision most relevant to smaller manufacturers is Article 15(2). Micro and small enterprises are not required to have the person within the organisation, but must have such a person permanently and continuously at their disposal, which guidance confirms may be secured by contract. Everyone above those thresholds must employ the person substantively. A growing device manufacturer therefore crosses a hiring obligation as it crosses the small enterprise threshold, and that transition is easy to miss.

Aerospace and aviation: appointments the regulator approves

Aviation goes further than qualification criteria: it requires the regulator to accept the individual. Under Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, an approved maintenance organisation must appoint an Accountable Manager with corporate authority to ensure that all maintenance can be financed and carried out to the required standard, and must nominate a person or group of persons responsible for compliance. Their credentials are submitted to the competent authority in the prescribed form, and equivalent requirements apply to production organisations and operators.

In practice this means named roles including Accountable Manager, Compliance Monitoring Manager, Safety Manager and function-specific managers, each individually accepted by the authority, with a direct reporting line to the Accountable Manager that guidance says should not be diluted through intermediate management layers. An aviation business cannot simply promote internally into these roles and inform the regulator afterwards.

Financial services: suitability, and now diversity too

Credit institutions and investment firms have long assessed the suitability of management body members under the joint EBA and ESMA Guidelines issued under Article 91(12) of the Capital Requirements Directive and Article 9 of MiFID II. Those guidelines cover knowledge, skills, experience, reputation, honesty, integrity, independence of mind and time commitment, and extend to heads of internal control functions and the chief financial officer where they sit outside the management body.

Less widely known is that the same framework now reaches composition. Article 91(11) of the CRD requires the EBA and national authorities to benchmark diversity practices in institutions’ management bodies, and Article 75(1) requires them to collect gender pay gap data at management body level. The EBA’s guidelines on benchmarking diversity practices operationalise both. For a mid-sized bank or investment firm, the practical effect is that board composition and management body pay are supervised data points, not internal matters.

Private equity and fund management: the two-person rule

Article 8(1)(c) of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive requires that the persons who effectively conduct an AIFM’s business be of sufficiently good repute and sufficiently experienced in relation to the investment strategies pursued, and that the business be decided by at least two such persons. AIFMD II tightens this into a substance requirement: at least two natural persons, employed full-time or serving as full-time executive members of the governing body, resident in the EU, with their roles, seniority, reporting lines and time allocation described in the authorisation application.

The consequence is structural. A fund manager cannot be run by a single principal with contractors around them, and board members who sit across several group entities may not satisfy the full-time commitment test. For smaller managers, this is a real constraint on how the firm can be staffed at the top.

The industries where the law shapes the leadership team

The second layer governs composition rather than individual appointments, and it has grown quickly since the EU Women on Boards Directive’s compliance deadline passed on 30 June 2026. It lands unevenly, and the pattern is sector-specific enough to be worth setting out.

Telecommunications carries two layers at once. Europe’s incumbent operators are listed, so national board quotas apply, and most remain partly state-owned, which brings public enterprise rules on top. Belgium’s December 2025 draft legislation, which would require at least 33% women on the executive committees of autonomous public enterprises, names Proximus explicitly; it awaits parliamentary adoption. Our sister brand Female Executive Search set out both layers in their analysis of telecommunications.

Ecommerce and online platforms face the most unusual requirement of the group. Article 41 of the Digital Services Act obliges every designated very large online platform to establish an independent compliance function headed by an independent senior manager who reports directly to the management body and cannot be removed without its approval. Twenty-five platforms are designated, including several major marketplaces. This is genuinely a hybrid: a mandated role and a governance requirement in one provision, discussed further in the ecommerce analysis.

Technology and IT companies face ordinary board quotas on listing, but a harder search problem than most sectors, because a technology board needs directors with genuine technical authority and women hold 8.6% of chief technology officer roles globally. The technology analysis covers that scarcity in detail.

Software companies backed by venture or private equity encounter composition requirements at listing rather than before it, which means board building is best done years ahead of an exit. The software analysis explains why the independent director seats carry disproportionate weight.

Consumer goods and retail are the sector most exposed to the newest category of rule: executive-level requirements. France’s Rixain law has required at least 30% of each sex among senior executives and executive committee members of companies with 1,000 or more employees since March 2026, rising to 40% in 2029, and Spain applies a 40% principle to senior management of listed companies. The consumer goods analysis sets out where the sector stands.

Across all of these sits one horizontal obligation worth flagging, because it applies whatever the industry. The EU Pay Transparency Directive is being introduced across Member States, unevenly: only four met the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline, and several including Germany, Spain and the Netherlands are still legislating. But the first gender pay gap reports fall due in June 2027, salary ranges must be given to candidates before interview, and an unjustified gap above 5% triggers a mandatory joint pay assessment with worker representatives.

What mid-sized companies should actually do

Establish which mandated roles apply to you, in writing. Not whether you have someone doing the work, but whether you have a person who meets the qualification criteria set out in the legislation, and whether the file proving it would survive an inspection.

Watch the size thresholds. Several of these obligations change as a company grows. A medical device manufacturer that outgrows the small enterprise definition moves from contracting a Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance to employing one. A company approaching a listing acquires board composition obligations it did not previously have. Growth changes the rulebook, and nobody sends a notification.

Treat single points of failure as a risk item. If one qualified individual is the reason your company may legally release product, operate aircraft or manage a fund, their resignation is an operational risk, not an HR matter. Deputies and succession plans matter more here than in ordinary roles.

Start regulated searches early. The populations are small by construction, because the qualification criteria are restrictive. Qualified Persons, regulator-accepted aviation postholders and technically credible directors are not readily available at short notice.

How CEO Worldwide can help

CEO Worldwide has been placing senior executives internationally since 2001, across 183 countries and a vetted community of more than 28,200 executives spanning every industry listed above. We work on exactly the appointments this article describes: regulated and mandated roles, executive committee and board positions, and interim leadership when a departure leaves a compliance gap that cannot wait.

Our model is built for that urgency. We deliver a shortlist of qualified, interested candidates within 7 to 10 days, on a transparent milestone-based fee of 25% of gross annual salary paid in three instalments, with a 6-month replacement guarantee. Where an assignment needs to start immediately, our Management on Demand approach allows an interim appointment to convert to permanent at any time.

For searches specifically focused on women in board, C-level and executive committee roles, including the sector-specific composition requirements described above, our sister brand Female Executive Search provides dedicated expertise and a deep bench of vetted women leaders.

Submit your executive search and we will come back to you with candidates, not a proposal deck.

Frequently asked questions

Which industries have legally mandated senior appointments in the EU? Several. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and importers must have a Qualified Person named on their manufacturing authorisation. Medical device manufacturers must have a Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance. Approved aviation organisations must have an Accountable Manager and nominated persons accepted by the competent authority. Authorised alternative investment fund managers must have their business directed by at least two qualifying individuals. Designated online platforms must have an independent senior compliance manager. Financial institutions must assess the suitability of management body members and key function holders.

Do these rules apply to small and medium-sized companies? Mostly yes, sometimes with modifications. The Medical Device Regulation allows micro and small enterprises to have their Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance available by contract rather than employment, while larger manufacturers must employ one. The pharmaceutical Qualified Person requirement applies to every manufacturing authorisation holder regardless of size. Aviation and fund management requirements likewise apply irrespective of company size. Board composition rules generally attach to listing or state ownership rather than to size alone.

What happens if the mandated role is vacant? It depends on the regime, and the consequences are usually operational rather than financial. Without a Qualified Person, no batch of medicinal product can be certified for release. Without accepted nominated persons, an aviation organisation’s approval is at risk. Without two qualifying individuals, an alternative investment fund manager does not meet its authorisation conditions. These are not deficiencies that can be remedied at leisure, which is why succession planning for regulated roles matters more than for equivalent unregulated positions.

Which industries face gender composition requirements beyond ordinary board quotas? Telecommunications, where state ownership brings public enterprise rules, and where Belgium has approved draft legislation for a 33% executive committee requirement. Consumer goods and any other sector with large French operations, where the Rixain law reaches senior executives and executive committee members. Listed companies in Spain, where a 40% principle applies to senior management. Financial services, where diversity practices and management body gender pay gaps are benchmarked by supervisors. Designated online platforms, where the Digital Services Act mandates an independent senior compliance manager.

How should a growing company track these obligations? Map the mandated roles that apply to your activity, document that the incumbent meets the legislative criteria, and review the position whenever the company crosses a size threshold, enters a new market, seeks a listing or changes its regulatory status. Several obligations switch on at defined thresholds without any notification from the authority, and discovery during an audit or a transaction is the expensive route.

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