Executive search
Executive recruitment
Executive hiring fails differently to everything below it. The shortlist is rarely short on capability — it is short on people the board can agree about. Our work is to make the case for one candidate legible to everybody who has a vote.
What makes an executive hire different
At this level, everyone reaching a final round can do the job. The decision turns on judgment, track record and fit with a specific moment in the company's life — none of which a résumé conveys, and none of which keyword screening can find.
So we work the other direction. We start from what the company needs to be true in twelve to twenty-four months, define the evidence that predicts it, and then go looking for people who can demonstrate that evidence. The search is narrow on purpose.
How we run a search
- Define the mandate. Not the job description you inherited — the outcome the role exists to produce, agreed with everyone who has a say.
- Map the market. Who has done this, at this scale, in a comparable situation. Including the people not currently looking.
- Assess against evidence. What each candidate has actually delivered, verified, rather than what they describe.
- Build the narrative. The one-sentence case for the hire that a board member can repeat accurately to someone who was not in the room.
- Support the landing. A first-year plan, so a good hire is not lost to a bad start.
Straight answers
Questions people ask about executive recruitment.
How is executive search different from regular recruitment?
Executive search starts from the outcome the role must produce and works backwards to a small number of people who can evidence it, rather than screening applicants against a job description. The candidates who matter are usually not applying to anything, so they have to be identified and approached directly.
How long does an executive search take?
Expect two to four months from mandate to signed offer for most senior roles. The mapping and assessment stages are where the time goes; compressing them is how companies end up re-running the same search a year later.
What if the executive we hire doesn't work out?
Most executive failures are landing failures rather than selection failures — the right person dropped into an unclear mandate with no first-year plan. We define the mandate before the search and stay involved through onboarding, because that is where the risk actually sits.
Next
Tell us where you are standing.
We answer every enquiry. Say what you need and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right people for it.