An executive search firm for your next senior hire

An executive search firm defines a senior role with you, researches who could fill it, approaches those people directly, assesses them and helps you close the hire. Unlike posting a job and waiting, most of the effort goes into reaching people who are not looking. For full-time roles below leadership level, see permanent staffing.

These are industry terms for how search firms get paid. The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) describes retained search as exclusive work for executive and senior-level positions, with a retainer or consulting fee charged at the beginning of the relationship. Contingency recruiters, by the same description, are paid after a candidate they identified is hired, companies may use several at once, and they typically fill entry- to mid-level jobs. Our own terms for your search are set out in your written quote.

Not exactly. “Headhunter” is the informal name for a recruiter who approaches people directly instead of waiting for applications, and “executive recruiter” usually means someone focused on senior roles. What matters more than the label is how the search is run: research, direct approach, structured assessment and careful references.

The cost of an executive search depends on the seniority of the role, how rare the profile is, where the person needs to be based and how much of the process you want us to run. Search fees aren’t listed on this site because no two searches are scoped the same. Ask through the contact form and you get a written quote that spells out the scope and the fee before any search work starts.

An executive search has no fixed length. A search moves faster when the brief is clear, the pay matches the market and your interview panel can meet candidates quickly. It slows when the decision group keeps changing or a finalist has a long notice period. You get a phase-by-phase plan at the start, and we update it as we learn.

If you use a screening company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to senior hires too. The Federal Trade Commission says you must tell the candidate in writing, in a stand-alone notice, and get written permission before ordering a report. A report built on personal interviews about character or reputation needs an extra notice. If a report leads you to say no, the person first gets a copy of it and a summary of their rights, then a final notice.

For a job paying, or expected to pay, $75,000 a year or more, the law’s time limits on reporting some older negative items do not apply (15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)). We are not a law firm: ask your employment lawyer about state and local rules, and have them sign off on your screening process.

Yes. When the current leader is still in the seat, or the role would reveal a plan you haven’t announced, we run it as a confidential search with a code name, NDAs and a small circle on your side.

Ask who runs your search day to day, how they reach leaders who aren’t looking, how finalists are assessed, how often you hear from them, and what the quote covers. Our answers: one search lead you can call, direct one-to-one outreach from a researched market map, the same scorecard for every finalist, updates on a set schedule, and a written quote with the scope and the fee before any work starts.

Yes. Executive search is open to any U.S. small or mid-size business, not only carriers. Our recruiters already fill hard-to-staff roles for trucking clients through truck driver recruitment, and the habit of finding people who aren’t applying carries straight into senior searches.