Glossary/Executive search
Hiring
Executive search
The brief is a mandate: city, reporting line, local versus expatriate, and the pay band. We map comparable employers, approach people directly, and test what they tell us before a name reaches you.
A first shortlist is typically out in five business days. Notice periods in many of our markets run 30 to 90 days, so the search calendar and the start date are planned together.
How we deliver this: Executive search.
FAQ
Questions we get
- What is a retained search?
- You engage one firm for a defined mandate. We work that market exclusively for that role, rather than racing other agencies on a contingency fee.
- When is this the wrong tool?
- When you need 20 to 200 operators, technicians, or shared-service seats. That is recruitment process outsourcing, not a retained director search.
Related
Other terms
Shortlist
The named candidates we put in front of you after mapping the market and testing what people told us — typically the first output of a retained search.
Recruitment process outsourcing
Embedded hiring for a volume build — a factory ramp, a shared-service centre, or a 20–200 headcount programme — run by recruiters in the country of the roles.
Local hire
Someone employed in the country of work as a local, on a local contract and local pay — not as an expatriate on a home-country package.
Expatriate
A person sent to work in a country that is not their home employment market, usually on a work pass and a package that is not a pure local hire.
Reviewed 11 September 2026. Statutory figures follow the country hiring guides. This is a briefing for multinational employers, not legal advice.
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