Executive Search Recruitment
Alliance runs retained executive search for CEO, CFO, CTO, COO and board appointments across 36+ countries, at fee levels built for mid-market and growth companies rather than Fortune 100 retainers.
Our executive search team combines targeted market mapping, discreet outreach, leadership assessment, and rigorous referencing to identify executives who match the role and business strategy. Every mandate is handled confidentially, with a focused search designed around your specific leadership requirements.
16+ Years Of Experience
550,000+ Placements Delivered
36+ Countries Served
350+ Expert Teams
50+ Top Level Positions
What Is Executive Search Recruitment?
Executive search recruitment is the confidential, research-led identification and appointment of senior leaders, run as a retained assignment rather than a contingent one. The firm maps the market, approaches executives who are not looking, assesses them against a defined leadership brief, and manages the process to offer.
It differs from recruitment in three ways. The candidates are passive, so they are approached rather than applying. The process is confidential, which matters when the incumbent does not yet know the role is being searched. And the firm is paid to run the search, not to win a race against three other agencies.
The problem it solves is narrow but expensive. A wrong C-suite appointment costs multiples of the search fee in lost momentum, and the strongest candidates for those roles are never in an applicant pool.
Our scope covers leadership brief definition, market mapping, confidential approach, assessment, shortlist, interview management, offer structuring and onboarding support.
All appointments are permanent. Alliance does not provide interim, fractional or contract executive resource.
For the wider practice, see our executive search firms page.
Executive Search Recruitment Without Big Four Retainers
Large executive search firms can come with fee structures designed for enterprise-level mandates, which may not suit every mid-market or growth company.
As an executive search agency operating across 36+ countries, Alliance provides a structured retained search process with fees calibrated to the size, complexity, and seniority of your mandate.
How Long Does Executive Search Recruitment Take?
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Brief and market mapping: weeks 1 to 2.
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Confidential approach and assessment: weeks 2 to 5.
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Shortlist presentation: week 5 to 6.
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Client interviews: weeks 6 to 8.
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Offer and notice period negotiation: weeks 8 to 10.
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Realistic total is 6 to 12 weeks to offer, longer for board and country-manager roles requiring relocation.
How Much Does Executive Search Recruitment Cost?
Retained search is structured as a percentage of first-year total compensation, billed across three milestones: engagement, shortlist and placement. The global firms typically sit at the top of the market range. Alliance prices below that tier, which is the entire commercial argument of this page.
What We Offer on Every Executive Search Mandate
Dedicated Search Team
One named team responsible for your mandate from start to finish.
Written Leadership Brief
Clear leadership priorities, year-one objectives, and candidate deal-breakers agreed before the search.
Market Mapping
A documented view of relevant executives, their current positions, and market compensation.
Confidential Outreach
Blind profiles and NDA-gated approaches protect sensitive searches and incumbent replacements.
90 Days Replacement Guarantee
Structured Executive Assessment
Competency, leadership, and background checks measured against the agreed brief.
Roles and Sectors We Search
Chief Executive Officer
Founder transitions, succession, and turnaround appointments where the board needs the search kept quiet.
Chief Financial Officer
Including pre-transaction CFO appointments where the hire must survive diligence.
Chief Technology and Chief Information Officers
Technical leadership assessed by people who can evaluate the technical claim. See our technology executive search practice.
Chief Operating Officer and Chief HR Officer
Operational and people leadership for scaling and multi-site businesses.
Vice Presidents and Functional Directors
The layer below the C-suite, where most searches actually sit.
Country Managers and Regional Heads
Market entry and regional P&L, with in-country assessment rather than remote screening.
Board and Advisory Appointments
Non-executive and advisory roles, always confidential.
Sectors
Technology and SaaS, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and engineering, banking and financial services, energy and utilities, retail and e-commerce, construction and infrastructure, hospitality, and private equity and venture-backed portfolio companies.
Geographies
Retained search delivered across the Gulf, India, South East Asia, Europe, the UK, North America and Australasia.
Hiring a C-Suite Leader?
Get your executive search mandate scoped and receive a clear fee before any search begins.
Our Executive Search Recruitment Process
Leadership Brief and Scoping (Week 1)
Business context, board expectations, the specific gap, and the year-one decisions this appointment owns. We also establish what you will pay before we start searching, because a brief that does not survive contact with the market costs everyone six weeks.
Market Mapping (Weeks 1 to 2)
Systematic identification of everyone operating at this level in your sector and geography. Delivered as a document. Yours to keep.
Confidential Approach and Assessment (Weeks 2 to 5)
Direct, discreet approach to mapped executives. Structured assessment against the agreed brief. Expect roughly one in ten approached executives to engage, and say so up front rather than presenting the ten percent as though it were the market.
Shortlist and Client Interviews (Weeks 5 to 8)
Three to five candidates with written assessment against each brief criterion, including where each one is weak. Interview scheduling and feedback managed.
Offer, Notice and Onboarding (Weeks 8 to 10)
Compensation structuring, counter-offer management and notice-period navigation. Senior counter-offers are the most common failure point at this level and are managed from the assessment stage onward, not from the day the offer is made.
Post-Placement Review (After Joining)
We stay involved after the executive joins, checking progress against the original brief and addressing early alignment issues. This supports a smoother transition and helps protect the long-term success of the appointment.
Who We Serve
Companies that priced a Big Four search and stopped
Where the retainer was proportionate to the firm’s cost base rather than to the business doing the hiring.
Boards replacing an incumbent who is still in post
Where the search cannot be visible and a contingency agency cannot be trusted with it.
Private equity and venture-backed portfolio companies
hiring against investor timelines and board reporting cycles, where a twelve-week search is already two weeks late.
Businesses whose last senior hire failed inside a year
Usually appointed from an applicant pool rather than a mapped market, and now wanting to see the map before the shortlist.
Companies hiring their first C-suite executive
Founder-led businesses appointing a CFO or COO for the first time, where the brief itself needs constructing.
Employers hiring senior leadership into a market they do not operate in
needing in-country assessment rather than a video call and a LinkedIn profile.
Companies planning leadership succession
Preparing for a CEO, CFO, COO or other senior executive transition and needing a structured, confidential search.
High-growth companies adding senior leadership
Scaling quickly and needing experienced executives who can build teams, manage complexity, and support the next stage of growth.
The Alliance Advantage in Executive Search
Retained discipline at mid-market fee levels. The same process the global firms run, priced for the businesses that are not Fortune 100.
You keep the market map. Delivered as a document regardless of outcome. Most firms treat the map as their asset. It was produced with your money.
One named team per mandate, on the contract, not a partner at pitch and a researcher thereafter.
We state the engagement rate honestly. Roughly one in ten approached executives engage. A firm presenting a shortlist without telling you how many said no is selling you a filtered view of your own market.
Confidential by default. Blind profiles, NDA-gated outreach, discreet client communication.
Counter-offers managed from assessment onward. The most common failure mode at C-suite level, addressed before the offer rather than after.
36+ countries, in-country assessment. Senior candidates evaluated by people in their market.
Permanent appointments only. No interim, no fractional, no contract executives. If you need a CFO for six months, we are the wrong firm and will say so on the first call.
Why Choose Alliance for Executive Search Recruitment?
There is a real gap in this market. At the top, four firms run excellent, expensive, globally-resourced search. At the bottom, contingency agencies forward CVs and call it executive recruitment. Between them sits most of the economy, hiring genuine C-suite leadership without a Fortune 100 budget, and being asked to choose between a fee that is disproportionate and a process that is not a process.
Alliance operates in that gap deliberately. Retained method, market mapping, confidential approach, structured assessment, one named team. Priced against the size of the business doing the hiring rather than the size of our own cost base.
We are transparent about the trade-off. The global firms have deeper partner networks in the very largest enterprises and a brand your board may already know. If you are appointing a FTSE 100 chair, use them. We will say so.
We are also the wrong choice in two other cases. For roles below director level, retained search is over-engineered and a good agency relationship costs less. And for interim or fractional leadership, we do not offer it. For the layer just below C-suite, see C-level executive recruiters. For how retained search actually differs in practice, see top retained executive search firms.
Our Client Reviews
Alliance took the time to understand our leadership requirements before approaching candidates. The shortlist was highly relevant, and the quality of the candidates made the executive hiring process much more efficient.
We engaged Alliance for a senior leadership appointment that required both industry expertise and strong cultural fit. Their executive search team was thorough, discreet, and consistently professional throughout the process.
The strength of Alliance’s executive search process was the depth of candidate assessment. They helped us identify leaders with the experience, strategic thinking, and management capability needed for our next stage of growth.
Awards
Meet Our Leadership Team
Molly Anderson
Franchise Lead | Recruitment Franchise
Alex George
General Manager | RPO & Enterprise Recruitment
Nikki Miller
Head of Recruitment | Recruitment & Staffing
Frequently Asked Questions
Executive search recruitment is the confidential, research-led identification and appointment of senior leaders, run as a retained assignment. The firm maps the market, approaches executives who are not job-hunting, assesses them against a defined brief, and manages the process to offer.
Executive search targets passive candidates through direct confidential approach and is paid to run a defined process. Recruitment agencies typically work from applicant pools on a contingency basis, competing against other agencies for the same placement.
Typically 6 to 12 weeks to offer. Brief and mapping take 1 to 2 weeks, approach and assessment 2 to 5 weeks, client interviews 6 to 8 weeks, and offer and notice negotiation 8 to 10 weeks.
Retained search is priced as a percentage of first-year total compensation, billed across engagement, shortlist and placement milestones. Alliance prices below the global search firm tier.
Yes. Blind candidate profiles, NDA-gated outreach and discreet client communication, which matters most when replacing an incumbent still in post.
Yes. It is delivered as a document and is yours regardless of whether you hire through us.
CEO, CFO, CTO, CIO, COO, CHRO, CMO, Vice Presidents, functional Directors, Country Managers, and board and advisory appointments.
No. Alliance places permanent executives only. We do not provide interim, fractional or contract leadership resource.
Yes, on retained placements, with the period and terms written into the engagement letter.
Yes, on CEO, CFO and founder-transition searches built around portfolio timelines and board reporting cycles.
Book a confidential consultation. We scope the leadership requirement, agree the brief and quote the fee before any searching begins.
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