Executive & Senior Management Recruitment

Executive search is a targeted, confidential way of filling senior roles, where the recruiter approaches the right people directly rather than advertising and waiting for applications. 

We start with a detailed brief, map who's doing that kind of role across the market, and approach suitable people discreetly, including those who aren't looking. 

You get a small number of genuinely suitable, thoroughly assessed candidates rather than a large pile of applications. It's the right approach when the appointment is important enough that getting it wrong is costly.

The main difference is approach and focus. Contingency recruitment is usually reactive and you pay only on placement, which works well for roles where advertising attracts good applicants. 

Executive search is proactive and normally retained, with the recruiter dedicating time to find and approach people who aren't applying anywhere. 

For senior roles, where the best people are rarely on the market and a wrong hire is expensive, search gives you a more thorough, focused process and a properly considered shortlist.

We handle leadership and senior management appointments across environment, water, mining and engineering. 

That includes general managers, technical directors, principals, project directors, engineering managers and heads of function, the roles that need both real technical credibility and the ability to lead.

 If the role is senior and sits in one of our sectors, it's the kind of search we're built for.

Executive search is usually done on a retained basis, because the work involved in properly finding and approaching senior people is significant and happens whether or not anyone applies. 

We'll talk you through whether retained or another arrangement suits the specific role. We don't quote a percentage here because it depends on the brief, but we'll be clear and upfront about cost before you commit to anything.

Longer than a standard placement, and that's deliberate. Mapping the market, approaching people discreetly and assessing them properly takes weeks rather than days. 

We'll give you a realistic timeline at the start based on the role and how scarce the right people are, rather than an optimistic one but usually we can present a shortlist after 4 weeks and complete a search in around 8 weeks 

Done properly, the time spent is what produces a strong, considered shortlist.

We map the market for the role, work out who's doing it well, and approach them directly and confidentially. 

The strongest senior people are almost never applying for anything, so reaching them is about knowing who they are and being able to have a credible, discreet conversation about a move. 

Working only in environment, water, mining and engineering means we know these markets and the people in them.

Confidentiality runs through the whole process. We can run a search without naming your company until a candidate is serious and trusted, and we handle approaches discreetly so word doesn't get around a small market. 

On the candidate side, nothing they share goes further without their agreement. If the search itself is sensitive, we'll agree upfront exactly how it's handled.

We assess senior candidates on more than their CV: real track record and outcomes, technical credibility, leadership, and how they'd fit your business, backed by proper conversations and references. 

Because we put forward a small number of people rather than a long list, each one is there for a reason. We'd rather present genuinely suitable candidates than pad the shortlist to look busy.

A clear brief on the role, the must-haves versus the nice-to-haves, and an honest picture of the business and the challenges, the good and the bad. 

The more real the brief, the better the people we can approach and the fewer surprises later. We'll ask plenty of questions at the start, because the quality of the search depends on properly understanding what you actually need.

There's a guarantee period on placements, and for senior appointments it's often longer given the stakes. 

The thorough, considered process is designed to get the appointment right first time, but the guarantee is there as a backup.

Because a specialist knows your sector and the people in it. We work only in environment, water, mining and engineering, so we understand what senior roles in these fields actually need and who the credible candidates are. 

A generalist firm covering every industry can't offer that depth, and at leadership level, where the technical and commercial judgement of the person really matters, that knowledge is what makes the shortlist worth having.