What does an executive recruiter do differently?
Senior searches are not about finding people who can do the job. They are about finding the small number of people who have already done something very close to it, who would consider moving, and who the board will trust. An executive recruiter spends the first weeks writing a position specification with you, building a target list of companies and names, and then calling those people one by one.
Shortlists are short, often three to five people, and each comes with a written assessment, references the recruiter has already spoken to, and a view on pay expectations. The recruiter also manages the delicate parts: keeping a sitting executive's interest without exposing them to their current employer, and handling counter-offers.
How does the retained search process run?
Most firms follow the same arc. Week one to two, the brief and position specification. Week two to four, research and target mapping. Week four to eight, outreach and first interviews. Week eight to twelve, shortlist presentation and client interviews. Then references, offer and notice period. Firms describe this as a search that takes a few months, and senior people often have notice periods of three months or more, so the person may not start for half a year.
The SHRM 2025 benchmark for executive roles gives a median time to fill of about 45 days from opening to offer acceptance across its respondents, which is faster than a full retained search, because many of those executive hires are internal or through networks rather than through a search firm.
What do executive search firms charge?
Retained executive search fees are usually a percentage of the hire's first-year compensation, paid in three parts. Paraform puts the range at 25 to 35 percent of first-year total compensation, and The Good Search quotes 25 to 38 percent paid in three installments, with its own cost examples using 30 to 33 percent. Some firms also bill an extra amount if the final pay is higher than the estimate the fee was based on. On a 300,000 dollar package a one-third fee is roughly 100,000 dollars, paid whether or not the search ends in a hire.
Most firms add expenses on top, and most have a replacement period of six to twelve months for senior placements.
| Firm type | Fee basis | Exclusive | Typical shortlist | Scowter equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global retained firm | About one third of first-year compensation, in thirds | Yes | 3 to 5 assessed candidates | Flat fee, assessed shortlist with notes |
| Boutique retained firm | One quarter to one third, sometimes a fixed fee | Yes | 3 to 5 | Flat fee |
| Contingency senior recruiter | 20 to 30 percent on hire | No | 5 to 10 CVs | Flat fee, interviewed and verified |
| Scowter senior search | One flat fee per role | Yes | Interviewed, verified, ready to talk | n/a |
How is confidentiality handled in a senior search?
Many executive searches replace someone who does not know yet, or signal a strategy the company has not announced. A good firm will run the search under a code name, share the company name only after a candidate has signed a non-disclosure agreement, and limit who inside your company sees the candidate list. Ask any firm, including Scowter, how they handle this before you share the brief.
Scowter runs confidential searches the same way: anonymous first approach, company name released only with your approval, and a single named recruiter as the point of contact.
How does Scowter run a search for senior roles?
The five steps are the same as for any role, with more human time at each stage. You brief the role, the first-year mandate and the target companies. AI agents map the market, search Scowter's talent pools and more than 150 job boards and shortlist profiles that match the mandate. Senior recruiters interview each person in depth, confirm they would move, agree the compensation range and verify career history. You receive a shortlist with a written note on each person. Scowter then schedules, follows up and coordinates the offer and the notice period.
The talent pools include senior people in tech, sales, healthcare, finance and operations across the United States, India, the United Kingdom and the Gulf, which gives a starting point before direct approaches to named targets.
When is a global search firm still the right choice?
For a public-company CEO or a board seat where governance, investor relations and in-person assessment in several countries are part of the job, a large retained firm has the relationships and the process. For VP, director and most C-level roles in growing companies, that scale is paid for but rarely used. A flat-fee search with human assessment covers those roles at a cost you know before you begin.
What should the brief for a senior search contain?
Write the mandate, not the job description. What must this person change or build in the first year? What is the budget and team they inherit? Who do they report to and who reports to them? What is the compensation range including bonus, equity and relocation? Which companies produce people like this, and which are off limits? What happened to the last person in the role? Answering these honestly saves weeks of search time.
- First-year mandate in three sentences
- Team, budget and reporting lines
- Full compensation range including equity
- Target companies and off-limits companies
- Why the role is open
- Decision makers and the approval process
