Leadership
Mandate, authority, resources, inherited team, company stage and operating conditions.
A leadership hire reshapes the company around them. Founders, co-founders and boards often picture different leaders, and a strong record at a larger company can rest on a team, a budget and a brand your company has yet to build. We agree on the leader you need first, then examine how each candidate led in conditions close to yours.
Who we search for
Executives and heads of function across engineering, AI, product and go-to-market, from a first executive hire to a seasoned leadership team.
- CTO
- VP of Engineering
- Head of AI
- Chief Product Officer
- VP of Product
- Head of Product
- Chief Revenue Officer
- VP of Sales
- Head of Revenue
How we assess leaders
Before outreach, everyone who will judge the hire agrees on what this leader must accomplish. Each candidate's most significant results are then compared with it, across four things.
Mandate and authority
What they were hired to accomplish, and which decisions were truly theirs to make.
Inherited team and resources
What they walked into, and what they built, kept or changed.
Stage and trajectory
How their scope and results have grown over time, and whether that path leads to the stage you are at or heading toward.
How they lead people
The people they hired and developed, and the situations they would handle differently now.
In their words
From a CEO who hired a leader, and a candidate considered for one.
“The board, my co-founder, and I were each describing a slightly different leader. We didn't realize how far apart we were until we saw the first profiles. Getting that disagreement out early saved us from rejecting good people.”
“They were unusually direct about what I would own and what would still sit with the founders. That made the role more attractive. I could decide whether I wanted the real job instead of the version usually sold during an interview.”
Fees
The same methodology as every search, with deeper stakeholder alignment, broader market calibration and leadership assessment.
Usual fit
Leadership Search
$20,000
Retainer: $5,000
Balance at signature: $15,000
For executives, heads of function, and searches that need broader market mapping, multi-stakeholder alignment, leadership assessment or heightened confidentiality.
Specialist Search
$10,000
Retainer: $2,500
Balance at signature: $7,500
For individual contributors and people managers within a defined functional market.
Choose Exclusive Search and we're your only external firm for 20 business days, starting when you approve the Signal Spec and outreach is ready. Your fee becomes $9,000 for Specialist or $18,000 for Leadership, and replacement coverage extends to 180 days. View the fee schedule
Questions
Can the search stay confidential?
Yes. You decide when your company enters the conversation: from the first message, or once there is mutual interest.
What does Leadership Search add?
Deeper stakeholder alignment, broader market calibration and an assessment of how each candidate has led through conditions like yours. Everything else in the methodology is the same as every search.
How do you decide between Specialist and Leadership Search?
Leadership Search covers executives, heads of function and searches that need broader market mapping, multi-stakeholder alignment, leadership assessment or heightened confidentiality. We confirm the type before your engagement begins.
Tell us about the role. Within one business day, we confirm whether we are the right firm to lead the search.
Bring the job description you have, or the role in your head. We define the role with you.