Direct-hire search
Our bread and butter. A contingency search for a role you need filled, run against people who are not looking, with a fee you only pay when someone starts.
What it is
We start from what you are building and who you already have, not from a job description. That conversation is what decides who the right hire actually is, and it is usually different from what the job description said.
Then we go and find them. Most of what we deliver comes from cold outreach to people who are not in anyone’s pipeline, because that is where the strongest candidates are. We do not forward you inbound applicants and call it a search.
You see a short list, not a stream. Each name comes with the reasoning: why this person, what they have done that maps to your problem, and where the risk is.
What you get out of it
You pay on a hire, not on activity
No retainer and no upfront fee. If the search does not produce someone you hire, it costs you nothing.
Assessed on four dimensions
Skills, how someone actually operates, whether the interest is genuine rather than polite, and the kind of company they have succeeded in before. Most processes only test the first.
Backed by a guarantee
If a placement does not work out inside the guarantee period, we make it right on the terms in your agreement.
We manage the momentum
Most good candidates are lost to slow, unclear processes rather than to a competing offer. We keep yours moving and tell you where it is leaking.
Who this is for
- You have a role open now and a date you need it filled by
- The role is hard: a first federal hire, a rare clearance, a skill set with ten real candidates in the country
- You have posted it and the applicants are not close
- You are two to two hundred people and do not have an internal recruiting team yet
When it is not the right fit. If you need twenty people in a quarter, a role-by-role search is the wrong shape and we would point you at a forward deployed recruiter instead.
Questions
What does it cost?
Between 20% and 30% of the hire’s first-year base salary, depending on the terms you choose, including the length of the guarantee. We agree the number before the search starts and it does not move.
When do I pay?
When the person starts. Not on signature, not on shortlist, not on offer.
How long does a search take?
It depends on the role, and anyone who quotes you a number before hearing it is guessing. We will tell you what we think after the first conversation, and tell you early if we think it is unrealistic.
Do you work on roles that need a clearance?
Yes, routinely, across the full range from clearable to TS/SCI.
What if the person does not work out?
The guarantee covers it. The specifics, including whether it is a replacement or a refund, are set in your agreement, and longer guarantee periods are available.
Can you work without a finished job description?
Yes, and we often do. A rough idea of the problem you need solved is enough to start. We have begun searches from a paragraph.
The other things we do
Forward deployed recruiters
A recruiter embedded in your team, not a vendor on a call.
Hiring strategy and process design
Build the hiring function, not just make the hire.
Talent and market intelligence
Where the people are, what they cost, who else wants them.
Fractional and advisory talent
Senior people part-time, for the roles you cannot justify full-time yet.
Start a conversation
Tell us what you are trying to do
A few sentences is enough. If this is not the right service for your problem, we will say so and point you at the one that is.