Retained Search

For Head of AI, VP Engineering, CTO, and senior leadership roles that shape your AI strategy. A dedicated research team, exclusively focused on your hire.

Why Retained Search

Senior AI leadership hires require a different approach. The talent pool is small, largely passive, and rarely visible on job boards. Retained search gives you a dedicated team that maps the market exhaustively and approaches candidates confidentially — not a reactive database trawl.

Dedicated team

A research team focused exclusively on your role — not splitting time across 20 contingent briefs.

Deep market mapping

We build a comprehensive long-list across the AI/ML ecosystem, including passive leaders who aren't on the market.

Confidential approach

Every conversation is discreet. Ideal for sensitive leadership hires, succession planning, or replacement scenarios.

Calibration sessions

We refine the candidate profile with you as the search progresses — not just at the start.

Replacement guarantee

If the placed candidate doesn't stay, we run the search again at no additional fee. 3-month guarantee included.

Full lifecycle support

From candidate research through to offer negotiation, we handle the entire process so you can focus on your business.

Our Process

How a retained search works

  1. Role scoping
    We meet your stakeholders to understand the role, the team, the AI stack, and what “great” looks like for this hire.

  2. Market mapping
    We build a long-list of potential candidates through primary research — direct outreach, not database searches.

  3. Screening & calibration
    We assess candidates on technical depth, leadership capability, and cultural fit — then calibrate the profile with you.

  4. Shortlist presentation
    A curated shortlist of 3–5 candidates with detailed assessment notes — not a stack of CVs.

  5. Offer negotiation
    We act as the honest broker — managing expectations, navigating compensation, and closing the gap when it matters.

Ready to Hire AI Leadership?

Tell us about the role — we'll come back with an initial view on the market and a proposed search approach.

Submit a Role → Book a 20-min Strategy Call →