Service
Executive Search (Retained)
Executive and senior technical search
Search for senior technical leadership roles on retained or exclusive terms: CTO, VP Engineering, Director and Head of Engineering. Confidential where required, with a mapped, direct approach to the people you need.
One of the ways to work with Humand's specialist technology recruitment for employers.
Weighing a retained search against other ways to hire? Read our guide to in-house, agency and embedded recruitment.
Is this the right service?
What it is
A committed, mapped search for leadership and hard-to-reach roles, run discreetly and worked through to a defined shortlist.
When it may not fit
For a role that attracts strong applicants on its own, a full mapped search is more process than the hire needs.
Not sure? Check which route fits.
Why clients engage us
What you get from working with Humand.
Mapped, direct search
A written map of the relevant leadership talent, including people who are not looking, and a target list you approve before anyone is approached in your name.
Confidential where required
Comfortable running searches where the incumbent doesn't yet know they're being replaced.
What you get
Deliverables at a glance.
Every engagement includes clear, written outputs, with no ambiguity about what "done" looks like.
- Market map of relevant leadership talent
- Weekly progress reports
- Long-list and short-list documents
- Reference checking where requested and agreed
Technical Leadership Search
What a Technical Leadership Search includes
This is the standard package for leadership searches from now on. Earlier senior appointments were delivered through the same recruitment team and the same core method, on retained or exclusive terms where that suited the engagement.
- 01
Retained or exclusive engagement
Leadership searches run on retained or exclusive terms, so the search is resourced properly rather than raced against other agencies.
- 02
Confidential handling where required
Where a role cannot be public — a replacement, a new function, a sensitive restructure — the search runs without the role appearing anywhere.
- 03
Role and leadership-profile calibration
A structured conversation with the senior stakeholders about what the person has to be able to do, before anyone is approached.
- 04
Market map
A written map of the relevant leadership talent, including people who are not looking.
- 05
Agreed target list
Target companies and profiles are agreed with you before outreach, so you know who is being approached in your name.
- 06
Direct and passive approach
Senior people are approached individually. Leadership hires are not made from applications.
- 07
Weekly written update
A written progress note each week: who has been approached, who has responded, what the market is saying, and what changes next.
- 08
Structured shortlist
Each shortlisted person arrives with the recruiter's evidence and context, not just a CV.
- 09
Briefing and interview coordination
Candidates are briefed properly and the process is coordinated so senior diaries are not the reason a hire is lost.
- 10
Offer and close management
Offer stage is managed actively, with post-placement follow-up.
Reference checking where you ask for it and we have agreed the scope.
Where Humand has recruited leadership
- Recruiting senior technical leaders — CTO, VP Engineering, Director and Head of Engineering roles — across Oxfordshire deep-tech and UK technology businesses.
- Confidential searches where the role could not be advertised.
- Direct headhunting and market mapping rather than advertising and waiting.
- Retained and exclusive terms where the engagement warranted them.
- Senior stakeholder handling through to offer and close.
Which leadership roles Humand recruits — Executive and C-Suite roles
FAQs
Common questions.
Not seeing yours? Drop us a line. We usually reply within one working day.
Get started
Ready to talk about executive search (retained)?
Send a brief and we'll come back to agree next steps, or arrange a call if the role is still being shaped.