Engagement Models

One search, run properly — not a role spread across five recruiters.

How we work together depends on the role and what's at stake. Three engagement models, one standard: retained focus, confidential direct outreach, and a hire who actually stays. Here's how to choose.

The three ways we work

Exclusive Retained

The premium engagement
What it is
I'm your sole search partner for the role — I own the search end to end, with the highest priority and dedicated resources.
How you pay
Structured to suit you: either three staged instalments across the search, or a single retainer up front. Whichever you choose is credited in full against the final invoice — nothing is a sunk cost, it's simply deducted from the total.
When it's right
Senior, specialist or business-critical hires where the wrong person costs you a year: Country Manager, VP Sales, first-in-region, hard-to-fill technical sales.
What you get
Confidential direct outreach to passive A-players, a qualified shortlist in 5–10 days, a signed offer in 14–45, and a 6-month replacement guarantee.

Hybrid — Retained / Contingency

What it is
Non-exclusive — you stay free to source through other channels — but with real, committed priority, not a contingency spread.
How you pay
A retainer up front secures that focused time and is credited in full against the final invoice on placement — so your commitment reserves priority without adding to the total.
When it's right
Important roles where you want committed attention but prefer to keep your options open, or when we're first testing the working relationship.
What you get
Real prioritisation, the same rigorous assessment, and access to my network — without full exclusivity.

Embedded Research / RPO

What it is
I work as your embedded search resource over a defined period (typically 6–12 months), running research and sourcing across several roles.
How you pay
A monthly fee for the engagement period — agreed up front and sized to the scope.
When it's right
You're scaling a region or standing up a team and need sustained pipeline, not a single hire.
What you get
Ongoing market mapping, a warm bench of passive candidates, and a partner who already understands your go-to-market.
Fees are agreed up front, in writing, on our first call — sized to the role, not to a price list.

Contingency vs retained — the honest comparison

Contingency (% of salary)
Retained — fixed fee (with me)
Fee basis
✗ Scales with the salary — higher OTE, higher fee
✓ Fixed, agreed up front — independent of OTE
Whose interest
✗ Place the highest-paid candidate
✓ Place the best-fit candidate
Your budget
✗ Unknown until the offer
✓ Known from day one — no surprises
Priority
✗ Drops once the role gets hard
✓ Committed, retained focus start to finish
Sourcing
✗ Role spread across firms and job boards
✓ Sole partner, confidential direct outreach
Hard-to-fill success
✗ Lower
✓ Markedly higher

Why a fixed fee works in your favour

I place the best candidate, not the most expensive one.

A percentage fee quietly rewards a recruiter for placing the highest-paid person — the bigger the package, the bigger the cut. Mine doesn't work that way. Because my fee is fixed and independent of the candidate's OTE, I have no reason to push the priciest hire; I recommend the person who is the best fit for the role. And because it's agreed up front, your cost is known from day one — budgeted and predictable, with no surprise invoice that balloons with the salary you negotiate.

Most clients come to me after a contingency search stalled — and it's no mystery why. When a recruiter is paid only on placement, the difficult roles quietly lose priority: after a few weeks without an easy win, the search becomes unprofitable to keep pushing, so it gets less time, fewer resources, and eventually drifts.

A retained, fixed-fee structure removes that incentive problem. Your role stays a priority because the commitment runs both ways — and retained search closes markedly more often on exactly the specialist, hard-to-fill positions where a bad hire hurts most.

And you carry no risk before results. The start fee is credited in full against the final invoice, every placement carries a written 6-month guarantee, and one senior partner runs every phase — with a defined backup arrangement and partner network behind it, so the search keeps moving whatever happens.

Schedule a Confidential Intro Call
FAQ

Common questions about how I work

What's the difference between retained and contingency search?
On contingency, a recruiter is paid only if they place someone — so they run many roles at once and drop the hard ones. On retained, I work your search exclusively for a fixed fee agreed up front: full priority, confidential direct outreach, and I stay on it until it's filled. For senior or hard-to-fill sales roles, retained closes far more reliably.
Do you charge a percentage of the candidate's salary?
No. My fee is fixed and agreed up front, independent of the candidate's OTE. Your cost is known from day one, and I have no incentive to push the most expensive hire — only the best-fit one.
What does the guarantee cover?
Every placement carries a 6-month replacement guarantee. If the person leaves or is let go for performance reasons within six months, I run a replacement search at no additional fee.
You work as a solo consultant — what happens if you're unavailable?
One point of contact means one person accountable — who knows every phase and runs it personally, with no handoffs. For the unforeseen, there's a defined backup arrangement and a trusted partner network, so your search keeps moving. The real assurance is the track record: some of my client relationships run beyond ten years, and 97% of placements are still in role after twelve months — that doesn't hold if delivery depends on one person's luck.
Can I keep sourcing candidates myself while you search?
Yes — that's the Hybrid model. It's non-exclusive, so you stay free to use other channels, but you still get committed priority and my assessment. The retainer is credited in full against the final invoice on placement.
How fast will I see candidates?
On a retained search, most clients get a qualified shortlist in 5–10 days and a signed offer in 14–45 — because I go straight to passive top performers instead of waiting on inbound applications.
Do you publish your fees?
No. Fees are sized to the role and agreed in writing on our first call. Different roles carry different difficulty, so a fixed price list would mislead — but you'll know your exact cost before any work begins.