Senior and Executive Finance Recruitment

A few things are working against you at the same time. The best candidates at this level are employed, not looking, and extremely selective about what would make them move. Job security matters more than it has in years.

At the same time, every other business is competing for the same small pool of people. Salary expectations are often higher than clients initially budget for. And a straightforward post the job and see who applies approach almost never works at senior level.

You need someone who knows the market, knows the people, and knows how to make your opportunity stand out.

Contingent means we are working in parallel with other agencies and you pay only if we place. Exclusive means you are working with us alone, which allows more focus and usually a faster, better result. Retained means a portion of the fee is paid upfront, giving maximum commitment and priority on both sides.

In practice: 25% contingent, 23% exclusive, 20% or below retained. The more commitment at the start, the better the value and the better your chances of securing the right person.

We are happy to talk through which model makes most sense for your situation before you commit to anything.

Direct outreach, and a lot of it. The real talent at this level is employed and not checking job boards. Reaching them means personal, targeted contact, often in the evenings or at weekends when they are actually available to talk.

It also requires genuine credibility in the market. If candidates do not know who you are, calls do not get returned. After many years of building relationships at this level, many of the people we approach already know us, which changes the quality of the conversation entirely.

For urgent interim requirements, we can typically present a shortlist within 24 to 72 hours. For senior permanent searches, a well prepared shortlist usually follows within one to two weeks of the initial brief.

We recruit across senior and executive finance, both permanent and interim. On the permanent side, this includes Finance Directors, CFOs, Heads of Finance, Heads of Commercial Finance, Directors of FP&A, Financial Controllers and senior Finance Managers. On the interim side, we cover the full range from Financial Controllers through to interim CFOs and fractional finance leaders.

We support private sector businesses across a wide range of industries, with a particular sweet spot in SMEs and scale up businesses. We understand that the right candidate for one environment is not automatically the right candidate for another, and we take that seriously at every stage.

If you are not sure which type of professional you need, or whether interim or permanent is the right approach, we are happy to talk it through before you commit to anything.

We operate as a specialist boutique, which means every brief receives genuine personal attention. We are not running a high volume, process driven model. We are a team with deep, long standing relationships across the senior and executive finance market.

We know our candidates well enough to move fast on interim requirements and to make compelling, well informed approaches on permanent searches. We will challenge your brief if we think it is too narrow, open up talent pools you had not considered, and push back where clients are being unrealistic about salary or process.

Our repeat business rate is high because the relationships last. Clients become candidates, and candidates become clients. That is the kind of partnership we are trying to build.