Director - Executive Search

Position Summary

McCarthy is seeking a Director of Executive Search to lead and elevate our executive hiring capability across the enterprise.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end executive recruiting process for senior leadership and executive-level roles across McCarthyBuild and lead McCarthy’s executive search strategy, aligning executive hiring priorities with talent planning and succession planning efforts
• Develop and scale a small executive search function, including processes, tools, operating rhythms, and service standards
• Serve as a hands-on search leader who personally drives executive requisitions, candidate strategy, sourcing, assessment, and closing activities
• Create and execute proactive market research and talent intelligence strategies to identify and track top executive talent across target industries and competitors
• Build long-term executive talent pipelines through thoughtful outreach, relationship-building, and sustained candidate engagement over time
• Partner closely with senior executives, HR leaders, and hiring managers to define role requirements, candidate profiles, search strategies, and hiring timelines
• Deliver a polished, high-touch internal client experience, including executive candidate slate presentations, market insights, search updates, and sourcing strategy recommendations
• Prepare and present executive talent market data, benchmarking, and competitive insights to support hiring decisions
• Manage candidate and requisition activity with strong discipline, accuracy, and executive-level communication throughout the search lifecycle
• Lead and support high-level compensation discussions, offer strategy, and closing conversations for executive candidates
• Ensure a premium candidate experience that reflects McCarthy’s brand and values, especially for highly targeted and relationship-driven searches
• Influence and improve executive hiring processes, governance, and stakeholder alignment to increase effectiveness and consistency
• Coach and develop team members as the function grows, while maintaining direct ownership of critical searches and stakeholder relationships

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 10+ years of progressive experience in executive recruiting or executive search
• Significant experience leading executive-level searches with demonstrated success owning complex, high-visibility requisitions
• Prior experience in a top-tier executive search firm strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience building or scaling small teams, processes, and operating models in executive recruiting or search environments
• Strong expertise in executive talent market mapping, research, candidate development, and long-cycle relationship management
• Proven ability to align recruiting strategy with broader talent planning and succession planning priorities
• Experience managing executive candidate pipelines, requisition workflows, search reporting, and stakeholder communication with a high degree of rigor
• Strong capability in executive candidate assessment, slate development, and search strategy consultation
• Proven ability to lead compensation, offer negotiation, and executive closing discussions
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills with the ability to build trust and credibility with senior leaders
• Polished executive presence with strong written, verbal, and presentation skills
• Able to operate strategically while also executing at a high level in a hands-on, player-coach capacity
• Experience in construction, engineering, or professional services environments preferred