Executive Search Consultant

Position Summary

This is a full-desk Executive Search Consultant position. You own the entire revenue cycle: identifying and winning new client business, negotiating fee agreements, taking the search assignment, sourcing and assessing the talent yourself, managing the interview and offer process, and closing the placement. Business development and delivery are not split between two people – they are both yours, and you are measured on the revenue your desk produces.

A Day on a Full Desk

• Prospecting and client development calls.
• Intake and scoping conversations with hiring executives.
• Direct sourcing and outreach to passive candidates who are not actively applying.
• Screening and assessment interviews.
• Preparing and presenting candidate summaries.
• Debriefing both sides after every interview.
• Negotiating offers and managing counteroffers.
• Updating the ATS in real time.
• Reviewing your own pipeline and forecasting what will close this month and next.

What Will You Do in This Role?

Business Development & Client Acquisition

• Generate new client business through consistent, disciplined outbound activity – cold and warm calling, targeted email and LinkedIn outreach, referrals and market mapping of hiring companies in your territory or vertical.
• Identify hiring authorities (CFOs, CHROs, Controllers, VPs of Finance, Audit Directors, business owners) and secure meetings that lead to search assignments.
• Conduct client intake and scoping meetings that go beyond the job description – uncover the real hiring drivers, team dynamics, compensation reality, decision-making process, and timeline.
• Present and defend the Sikich search methodology, negotiate fee percentages and engagement terms, and secure signed fee agreements on retained, engaged, and contingent bases.
• Expand existing accounts by earning repeat and multi-role assignments and building relationships beyond the original hiring manager.
• Maintain an active, documented prospect pipeline and forecast new business with accuracy.

Search Execution & Candidate Delivery

• Build and execute a written search strategy for each assignment, including target company lists, title mapping, sourcing channels, and a realistic timeline communicated to the client.
• Source passive talent directly through name generation, referral development, competitor mapping, professional associations, alumni networks, and LinkedIn Recruiter, rather than relying on inbound applicants or job board response.
• Conduct structured, competency-based screening and assessment interviews that surface both qualifications and genuine gaps, motivations, compensation expectations, and risk of falling out of process.
• Prepare written candidate presentations and executive summaries that give the client an honest picture of fit, including where a candidate does not meet the specification.
• Manage the full interview process: scheduling, preparation of both parties, debriefs after every stage, and proactive follow-up so that momentum never stalls.
• Conduct or coordinate reference checks, verify credentials, and prepare candidates and clients for a clean offer.
• Negotiate offers, manage counteroffer risk, and close placements – then stay engaged through the start date and beyond to protect the placement and the relationship.
• Deliver a shortlist within the timeframe committed to the client and communicate honestly and early when a search is not tracking to plan.

Advisory & Market Expertise

• Serve as a credible talent advisor – counsel clients on realistic compensation, market availability, competing offers, interview process design, and where a specification needs to flex to be fillable.
• Maintain current, specific knowledge of compensation ranges, hiring trends, and competitor activity within your vertical, and be able to support that view with data rather than anecdote.
• Build and sustain a long-term candidate network, staying connected to strong professionals well before they are actively looking.
• Represent Sikich professionally in the market with the discretion and confidentiality that executive-level search requires.

Desk Management & Operating Discipline

• Own your desk as a business – plan your week, protect your outbound activity blocks, and manage competing priorities across active searches and business development without letting either slip.
• Document all client, prospect, candidate, and search activity in the applicant tracking system accurately and in real time, so that the data supports forecasting and continuity.
• Track and report on your own metrics: outbound activity, client meetings, new agreements signed, submittals, interviews, placements, average fee, and revenue against goal.
• Participate in pipeline reviews and forecast meetings with a clear, defensible view of what will close and when.
• Adhere to all firm policies, employment law requirements, client contract terms, and data privacy standards governing candidate information.

Team & Firm Contribution

• Collaborate with other team members on split placements and shared searches where it serves the client, without protecting information at the expense of the outcome.
• Share market intelligence, sourcing techniques, and client feedback that strengthens the broader practice.
• Support team members with their open requisitions.

Performance Expectations

This role carries an individual revenue goal. Within the first twelve months, a successful Executive Search Consultant will be expected to:

• Be a self-starter – able to drive productive business activity with minimal management involvement.
• Support the Firm's core Finance & Accounting business line through new order prospecting and candidate recruitment.
• Achieve or exceed an annual revenue/gross profit target given.
• Maintain consistent weekly business development activity at or above the practice standard.
• Convert prospect meetings into signed fee agreements at a sustainable rate and maintain a live pipeline of active searches.
• Deliver qualified shortlists within agreed upon business days of search kickoff.
• Sustain a submittal-to-interview and interview-to-placement ratio in line with practice benchmarks.
• Minimize and prevent fall-off and guarantee-period losses.
• Keep ATS records complete and current, with accurate monthly and quarterly forecasting.
• Actively participate in Team & Firm activities: virtual or onsite meetings, ordinary internal tasks, etc.
• Maintain general availability during normal business hours unless otherwise agreed to by Management.

Required Qualifications

• Full-desk experience. Minimum of 3 years running a full desk in executive search, direct hire, or professional/agency recruiting within accounting and finance – personally responsible for both business development and delivery.
• Documented, repeatable production. A verifiable track record of year-over-year success, with the ability to speak specifically to annual billings or gross profit, placement volume, average fee, and growth trajectory across a minimum of three consecutive years. Candidates should be prepared to substantiate production during the interview process.
• Self-generated business. Demonstrated history of building a client base from scratch, not inheriting one. Evidence of self-sourced clients, negotiated fee agreements, and repeat assignments earned through performance.
• Direct sourcing capability. Proven ability to identify and engage passive candidates who are not on the market, using name generation, mapping, referrals, and professional networks rather than job board response.
• Fee negotiation and closing. Comfort discussing fee structures, defending a rate, negotiating offers, and managing counteroffers to a signed acceptance.
• Professional-level markets. Experience recruiting professional, management, or executive-level roles – ideally in finance, accounting, audit, tax, technology, HR, or business operations.
• Communication and executive presence. Ability to hold a credible, consultative conversation with a CFO or C-suite hiring executive, and to write clear, professional client-facing documents.
• Systems discipline. Working proficiency with an applicant tracking system or CRM, LinkedIn Recruiter, and standard Microsoft Office tools, with genuine discipline about documentation, not just familiarity.
• Resilience and self-direction. Demonstrated ability to sustain high-volume outbound activity, absorb rejection, and manage your own schedule and priorities without daily direction.
• Education. Bachelor's degree, or equivalent professional experience and demonstrated results.

Preferred Qualifications

• Search experience within finance and accounting, internal audit, tax, or technology functions.
• Experience with retained or engaged search methodology, including written search strategies, structured candidate presentations, and formal client reporting.
• Background recruiting into public companies, private equity portfolio companies, or highly regulated industries.
• Established professional network in the target market, subject to any applicable restrictive covenants.
• Industry certification such as CPC, CERS, or equivalent.

Attributes That Succeed Here

• Competitive with yourself – you track your own numbers because you want to beat them, not because someone asks.
• Genuinely curious about people and businesses, which is what makes intake calls and candidate screens produce real information.
• Comfortable being professionally direct – with clients about unrealistic specifications, with candidates about gaps, and with your leader about a search that is in trouble.
• Organized enough to run twelve open searches and a prospecting calendar at the same time.
• Discreet. Executive search regularly involves confidential replacements and sensitive situations.
• Servant Leader – You are hyper focused on engaging employees, fostering their development, and building a positive culture.

Pay

In compliance with this state's pay transparency laws, the base compensation range for this role is (Min) $71,200 - (Mid) $91,750 - (Max) $112,300. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on several factors including but not limited to experience and geographic location.