Executive Search for Tech Leadership
Retained search for CTOs, VPs of Engineering and senior technology leaders across the UK and DACH. AI-assisted market mapping, human-led assessment and a shortlist you can defend to your board.
Leadership hiring built on market evidence
A leadership hire shapes everything a company builds for years. Executive search is a retained, research-driven process for filling those roles: we map the whole market, approach people who are not actively looking and assess them against the outcomes the role has to deliver.
Because we also build and run engineering teams, we assess technology leaders as practitioners, not as keywords on a CV. The same market knowledge that staffs our client teams tells us who has actually shipped what, and which candidates will hold up in front of your engineers.
- Retained search for CTO, VP Engineering and head of AI and data roles.
- Market mapping across the UK and DACH, including people not actively looking.
- Structured assessment by people who build and run engineering teams.
Where AI helps, and where it does not
AI shortens the research phase of a search. Market mapping that used to take a researcher days now produces a fuller longlist in hours, so the search starts from the whole market rather than one network. We use it for exactly that: sourcing, mapping and coordination.
Assessment and the final decision stay human. Hiring is a high-risk use case under the EU AI Act, and more importantly, no model can judge how a leader will land with your team. Every shortlist we present is built and defended by a consultant, with the reasoning documented.
Who we work with
Scale-ups and mid-size companies hiring their first CTO or VP of Engineering, established firms replacing a technology leader quietly, and VC and PE funds filling leadership gaps in portfolio companies on investment timelines.
Most of our searches run in the UK and the DACH region, where we recruit daily for our own engineering business and know which companies are hiring, who is open to a move and what strong candidates expect.
How we work
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Retained executive search
Full-market mapping, direct approach and structured assessment for leadership roles where the wrong hire costs multiples of salary.
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Senior technical hiring
Searches for principal engineers, architects and heads of function, run with the same rigour as board-level roles.
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Embedded recruitment and RPO
A recruiter or a full hiring function inside your team for sustained hiring programmes, from scaling plans to portfolio companies.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an executive search take?
A typical retained search takes 90 to 120 days from brief to accepted offer. AI-assisted research shortens the mapping phase, but assessment and referencing are never compressed.
How is this different from a contingency recruiter?
Contingency recruiters submit available candidates from their network and are paid per placement. A retained search maps the whole market for one client, approaches people who are not looking and is accountable for the outcome of the search.
Do you only place technology leaders?
Technology leadership is where we are strongest: CTOs, VPs of Engineering and heads of AI and data. We also run searches for adjacent leadership roles in product and operations where the technical context matters.
Do you use AI in the process?
Yes, for market mapping, sourcing and coordination, where it is reliably useful. Shortlisting and assessment decisions are made by consultants and documented, in line with how the EU AI Act treats hiring systems.
Your next leadership hire is too important to guess
Tell us about the role and the timeline. We will show you how we would map the market and what a strong shortlist looks like.