Executive search is the paid, direct search for leaders who are not applying anywhere. A search firm maps the market, approaches suitable people one by one and presents a shortlist, typically for C-suite, board and rare specialist roles. In Germany the fee is usually 25 to 35 percent of the gross annual target pay, paid either in instalments for the work (retained) or only on a successful hire (contingency), and a mandate takes 12 to 18 weeks to signature.
This guide covers what executive search is, how a mandate runs step by step, what it costs with a worked example, when retained or contingency fits, what the law allows in the first contact, and how to decide whether to commission a firm or run the search yourself. For tooling see executive search software, for the wider advisory picture recruitment consultancy, for the outreach method headhunting.
What is executive search, and how does it differ from recruiting and headhunting?
Executive search targets top and key positions and works on the passive market: people who are employed, successful and not looking. Wikipedia (as of October 2026) describes the usual sequence as requirements profile, market mapping, direct approach, selection and contract. The terms around it overlap, so a quick sorting helps:
| Term | What it means | Typical level | Usual fee model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive search | Market mapping and direct approach for top and key positions, confidential, exclusive | C-suite, board, division heads, rare specialists | Retained |
| Headhunting | The method: approaching people directly. Used well beyond leadership | Any level with scarce candidates | Retained or contingency |
| Contingency recruiting | Agency presents candidates, paid only on hire, often several agencies in parallel | Specialists, junior and middle management | Contingency |
| Internal sourcing | Your own team searches and approaches | Any level | No fee, staff time |
Which roles actually call for executive search?
Not every vacancy justifies a direct search. Retained executive search is used mainly for C-suite and senior leadership, rare specialist positions and confidential replacements where the incumbent has not left yet. The common thread: the right people do not apply, and job ads do not reach them. According to figures the advisory firm Münker & Partner cites from the Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberatungen (BDU), 94 percent of placements at this level come from direct approach rather than inbound applications (accessed September 2026).
How does an executive search run, step by step?
The order is the same everywhere; what differs between mandates is how long each step takes:
| Step | What happens | Realistic duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Requirements analysis | Agree competency profile, compensation range and success criteria with the client | 1–2 weeks |
| 2. Market mapping | Identify target companies, build a longlist that often runs 80 to 150 people (Münker & Partner) | 2–4 weeks |
| 3. Direct approach and first conversations | Contact matching people, gauge interest and rough fit | 3–6 weeks, overlaps with mapping |
| 4. In-depth interviews and report | Structured interviews, assessments if used, confidential candidate report | 2–4 weeks |
| 5. Presentation and selection rounds | Shortlist to the client, rounds with hiring team and board | 2–5 weeks |
| 6. References and contract | Collect references, negotiate terms, wait out the notice period | 3–7 days plus 2–4 weeks, plus notice |
Added up, that is a realistic 12 to 18 weeks to signature for an upper-mid-market mandate, before the incoming leader's own notice period, which for senior roles is often several months.
Checklist: what you need before you brief a firm (or start yourself)
- Written success criteria. Three to five outcomes the person must deliver in the first 18 months, not a list of past job titles.
- A pay range with a decision. Who may approve an offer above the range, and by when?
- Must-haves vs. nice-to-haves. Max. five must-haves; everything else is negotiable. This is the number-one lever for the size of the longlist.
- Target and off-limits list. Which companies are desired, which are off-limits because of existing agreements?
- A named decision panel. Who interviews, in which order, with which calendar slots. Selection rounds are the step that slips most often.
- Internal check done. Is there an internal successor? If yes, the search may not be needed (see below).
How long does a placement really take, by level?
Seniority moves the timeline more than any single step. For department-head mandates in the mid-market, 12 to 18 weeks is a realistic frame. Board and international C-suite mandates draw on a broader, often global pool and take longer: Russell Reynolds Associates advertises CEO, C-level and board placements “in as little as 14 weeks” (accessed September 2026), a best case, not a typical one. Plan four to six months from engagement to first day for a board-level hire rather than the roughly three months often quoted for the search itself.
What does executive search cost? Retained vs. contingency
Both models charge a percentage of the placed role's gross target pay, but they differ in when the fee is due and who carries the risk:
| Model | When it is due | Who carries the risk | Typical fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retained search | Usually in three instalments: on engagement, on shortlist presentation, on contract signature, regardless of outcome (Wikipedia) | Client pays even without a hire; in exchange the firm works exclusively | 25–35%, German market average 27.5% in 2024 (Münker & Partner) |
| Contingency search | Only when a candidate is hired | Recruiter carries the risk, usually works several mandates in parallel, non-exclusively | 20–35% of first-year pay; senior management/C-level 25–35%, German average 27.8% (Instaffo) |
| Internal sourcing | No fee; ongoing cost of the in-house team's time | Company carries time, vacancy and mis-hire risk itself | No market price, only your own capacity cost |
The BDU's professional principles (GoPB, December 2024) add a point that is easy to miss: the fee typically follows the expected consulting effort and the target pay of the position, not only the successful placement. That is why a retainer is owed even if you do not hire.
Worked example (our assumptions): gross target pay of €180,000. At 25 percent the fee is €45,000, at the market average of 27.5 percent €49,500, at 35 percent €63,000. Under a retainer at 27.5 percent that is three instalments of roughly €16,500, due even if no one is hired. Under contingency the €49,500 is due only when the placed person signs. The price is exclusivity: a contingency recruiter is usually not the only one working that role.
Retained search earns its keep where the target must be approached confidentially, outside the active market, and a consultant has to commit weeks before any result is certain. Contingency fits roles with a broader, genuinely reachable candidate pool, where the client does not want upfront risk or is happy to run several recruiters on the same brief.
What a retainer actually buys
Three things. Exclusivity: the firm does not work a comparable role for a competitor and invests research effort a contingency recruiter will not risk. Sustained reach: a longlist of 80 to 150 people is worked through even after the first candidates decline, because the fee is not tied to the first yes. Confidentiality: in a replacement search while the incumbent is still in the role, neither the client nor the approached person can be named publicly. The flip side: the client bears the risk that the search fails despite a fully paid retainer, and an exclusive mandate means you cannot also run other firms or your own team on the same role.
Is the first contact legal? Direct approach under German law
Yes, within limits. In its 2004 ruling BGH I ZR 221/01 the Federal Court of Justice held that a search consultant may call a person at work to ask whether they are open to a new role in principle and to outline the offer briefly. It becomes unfair competition once the person shows no interest or the call goes beyond a short description (as summarised by legal publishers, as of October 2026). Later rulings (I ZR 73/02 and I ZR 183/04) confirm that the first call must stay limited to what is necessary; presenting a CV or career details in the first call was held to be unlawful. In practice: first contact short and neutral, details in writing or in a later, agreed conversation. This is general information, not legal advice.
Should we commission a firm or run the search ourselves?
The hard parts of a leadership search are the brief, the access to the person and the discretion. Finding names is the part that has changed. With requirement-based AI search you describe the target person in free text instead of Boolean strings, and the tool checks every profile against it. Sprad (Atlas) searches LinkedIn, GitHub and your own talent pool in one search, and Deep Context search finds people with specific company experience: for example a CFO who guided a merger in a given period, or someone who built a start-up through Series A and B. Outreach runs over LinkedIn and email, follow-ups included, with the whole conversation per person in one inbox, so nobody gets approached twice.
Some boutique firms with an expensive LinkedIn licence tell us they now start their searches in Atlas because they get better results faster. We do not have a published executive-search case study, so treat this as a method that fits the task, not as proof. In the Recruiting area of the public PeopleSearchBench, Atlas comes to 73.5 out of 100 in our own re-measurement, converted to the published scale. PeopleSearchBench (Recruiting), published by Lessie, October 2026. Other systems' scores as published in the benchmark; Atlas is our own re-measurement with the benchmark's open test procedure, converted to the published scale; not an official entry.
On cost: Recruiter Lite is €79 per seat and month, Atlas Recruiter €299 per seat and month (billed annually, net), and you can start free with 100 credits a month. One Atlas Recruiter seat for a year is €3,588, about 7 percent of a single €49,500 retainer fee from the example above. Limits we state openly: no AI note-taker, no placement reporting, and the deep search takes a few minutes because far more AI runs per profile (quick search: about 3 seconds). More in Sprad for recruitment agencies and people search.
Typical mistakes in executive searches
- Briefing by job title instead of outcomes. You get lookalikes of the predecessor, not the person for the next three years.
- Too many must-haves. Every extra must-have shrinks the longlist; at some point it is empty.
- Selection rounds without calendar slots. Board schedules, not candidates, are the usual reason a shortlist goes cold.
- Ignoring the notice period. A signed contract in week 16 is a first day in month 6+.
- Commissioning too early. The mistake is rarely the fee model, it is the timing.
When is executive search not the right tool?
- An internal successor is ready. An external search costs time and money without a better candidate and sends a signal to the leadership team that rarely helps.
- The role sits below the threshold. With enough active candidates a standard contingency search is enough.
- The market is too narrow. If a complete map shows only a handful of names, internal development, an interim solution or a revised profile is faster.
- The requirements profile is unclear. Clarify it before the engagement, not inside an active search.
A short internal stock-take (succession readiness, seniority, market size, clarity of the brief) costs a fraction of the retainer and prevents the most expensive false starts.
How do you choose an executive search firm?
Ask five questions: Who does the actual search work, the partner you meet or a researcher? Which companies are off-limits for the firm because of existing clients? What happens if the placed person leaves early (replacement period)? How are the three instalments tied to milestones? Which comparable mandates were closed in the last 24 months, and how long did they take? Compare the answers with the durations and fee ranges above.
Frequently asked questions about executive search
What is executive search in simple terms?
A firm is paid to find and approach leaders who are not looking for a job, assess them and present a shortlist to the client.
How much does executive search cost?
25 to 35 percent of the gross annual target pay, regardless of model. The German market average is 27.5 percent (retained) and 27.8 percent (contingency). On €180,000 that is roughly €45,000 to €63,000. The models differ in when the fee is due, not in the percentage.
How long does an executive search take?
12 to 18 weeks to signature for department-head and senior specialist roles in the mid-market. Board and international C-level mandates take longer; even large firms cite 14 weeks as their fastest case. The notice period comes on top.
What is the difference between retained and contingency search?
Under a retainer the client pays in instalments regardless of outcome and gets exclusive, prioritised work. Under contingency the client pays only on a hire; the recruiter usually works non-exclusively.
Is executive search the same as headhunting?
No. Headhunting is the method of direct approach and is used beyond leadership roles. Executive search targets top and key positions and almost always runs on a retained basis. Details in our article on headhunting.
Is it legal to call candidates at work?
A short first call to ask about interest is permitted under the BGH case law above; longer calls or presenting a CV in the first call are not.
Can we do executive search ourselves?
Yes, if you have the time for confidential outreach, a clear brief and a tool that searches by requirements. Firms add discretion, access and a systematic process; tools make the mapping step cheaper.
When is executive search the wrong choice?
When a qualified internal successor exists, the role is below the usual threshold, the market is too small for a meaningful longlist, or the requirements are not settled.
Jürgen Ulbrich
Jürgen Ulbrich has more than a decade of experience in developing and leading high-performing teams and companies. As an expert in employee referral programs as well as feedback and performance processes, Jürgen has helped over 100 organizations optimize their talent acquisition and development strategies.
