International Executive Search
The appointment that resets trajectory
The strongest candidate for a senior role is usually in post somewhere else, doing the job well, and reading nothing. An advertisement cannot reach him. A direct approach from somebody he takes seriously can. That is the whole of this service.
Begin a Confidential Conversation
The Market You Cannot See
If you are advertising, you are reaching the people who are looking.
The people who are looking and the people you need overlap less than the applicant pile suggests. Mark Granovetter's Harvard study found that 56 per cent of professional and managerial workers found their role through personal contacts, and that was 1974, before a single job board existed. At board level the movement through relationships has only deepened since, because the executives who can reset a strategy or carry a business into a new market are almost without exception in post and busy. They are careful with their names. They do not answer cold messages from senders they cannot place. Reaching them takes a direct approach from somebody who already holds a relationship with the market they work in.
"The recruitment funnel fills with the people who have time to be in it."
One Search Partner
The same person from brief to offer.
Headhunters International runs a principal-led model. Mark Ross Roberts conducts every engagement himself, from the first briefing call to the signed offer. Thirty years of international executive search sit behind that, with thirty thousand logged hours at board level and ten thousand hours of executive coaching alongside. The network runs across banking, technology, infrastructure and professional services, in the markets where the target candidate is usually in post and careful with his name. No database reaches him.
The M&A background is the reason the access exists. Board-level transactions depend on reaching decision-makers at organisations that are not inviting contact, and doing it without noise. The same infrastructure carries a confidential search: a discreet, credible approach to a senior professional who is not in the market.
Mark Ross holds credentials from Wharton Executive Education in Executive Presence and Leadership and in Neuroscience in Leadership, a Harvard Medical School credential in Lifestyle and Wellness Coaching, and the FMVA and CBCA from the Corporate Finance Institute. He has written four books on executive transitions and the mechanics of the senior hiring market.
Every engagement includes
- Direct principal involvement from brief to offer
- No delegated research or outreach
- A confidential approach with no public record
- A shortlist of qualified, verified candidates only
Confidential Searches
Some appointments cannot go through the standard channels without making the wrong kind of noise.
A successor to a sitting board member. A replacement for a division head whose departure has not been announced. A first hire into a market the company has not yet declared. At senior level these are ordinary situations, and more common than most organisations admit.
Every confidential search here runs through relationships. There is no posted vacancy, and the client name stays undisclosed until the moment is right. Target candidates are approached directly, through a channel they recognise as credible, with a framing that protects both sides until interest is confirmed on both. The process leaves no institutional footprint.
Where the appointment is politically sensitive, replacing an incumbent or approaching a competitor's leadership, the whole engagement runs under explicit confidentiality from first contact to offer.
Where We Operate
Senior and board-level appointments across international markets.
The search capability covers financial services, technology, infrastructure, professional services, manufacturing, healthcare and energy, including cross-border appointments where the candidate pool is spread across several countries and cultural alignment is a genuine hiring criterion.
Chief Executive Officer
Group · Division · Country
Chief Financial Officer
Group · Regional
Chief Technology Officer
Enterprise · Scale-up
Managing Director
International · Regional
Non-Executive Director
Board · Advisory
Regional President
EMEA · APAC · Americas
General Counsel
Group · International
Chief Operating Officer
Transformation · Scale
Group Finance Director
Listed · Private Equity
Financial Services · Technology · Infrastructure · Professional Services · Manufacturing · Healthcare · Energy · International Markets
The Engagement
There is no standard structure, because no two searches are the same.
Scope and timeline follow the role and the market it sits in. The first conversation is a diagnostic: what is genuinely needed, and what the market can realistically supply at this level. Organisations working at board level do not need a long proposal process. They need somebody who can assess the problem and say honestly whether it can be solved.
International search runs on engagement terms. Fees are discussed in the first conversation. There is no online checkout for this service.
01
Initial Brief
Outline the role, the context and the timeline. A confidential email to ross@headhunters-international.com is the correct first step.
02
Search Scoping
A direct diagnostic conversation covering market availability, candidate profile, likely timeline and engagement structure. No sales presentation.
03
Confidential Approach
Candidate identification and discreet, direct outreach through relationship channels rather than posted vacancies or database queries.
04
Shortlist and Appointment
Qualified, verified candidates only, with full support through interviews, offer stage and the first ninety days where needed.
Questions Companies Ask
International executive search, answered.
How does a retained international executive search work?
The search is commissioned by the hiring organisation and runs from a confidential brief to a signed offer. Headhunters International scopes the role and the market, identifies the target candidates, approaches them directly and discreetly, and delivers a shortlist of qualified, verified people, with support through interviews and offer stage. Mark Ross Roberts conducts the whole engagement personally.
What is the difference between retained search and contingency recruitment?
A contingency recruiter is paid only on placement, so the model rewards speed and volume, and the candidates put forward are largely the ones already circulating. A retained search is paid to solve one appointment properly, which allows direct approaches to people who are in post, not looking, and invisible to any database. At senior level the person you need is almost always in the second group.
How confidential is the process?
Fully, from first contact to offer. There is no posted vacancy, no public record of the search, and the client's name is not disclosed to any candidate until the moment is right. Where the appointment is politically sensitive, replacing an incumbent or approaching a competitor's leadership, the engagement runs under explicit confidentiality throughout.
How long does a senior executive search take?
A realistic timeline is set in the scoping conversation, because it depends on the seniority of the role, the depth of the candidate market and how confidential the approach has to be. What can be said in advance is that the timeline given at scoping is honest, and if the market cannot supply what the brief asks for, you are told that at the start rather than discovering it at month four.
What does an international executive search cost?
Fees are discussed in the first conversation and set on engagement terms for the specific role. There is no rate card and no online checkout, because no two searches carry the same scope. The first conversation is a diagnostic and carries no obligation.
Which markets and roles do you cover?
Senior and board-level appointments across the UK, EMEA, North America and APAC, in financial services, technology, infrastructure, professional services, manufacturing, healthcare and energy. Typical mandates run from chief executive, chief financial officer and chief operating officer through managing director, regional president, general counsel and non-executive director, including cross-border appointments where the candidate pool spans several countries.
How do you choose an executive search firm for a senior appointment?
Ask three questions before handing over a confidential brief. Who actually conducts the search, the person you are meeting or a researcher you will never meet. Can they reach candidates who are in post and not looking, or do they work from the same databases every other firm queries. And will they tell you at scoping if the brief cannot be filled, or let you find out at month four. The answers separate a search partner from a CV supplier faster than any league table.
Who are the best headhunters for senior finance, technology and board appointments?
The right firm depends on the role, but the test is the same at every level: direct access to the specific candidate market, principal-led delivery, and confidentiality that holds from first approach to offer. Headhunters International runs on that model. Mark Ross Roberts conducts every search personally, across financial services, technology, infrastructure and international markets, and the first conversation is a diagnostic rather than a pitch, so you can apply the test yourself before committing to anything.
International Executive Search
Begin a confidential conversation.
Send an initial brief to the address below. There is no web form and no filtering system. Mark Ross reads every enquiry himself and replies within one business day.
ross@headhunters-international.com