What is retained executive search?

Retained executive search is a committed mandate to fill a senior seat, paid on the mandate rather than on placement. The search firm maps the market, approaches and assesses candidates in confidence, and delivers a vetted shortlist against a success profile agreed at the outset. Paying for the mandate is what buys the market mapping and the discretion, which contingency recruitment does not fund. Nextyn runs retained search with a live expert network behind it, so candidates and references come from practitioners already working in the sector rather than from a database.

How much does executive search cost?

Nextyn agrees the fee for a retained search in writing before the first candidate approach. The fee reflects the seniority and scope of the mandate and is invoiced in stages across it, so payment tracks progress rather than falling due at placement. Nextyn sets out the fee, the stages and the success profile together at the outset, which is what a client approves when committing to the mandate. Board search is scoped separately, since a non-executive appointment is assessed on different criteria from an operating hire.

Do you search internationally?

Yes. Nextyn runs executive and board search globally, across 70+ countries. Benches are local wherever Nextyn operates, so candidates are approached by researchers who know that market and references can be taken in the candidate’s own language rather than through an intermediary. That matters most on cross-border mandates, where a shortlist has to hold up in several markets at once. Nextyn confirms coverage for the specific markets in a mandate before the search begins.

How long does a search take?

Nextyn writes the timetable for a retained search into the mandate at the outset, with a dated shortlist milestone and a target completion date. Duration moves with the seniority of the role and the depth of the market: a niche functional head in a thin market takes longer than a general management seat in a deep one, and Nextyn states which applies before the mandate starts. Progress is reported at each stage against the agreed success profile, and where a search is running behind, Nextyn says so rather than letting a milestone pass quietly.

Executive and board search from inside the market

We start already inside the market. The same bench that supplies operators for diligence supplies the shortlist for the seat, and every name arrives with the reasoning that earned it a place.

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Mid sized media businessMedia, entertainment and telecomA media business had run a commercial director search that stalled. We rewrote the brief around the transition it was making, then went back to the market.
Read more

Board of a regulated utilityEnergy, utilities and renewablesA utility had committed to a decade long transition. We appointed a non executive director who had delivered one, not governed one.
Read more

Definition

What is executive and board search?

Executive and board search is the retained recruitment of senior leaders: C-suite executives, functional heads, chairs and non-executive directors. A retained search is a committed mandate, so we map the market, approach and assess candidates in confidence, and hand you a shortlist built for the hires that matter most. Ours runs on the network behind it, with particular depth across India, Southeast Asia and the Gulf.

A market already mappedthe diligence bench supplies the shortlist

Reasoning attachedevery name arrives with why it earned a place

And the ones we held backask about the names that stayed off the list

A senior candidate interview in a modern office

What it answers

Fill the seats that decide the next five years

01
C-suite appointments
Chief executives, finance, commercial and operating leaders, assessed against a success profile agreed before anyone is approached.
02
Chair and non-executive directors
Board recruitment where the fit has to outlast the people who made the hire, chosen for governance and independence.
03
Portfolio company leadership
Upgrade the operating team at entry or through the hold, and seat the directors around it.
04
First senior hires
The C-suite and the first board a company builds at the point it outgrows its founding team.
05
New market and post-deal leadership
Leadership for a business you have just acquired, or a country you have just entered, hired by people already in it.

How it works

How a retained search runs, from mandate to onboarding

Our research lead owns the mandate end to end, and the success profile is agreed in writing before anyone in the market hears from us.

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Why Nextyn

What makes a retained search worth the mandate

The people you want in a senior seat are busy running something. Reaching them is a question of who introduces you.

Two executives in a confidential conversation

Who uses it

Who starts a retained search

Four kinds of team, one shared problem: a seat where the wrong hire costs more than the search ever could.

An investment team in a portfolio review

01Private equity and portfolio companiesUpgrade the operating team at a portfolio company, and seat the non-executive directors around it.Start a search

02Boards and chairsBoard recruitment where the fit has to outlast the people who made the hire.Start a search

A founder working with their leadership team

03Founders and scale-upsThe senior hires a company makes at the point it outgrows the founding team.Start a search

04Corporates and corporate developmentLeadership hiring for a business you have just acquired, or a country you have just entered.Start a search

Nextyn IQ

The search leaves you with the market map

The market map stays yours the full landscape we built for the seat, including the people who stayed off the shortlist and the reason they did
Why each name earned its place the reasoning behind the shortlist, in writing, so the board can read it for itself
References from inside the sector taken from people who have worked alongside the candidate, alongside the referees they offer
We stay through onboarding through interviews, offer, and the first months in the seat

Expertise in action

Get more insight into what matters to you most

Analysis and market reads from the Nextyn desk.

Case studyEnergy Transition Non Executive Search Case StudyA retained board search for someone who had delivered a transition programRead more

Case studyInfrastructure Board Chair Search Case StudyRetained board search beyond the sponsors' networks for an operating chairRead more

ArticlePrivate Equity Executive Search: The Real TimelinePrivate equity executive search runs to a different clock than corporate hiring. Median days to shortlist and offer, and what actually compresses a mandate.Read more

Case studySchool Group Chief Executive Succession Case StudyA retained executive search run alongside a structured assessment of internal candidatesRead more

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Speak to an expert about your question

A dedicated Client Solutions Manager will be in touch shortly to help with your research needs.

Start a search

01
Send your project scope
Your questions, and the thesis behind them. A paragraph of context is enough.
02
We come back with angles and expert profiles
A shortlist with rates included.
03
Approve, then we field
You select and approve the experts you want to speak to.
04
Nextyn IQ reads across the whole project
Agreement, contradictions and open gaps, read across every call in the project.

Request experts

Tell us about your research needs

Start with a single project. We shape the commercial terms around how you want to work.

Executive and board search from inside the market

What is executive and board search?

Fill the seats that decide the next five years

C-suite appointments

Chair and non-executive directors

Portfolio company leadership

First senior hires

New market and post-deal leadership

How a retained search runs, from mandate to onboarding

What makes a retained search worth the mandate

Who starts a retained search

The search leaves you with the market map

Get more insight into what matters to you most

Speak to an expert about your question

Tell us about your research needs

Brief received.

Frequently asked questions