The three fee models
Each is legitimate. Each creates a different incentive.
| Retained | Contingency | Fixed project fee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical level | 25–33% of first-year total package | 15–25% of first-year salary | Scoped on the search; $12,000–$55,000 typical |
| When paid | Three instalments: engagement, shortlist, placement | On placement only | Instalments against the written scope |
| Paid if no appointment | Largely yes | No | Yes — the fee is for the work |
| Market coverage | Exhaustive | Whoever is reachable quickly | Exhaustive |
| Rises with the package you offer | Yes | Yes | No |
| Search report handed over | Rarely | No | Always |
| Can advise against appointing | In principle | No commercial reason to | Yes, with no cost to us |
| Best for | Appointments where the firm’s brand is part of the governance story | Deep markets with available candidates | Senior appointments where you also want the market evidence |
Fee bands by currency
Each market page also states its own bands.
| Engagement | USD | GBP | EUR | AUD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior or specialist appointment | $12,000–$28,000 | £10,000–£22,000 | €11,000–€26,000 | A$18,000–A$42,000 |
| Board or C-suite appointment | $28,000–$55,000 | £22,000–£45,000 | €25,000–€52,000 | A$42,000–A$85,000 |
| Leadership team build (3–5 roles) | $55,000–$120,000 | £45,000–£95,000 | €50,000–€110,000 | A$85,000–A$180,000 |
Fees are quoted in the currency of the market being searched, except in the Gulf where US dollars are the convention and invoicing in AED is available. Cross-border searches are quoted in a single currency agreed at scoping, so exchange risk does not sit inside your project budget.
What drives the fee
Six things, in roughly descending order of impact.
Breadth of the market definition
A tightly defined capability in one city costs a fraction of the same appointment searched across a function and a continent. Narrowing the definition is the most effective way to reduce a fee without reducing rigour.
Seniority and scarcity
A board or C-suite appointment requires deeper research, more assessment, more referencing and governance-grade documentation. Scarcity costs more than seniority does.
Number of geographies
Each additional market adds research time and, in several of ours, a second working language and a separate legal and governance review.
Confidentiality
A confidential search is slower by construction, because the client cannot be named until genuine engagement exists and every approach has to carry conviction without it.
Documentation standard
A board appointment documented to the standard a nomination committee needs for public disclosure requires more than an internal shortlist memo.
One appointment or several
A leadership team build is cheaper per appointment than three separate searches, because the market map is shared and the sequencing is deliberate.
A fixed fee against a percentage
Worked at three package levels, using the conventional 30 per cent retained rate.
| First-year package | Retained at 30% | Our fixed fee | Difference | You also keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $75,000 | $28,000–$40,000 | Roughly $35,000–$47,000 | The full market map |
| $400,000 | $120,000 | $32,000–$48,000 | Roughly $72,000–$88,000 | The full market map |
| $600,000 | $180,000 | $38,000–$55,000 | Roughly $125,000–$142,000 | The full market map |
The pattern is the point: under a percentage model the fee rises with the package while the work does not. Searching for a $600,000 chief executive is harder than searching for a $250,000 director, but it is not two and a half times harder.
The second column of value is the one that compounds. A market map handed over can be reused for the next appointment, for succession planning and for a pay review. Most retained firms retain it, which means you commission the same research again next year. The fee comparison calculator runs this on your own numbers.
Four hidden costs worth checking
Ask these of any search firm, including us.
- Is the search report handed over, or kept? Most retained firms keep the market map. That means the research you paid for leaves with them, and you commission it again next time. Ours is handed over permanently.
- What does the replacement guarantee actually trigger on? Read the conditions, the period, and whether it is a free replacement or a credit against a future fee. The differences are substantial and rarely volunteered.
- Are expenses capped? Travel, advertising and assessment costs billed at cost on top of a percentage fee can add materially. Ours are agreed in the scope.
- What does the off-limits agreement cover? A large firm may be contractually unable to approach the companies where your best candidates work, because those companies are its clients. Ask for the list before you appoint, not after.
The cost of getting it wrong
Search fees look large next to most line items and small next to the alternative. A failed senior appointment typically costs a multiple of the first-year package once severance, lost momentum, the attrition it causes in the team below, and the cost of running the search again are counted — and that is before the strategic cost of a year lost.
That is the argument for researching properly. It is not an argument for paying for it as a percentage of salary, which is a pricing convention rather than a measure of the work.
The useful question is not “what does this search cost?” but “what would we pay to be confident this is the right person, and what evidence would make us confident?” The answer to the second part is a complete market map, documented assessment against an agreed profile, and compensation evidence. All three are things you should own afterwards.
Working to a fixed budget
- Narrow the geography before the depth. One market searched exhaustively beats three searched superficially.
- Buy the map first. A talent map costs a fraction of a search, tells you whether the role is fillable and at what price, and becomes the search’s first stage if you proceed.
- Benchmark the package before you start. Days of work that prevents weeks of wasted search. See compensation intelligence.
- Sequence a team build. Three linked appointments scoped together cost less than three separate searches and produce a better team, because the first hire shapes the rest.
- Do not buy a thinner search. A half-researched search is worse than none: it produces false confidence that the market has been covered. Narrow the scope instead, deliberately and in writing.
Executive search by market
Each market page is written for that market rather than translated from a template.
| Market | What changes there |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Three to six months’ notice, garden leave, and Senior Managers Regime approval before an appointee can start. |
| United States | At-will employment and a fast start date, but an offer dominated by unvested equity and state-by-state non-compete law. |
| United Arab Emirates | A Gulf-wide catchment, packages built from basic plus allowances and gratuity, and visa transfer in the timeline. |
| Germany | Supervisory board appointment, notice to quarter-end, and a non-compete the employer must pay at least half salary to enforce. |
| Netherlands | A works council advice right over director appointments, and DNB or AFM suitability testing before a regulated start. |
| Belgium | Working language as the binding filter, board gender requirements, and packages with a 13th month and double holiday pay. |
| Austria | A market small enough to map exhaustively, supervisory board approval, and pay quoted across fourteen payments. |
| Australia | Five capital markets, superannuation inside the package, restraint clauses that are litigated, and director ID. |
Research coverage extends well beyond these eight. These are the markets where we publish a dedicated page because the governance, notice and restrictive covenant rules differ enough to change how the search itself has to be run. See all eight markets →
Executive search fee FAQs
How much does executive search cost?
Retained search firms typically charge 25 to 33 per cent of first-year total package, so a $400,000 appointment costs $100,000 to $132,000. Contingency recruiters typically charge 15 to 25 per cent of first-year salary, payable on placement.
We charge a fixed project fee for the work the search takes: $12,000 to $28,000 for a senior or specialist appointment, $28,000 to $55,000 for a board or C-suite role, and $55,000 to $120,000 for a leadership team build of three to five linked appointments.
What is a typical executive search fee percentage?
Retained executive search is conventionally priced at 25 to 33 per cent of the appointee’s first-year total compensation, usually billed in three instalments: on engagement, on shortlist, and on placement.
Contingency recruitment is conventionally 15 to 25 per cent of first-year salary, payable only if a placement is made. Both are percentages of what you pay the person, which means the fee rises with the package you offer.
Why does a percentage fee create a problem?
Because it ties the adviser’s income to the size of the package and to an appointment being made at all. Neither is aligned with your interest in the best decision.
It is not a claim of bad faith. It is simply that a firm paid 30 per cent of first-year package has no commercial reason to recommend that the role be restructured, the package held flat, or an internal candidate appointed — and those three recommendations are frequently the most valuable output of a search.
What drives the fee on a fixed-fee search?
Six things: how broad the market definition is, how senior the appointment, how many geographies are in scope, whether the role is confidential, whether board or regulatory documentation is required, and whether it is one appointment or several linked ones.
What never changes it: the appointee’s salary, your organisation’s size, and whether an appointment is ultimately made.
Is a fixed fee just a cheaper search?
It is a differently structured one. The market coverage is the same as a retained search — the whole qualified population, mapped before anyone is approached — and in one respect it is more: you keep the search report, which retained firms normally do not hand over.
What you are not buying is the brand of a global search house on your board paper, which for some appointments genuinely matters and is a legitimate reason to pay for it.
When is a retained search firm worth the percentage?
When the brand of the firm is itself part of the governance story — a FTSE 100 chair search, a chief executive appointment a market will scrutinise — or when you need a firm with an existing deep bench in a very narrow global sector.
We will say so when that is the situation. It is a real reason, and it is a different purchase from the one we sell.
Do you charge if no appointment is made?
The fee is for the work, so yes — and that is the point of the model. It is what allows a search to conclude that the role should be restructured, the package re-priced or an internal candidate appointed.
In practice we try to surface those conclusions early. If the scoping call suggests the role as specified cannot be filled, we say so before you commission anything.
What are the hidden costs in executive search?
Four worth checking with any firm. Whether the search report is handed over or retained by the firm. What the replacement guarantee actually triggers on, and whether it is a free replacement or a credit. Whether expenses are capped or billed at cost. And what the off-limits agreement covers — a firm unable to approach your sector’s best employers is an expensive constraint you may not have been told about.
How does the fee compare with the cost of a bad appointment?
Unfavourably, which is the only comparison that matters. A failed senior appointment typically costs a multiple of the first-year package once severance, lost momentum, team attrition and the cost of re-running the search are counted.
That is the argument for spending properly on the research. It is not an argument for spending it as a percentage of salary.
Can you work to a fixed budget?
Yes. Tell us the number and we will tell you what can be searched properly within it — usually by narrowing the geography or the comparator set rather than by reducing the research standard.
If the budget does not support the appointment you are trying to make, we will say so rather than running a thinner search and presenting it as complete.
Do fees differ by market?
Yes, and each market page states its own bands. Markets where research is slower, because employers disclose less or several languages are involved, carry higher fees for the same scope. Australian engagements are quoted in Australian dollars and sit higher in nominal terms.
When do we know the fee?
Within two working days of the scoping call. The written scope states the success profile, the market definition, the deliverables, both timelines and the fixed fee. Nothing is billed by the hour and nothing is open-ended.