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How Much Does an Executive Search Firm Cost in Australia?
The number: 15% of base salary plus super
Headhuntly’s fee is 15% of the placed candidate’s base salary plus superannuation, payable when the employment contract is signed, plus an engagement fee paid upfront when the search starts, which we walk you through on the first call. Below is why it’s structured that way, and what AI has changed about what a senior search pays for.
AI has made the easy parts of hiring cheaper. None of it finds the senior leader who isn’t looking, or tells you whether a candidate can run a function with AI in it. That’s what a search fee should buy now.
In this guide
- Nobody in Australian executive search publishes a number
- Two ways search firms charge
- What we actually charge
- How AI changes what a senior search is paying for
- Why the percentage model exists
- What the fee is actually paying for
- Frequently asked
- The honest version
Headhuntly is based on the Gold Coast and runs searches nationally, so this pricing applies wherever the role is.
Nobody in Australian executive search publishes a number
Search “how much does a headhunter cost” and you’ll find plenty of guides that talk around the answer: “it depends,” “contact us for a quote,” a range so wide it tells you nothing. We couldn’t find one Australian executive search firm that puts an actual figure on a page.
The number isn’t complicated. Most firms have just decided vague feels safer. We think that’s backwards for a decision that can run to five figures.
Two ways search firms charge
Executive search fees generally come in two shapes.
Contingency search charges a fee only if a candidate the firm presents gets hired. The same brief often goes to several agencies at once, which rewards speed over fit.
Retained search charges a fee to run the whole process, engaged exclusively by one client for one role at a time. The fee is structured as a percentage of the placed candidate’s base salary, plus an upfront engagement fee that’s payable regardless of outcome. This is the standard model for senior and executive hires, and it’s the model we use.
Rates vary by firm. Many Australian executive search firms charge in the 20-30% range on base salary. That’s general market context about the industry as a whole.
What we actually charge
Headhuntly’s fee is 15% of the placed candidate’s base salary plus superannuation, payable when the employment contract is signed, plus an engagement fee paid upfront when the search starts, which we walk you through on the first call.
It’s two separate charges with two separate triggers. The engagement fee is due at the start, before anyone has been approached. The placement fee, 15% of base plus super, is due once the person you’ve hired has signed. If a search doesn’t end in a signed hire, nothing beyond that upfront engagement fee is charged.
Here’s what the placement fee works out to at a few base salaries, before the engagement fee:
| Base salary | Super (12%) | 15% placement fee |
|---|---|---|
| $120,000 | $14,400 | $20,160 |
| $150,000 | $18,000 | $25,200 |
| $180,000 | $21,600 | $30,240 |
| $250,000 | $30,000 | $42,000 |
The super column uses the 12% minimum super guarantee rate that has applied since 1 July 2025.
We charge the upfront fee for one reason: it commits both sides to the brief being real before three to six weeks of a search go into it.
How AI changes what a senior search is paying for
Part of what a search fee used to cover was access: a firm’s contacts and lists. AI has cheapened that. Sourcing tools pull a long list of names with the right titles in an afternoon, and tracking software ranks CVs against a job ad without anyone reading them.
For a senior seat that creates two problems. Keyword ranking rewards people who describe their work in the ad’s words, and the leaders who have changed a business with AI often don’t. And the brief itself has moved: a CMO, Head of Digital or COO is now expected to know what to automate, what to keep with people and how to manage the risk. A list of names can’t tell you who can do that.
So a senior search fee should now pay for judgement. That means working out with you what AI is meant to change in the role, then finding the people doing that well, most of whom aren’t looking. At interview, we test their AI fluency through the decisions and trade-offs they’ve actually made. We don’t screen candidates with AI or keyword software at all, because the people who change a business rarely have the CV a keyword filter is looking for.
Why the percentage model exists
A flat fee, or a fee tied to how fast someone is placed, pays the firm the same whether the hire works out or not. That’s fine for high-volume junior recruiting, where a wrong hire costs little.
It’s a bad model for a senior hire. The real cost of placing the wrong CFO or the wrong Head of Digital is the stretch of a business running on the wrong leadership afterwards, worse still when that leader was meant to steer how the business adopts AI. Tying the fee to base salary scales the firm’s incentive with the seniority and difficulty of the role. It’s also why we run one client, one role at a time.
What the fee is actually paying for
Retained search fees pay for headhunting, not recruiting. We approach people who aren’t actively looking, and we keep no candidate database, so every search starts from who is doing the job well right now. That’s why a search takes three to six weeks.
If a placement doesn’t work out during probation, we re-run the search. That’s built into the fee and isn’t billed again.
We’ve placed 50+ senior roles over the last five years, across marketing, digital, technology and C-suite positions, and we don’t work junior roles at all. We now also hunt new AI titles such as the Chief AI Officer and AI Compliance Officer.
Frequently asked
What are typical executive search firm fees in Australia? Most charge a percentage of the placed candidate’s base salary, commonly in the 15-30% range, plus an upfront engagement fee. Few firms publish an actual number. Headhuntly’s is 15% of base plus super, plus an engagement fee we walk you through on the first call.
Are executive search firms worth it? For a senior role where the wrong hire is expensive and the right candidate isn’t job hunting, yes. For a role that’s well-served by an advertised search, a headhunter’s fee usually isn’t worth it.
Headhunter or recruiter, which is better? Neither is universally better. A recruiter works from applicants and a database, which suits roles with a deep active candidate pool. A headhunter approaches people who aren’t looking, which suits senior roles where the best candidates already have jobs they’re not leaving voluntarily.
How much do recruitment agencies charge in Australia, generally? General contingency recruitment in Australia runs around 15-18% of base salary (2025 RCSA Fee Survey, cited via Kolvera). Executive search runs higher, commonly 20-30%, because it’s retained, exclusive and the search itself takes longer.
Does AI make executive search cheaper? It makes sourcing lists and CV ranking cheaper. It doesn’t find a senior leader who isn’t looking, or judge whether they can run a function with AI in it.
What should I look for in an executive search firm to hire a CMO? A track record placing senior marketing leaders, beyond general executive roles. Ask how they reach CMOs who aren’t looking, whether the search is exclusive to you, and what the fee is as a number. Our guide to hiring a CMO covers what the brief needs first.
The honest version
If you’re comparing quotes, ask any executive search firm you’re talking to the same two questions we’ve answered here: is this contingency or retained, and what’s the actual percentage. And weigh the fee against the alternative: what it actually costs when a senior hire doesn’t work out.
For a specific seat, the brief is covered in our guides to hiring a CMO, a Chief AI Officer, or an AI Compliance Officer. Or get in touch and we’ll give you a straight number before you commit to anything.