Executive search
Executive Search in Australia
Headhuntly is an executive search firm for senior marketing, digital, technology and C-suite leaders, and for new AI roles like Chief AI Officer. We approach the people who fit your brief, most of whom aren’t looking. Based on the Gold Coast, hunting Australia-wide.
- Fee: 15% of the placed candidate's base salary plus super, plus an engagement fee.
- Timing: 3 to 6 weeks for a typical search.
- Track record: 50+ senior roles placed over the last five years. 14 of 29 clients have come back to hire again.
How is executive search different from recruitment?
A recruiter advertises the role and works through who applies. That’s fine when plenty of good people are looking. For senior roles they usually aren’t. The best CMO or CTO for your business most likely has a job and isn’t reading job boards. Executive search starts from who could do the role, then goes and talks to them.
Which roles does Headhuntly search for?
- CMO. The senior marketing leader, now expected to run AI tools and data within the team.
- Head of Digital. Owns the website, apps, data and digital channels, and now the AI tools that run across all of them.
- CTO. Owns the technology strategy, the engineering team and, now, the call on which AI to build, buy or avoid.
- COO. Runs the business day to day, and now owns where AI and automation change how the work gets done.
- Head of Growth. Owns customer and revenue growth through fast testing across marketing, product and sales, now at AI speed.
- Chief AI Officer. The executive who owns how the business uses AI, from strategy and spend to risk and results.
- AI Compliance Officer. Makes sure the business uses AI within the law, its own policies and its appetite for risk.
- Fractional CMO. A senior marketing leader on a part-time or contract basis, often brought in to set how AI fits into a lean marketing team.
- Fractional CTO. A senior technology leader on a part-time or contract basis, often brought in to make the first serious AI and architecture calls.
- eCommerce Director. Owns a trading P&L across platform, promotion and inventory, with AI now running through search, pricing and service.
Half of our placements over the last five years have been on a base salary of $150K or more. Pay by role family is in the salary guide.
How does a Headhuntly search run?
- We define your company, the role and the person, and help sharpen the brief if you don’t have one yet.
- We identify who fits and approach them directly, wherever they are.
- We find out what would actually move each person. It’s rarely just money.
- Your new hire signs their contract. If the placement doesn’t work out during probation, we start the hunt again.
Each search is exclusive: one client, one role. How it works has the detail, and our breakdown of executive search costs compares our fee with how the rest of the market charges.
Questions, answered
What is executive search?
Executive search is how senior roles get filled when the right person isn’t looking for a job. The firm maps who could do the role, approaches them directly and runs them through to an offer. A job ad only reaches people already looking.
What is the difference between retained and contingent search?
A contingent recruiter is paid only if they fill the role, usually works several roles at once, and often competes with other agencies on the same job. A retained or engaged search is paid partly upfront, runs exclusively for one client and commits to the search. Headhuntly charges an engagement fee upfront and the placement fee on a signed contract, and every search is exclusive.
How much does an executive search firm cost in Australia?
Firms usually charge a percentage of the hire’s base salary, commonly 20% to 30% for executive search, and few publish their number. Headhuntly charges 15% of the placed candidate's base salary plus super, plus an engagement fee.
How long does an executive search take?
A typical Headhuntly search takes 3 to 6 weeks. It depends on how complex the role is and how sharp the brief is.
Is an executive search firm the same as a headhunter?
Mostly, yes. Both approach people who aren’t actively looking. “Executive search firm” usually means a business that does it for senior roles only, which is what Headhuntly does. We don’t place junior roles.
Got a senior role to fill?
Tell us about the role. We’ll tell you straight whether it needs a headhunt, and what the search would look like.