Executive Search
Axe Executive Search places C-suite, VP, and Director-level leaders across every industry — built on operator experience, global relationships, and screening discipline the big firms don’t bring at our tier.
The Executive Search Problem
Big-firm searches produce shortlists optimized for the partner’s network, not your business. Strong candidates get filtered out because they don’t fit the partner’s call list.
Top-tier firms run 12–16 week searches as standard. By month three, your competitors have hired the candidate you’re still interviewing.
Polished decks, branded report cycles, executive summaries. Process designed for the buyer’s CEO to feel important — not for finding the right hire.
Retainer + completion fee structures reward closing fast. Whether the executive succeeds after 18 months is someone else’s problem.
The Axe Approach
Axe Executive Search is built differently. Each search is led by a partner who has actually operated at the level we’re hiring for — not a generalist with a glossy bio. We work directly with hiring CEOs, founders, and boards. No layers, no associate-managed handoffs.
Our network spans 17 offices across the US, Canada, UK, UAE, and Singapore. We’ve placed founding executives, regional VPs, and global function heads across every major industry — tech, financial services, healthcare, industrial, energy, professional services, and more.
We run both retained and contingency search models. The model fits the role, not the other way around.
When Axe Executive Search fits:
Recent Placements
Confidentiality requirements mean we don’t publish the majority of our search work.
Global reach
17 offices.
Five continents. Every industry.
Recent retained search placements include:
Recent placement
FinTech Series B
Led the search for a founding technical leader at a regulated financial services platform. Closed in 9 weeks with a candidate sourced through direct outreach, not the firm's standing network.
Recent placement
Public Holding Company
Led an EVP Finance search for a multi-billion-dollar public holding company. Replaced an outgoing finance leader within one quarter, candidate selected from a 4-person shortlist with deep industry-specific operating experience.
Recent placement
Regulated Broker-Dealer
Placed a VP Compliance leader at a regulated broker-dealer firm requiring deep US and Canadian securities regulatory expertise. Closed in 11 weeks against three competitive offers.
These are recent examples. Confidentiality requirements mean we don't publish the majority of our search work — including our most prominent placements. Detailed case discussions available under NDA.
What's Included in Every Retained Search
01
2–3 deep working sessions with the hiring principal. Org context, role mandate, success criteria, comp benchmarks, cultural fit signals.
02
Comprehensive map of every viable candidate in the market — not just the partner’s call list. Competitor analysis, talent pools by company and region.
03
Active sourcing of passive candidates. No job postings, no inbound applications. Our recruiters reach the people who aren’t looking.
04
Multi-stage assessment: competency interviews, leadership scenario testing, deep work-sample evaluation. Calibrated to the role’s actual demands.
05
Direct outreach to former managers, peers, and reports. No candidate-controlled references. Pattern-recognition across multiple sources.
06
Offer structuring, counter-offer strategy, start-date discipline, first-90-days transition support. We don’t disappear at close.
Our Process
STAGE 1
Working sessions with hiring principal. Role mandate, must-haves, deal-breakers, market positioning, comp expectations defined and documented.
STAGE 2
Comprehensive talent map across geographies, competitors, and adjacent industries. Long list of 40–80 viable candidates identified.
STAGE 3
Personalized outreach to mapped candidates. Initial conversations, mutual-fit screening, narrowing to active conversations.
STAGE 4
Deep evaluation of finalist candidates. Structured interviews, leadership scenarios, reference work, candidate cross-references.
STAGE 5
Calibrated shortlist presented to hiring principal. Interview rounds, final assessment, decision support.
STAGE 6
Offer structuring, negotiation support, counter-offer strategy, start-date discipline. Onboarding handoff.
Engagement Models
For C-suite, VP, and Director roles
For senior roles where speed matters
Fit
✓ Strong fit
✕ Not the right fit
Industries Served
Healthcare · Behavioral Health · Sales · Technology · Material Handling · Executive Search · Life Sciences · Industrial · B2B Services · Channel · Financial Services
Why Axe for Executive Search
Our search partners have operated at the level we’re hiring for. They understand the role from inside, not from a position spec.
17 offices across the US, Canada, UK, UAE, and Singapore. Real network depth, not ‘alliance partners’ who barely talk to each other.
The Axe 6-stage methodology applied to every search. No shortcuts. No reliance on a single partner’s standing call list.
The partner who pitches the search runs the search. No associate handoffs. No “let me connect you with my team.”
Most of our search work is never published. We protect candidate identities and client mandates as a matter of course, not as an exception.
Losing finalists at offer is a search failure. We treat it as such. Negotiation, counter-offers, start dates — owned by the partner, not delegated.
Questions
Start a Conversation
A 30-minute conversation to scope the mandate. NDA available before details are discussed.