Service
Executive Search Firm in India
- Engagement model
- Retained
- Typical timeline
- 8–12 weeks
- Shortlist size
- 3–5 assessed candidates
- Confidentiality
- NDA-backed as standard
What executive search means at NM
Executive search at NM is a retained, research-led engagement. We start by understanding the commercial problem the role exists to solve, then map the market of people who have solved it before, including the ones who are not looking and never respond to a job advert.
Every search is run by a named consultant who owns the mandate end to end. You speak to the person doing the research, not an account manager relaying updates. Progress is reported against a live longlist, so you can see the market as we see it rather than waiting for a shortlist to appear.
The output is a small number of genuinely qualified, genuinely interested candidates, each presented with a written assessment against the criteria we agreed at kick-off.
What usually goes wrong, and how we handle it
The best candidates are not applying
Senior operators rarely respond to job posts. We identify them by mapping competitors, adjacent sectors and the companies they came from, then approach them individually and on the merits of the role.
You cannot advertise the role
Replacing an incumbent, planning a restructure or preparing for a raise all demand discretion. We run confidential searches under a neutral brief and only disclose your identity once a candidate is qualified and under NDA.
Previous hires looked right and did not work
We assess against a defined scorecard, the outcomes the role must deliver in twelve months, not a list of adjectives. References are taken on those same outcomes.
You have no benchmark for the market
Search produces intelligence as a by-product: who is available, what they earn, which competitors are vulnerable and how your proposition reads to the people you want.
Typical mandates
Indicative, not exhaustive, if your role is adjacent to these, it is very likely in scope.
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Technology Officer
- Chief Human Resources Officer
- Chief Marketing Officer
- Business Unit Head
- Country Manager
- Vice President, Sales
- Vice President, Engineering
- Head of Operations
- Head of Finance
How the engagement runs
- 01
Mandate & scorecard
A working session with the hiring stakeholders to agree the outcomes, competencies, compensation band and non-negotiables. Everything downstream is measured against this document.
- 02
Market mapping
We build a named universe of target companies and people, sized to the role. You see the map before we start approaching, so scope can be corrected early.
- 03
Confidential approach
Individual, considered outreach by the consultant who owns the search. No mass mailers, no misrepresentation of the opportunity.
- 04
Assessment
Competency-based interviews against the scorecard, plus a written assessment of motivation, compensation expectations and realistic notice period.
- 05
Shortlist & interviews
Typically three to five candidates with full written profiles. We coordinate scheduling, brief every candidate properly and gather structured feedback after each stage.
- 06
Offer, references & onboarding
We manage the offer conversation, take outcome-based references and stay in contact through notice period and the first ninety days.
Where candidates come from
- Original market research and competitor mapping
- Direct, named approach to passive leaders
- NM's own network of senior operators
- Referrals from placed executives and industry contacts
- Professional communities, alumni groups and sector bodies
What is different here
One consultant, end to end
The person who takes the brief does the research, the approach and the assessment.
Evidence, not adjectives
Every shortlisted candidate arrives with a written assessment mapped to the agreed scorecard.
Genuine confidentiality
Neutral briefs, controlled disclosure and NDA-backed process as standard.
Market intelligence included
You keep the map, the compensation data and the competitor read at the end of the search.
Executive Search across sectors
Information Technology
Engineering, data, cloud and product talent for software businesses.
BFBFSI
Banking, financial services, insurance and fintech hiring.
MEManufacturing & Engineering
Plant leadership, production, quality and engineering talent.
STStartups & Technology Companies
Founding teams, first leadership hires and post-funding scale-ups.
Executive Search in practice
A confidential CFO appointment
Template: a senior finance appointment that could not be signalled to the market while the incumbent was in place.
- 00
- Candidates mapped
- 0
- Shortlisted
- 00
- Weeks to offer
Plant leadership for a new manufacturing site
Template: a site head appointment in a location where the local talent pool was thin.
- 00
- Companies mapped
- 00
- Weeks to appointment
- 00%
- Retention at 12 months
What employers say
Replace with a verbatim client quote. The most useful ones name the difficulty of the brief, the timeline NM worked to, and what the appointed person has since delivered.
Client name
Designation, Company
Replace with a quote from an HR or talent leader. Quotes that describe the working relationship, responsiveness, shortlist quality, honesty about the market, carry more weight than general praise.
Client name
Head of Human Resources, Company
Replace with a quote from a founder or CXO about a leadership appointment. Ask for permission to name the role that was filled, specificity is what makes a testimonial persuasive.
Client name
Founder & CEO, Company
Placeholder quotes. Replace with verbatim, attributable testimonials in src/data/testimonials.ts before launch, never publish an invented quote.
Executive Search, frequently asked
Recruitment matches available candidates to a role. Executive search maps an entire market and approaches the people best suited to it, most of whom are not job hunting. It is retained, research-led and confidential, and it is used where a poor appointment would be materially expensive.
A typical search runs eight to twelve weeks from mandate to signed offer. Market mapping and first approaches take two to three weeks, shortlist presentation usually falls in weeks four to six, and the balance covers client interviews, references and offer negotiation.
Yes. Confidential searches are standard practice for us. We approach the market under a neutral brief describing the role and sector without naming the client, and disclose your identity only once a candidate is qualified and has signed an NDA.
Retained searches carry an agreed replacement guarantee. The specific period is set out in the engagement letter and we will re-run the search at no additional professional fee within that window.
Related services
- Headhunting
Approaching the people who are not applying.
- CXO & Leadership Hiring
C-suite and senior leadership appointments, assessed against outcomes.
- Interim Management
Senior operators on short notice, for a defined outcome.
Start hiring
Ready to brief us on executive search?
Tell us the role, the constraint and the budget. We will tell you honestly whether it is fillable, and how long it will take.