Summary

We are looking for an exceptional Lead Recruiter – Executive Search to help us identify, attract and assess outstanding leadership talent. This is a hands-on search role for someone who loves the hunt and knows how to get underneath what the business truly needs, map the market, find talent others may not find, engage highly sought-after executives and assess whether someone has the capabilities, leadership qualities and fit to be successful here.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable advising a senior leader on a critical hire and getting deep into the work. This person brings strong judgment, intellectual curiosity, persistence and a sharp instinct for talent, and is willing to challenge conventional thinking about where great candidates can come from.

This recruiter is also energized by where recruiting is changing. They lean into new technology rather than resist it and continually look for better ways to work. They are comfortable experimenting with AI, automation and emerging tools, and may build agents or workflows that make search smarter, faster and more effective. Technology is a tool, not the center of the role. At the core, this person is an outstanding recruiter who understands that finding and assessing exceptional talent requires judgment, creativity, persistence and strong relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead executive and senior-level searches from initial intake and search strategy through assessment, selection and successful hire.
• Partner closely with senior leaders to understand the business need behind a role and translate it into a clear, thoughtful search strategy.
• Proactively identify, source and engage exceptional talent, including executives who are not actively considering a move.
• Build deep market maps and talent pipelines across industries, functions and geographies, looking beyond obvious candidates and traditional talent pools.
• Develop a strong point of view on the market and help leaders think differently about the experiences, capabilities and backgrounds that could make someone successful.
• Assess candidates deeply and thoughtfully, evaluating not only what they have done, but how they lead, what they are capable of and whether they can succeed in our environment.
• Build trusted relationships with candidates and represent the company and its opportunities in a compelling and authentic way.
• Serve as a trusted talent advisor to senior leaders, bringing market insight, judgment and candor to important hiring decisions.
• Manage each search with rigor and pace, including search strategy, market intelligence, candidate assessments, pipeline reporting, stakeholder communication and timely feedback.
• Build and maintain relationships with exceptional talent over time, creating pipelines ahead of immediate hiring needs.
• Use data, technology and external market intelligence to continuously improve how talent is identified and assessed.
• Experiment with emerging AI and recruiting technology to expand the reach and effectiveness of search, including research, talent mapping, candidate discovery and workflow automation.
• Where useful, create or help develop AI agents, tools or workflows that make recruiting faster, smarter or more scalable.
• Continually challenge how executive recruiting is done and look for better ways to find and engage great people.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 10–15 years of recruiting experience, with a track record of closing VP and SVP level searches, in-house or in a retained search firm.
• Demonstrated hands-on use of AI for sourcing and research, such as building agents, automated workflows or advanced prompting, with concrete examples of results, and genuine curiosity about new tools.
• Expertise in talent mapping, market intelligence and passive-candidate sourcing at the executive level.
• Ability to interview and assess senior leaders, with the judgment to distinguish an impressive resume from an exceptional leader, and to present recommendations confidently to C-suite and executive audiences.
• Proven ability to operate independently and manage a portfolio of confidential, high-stakes searches.
• Exceptional discretion, executive presence and written and verbal communication, including the ability to synthesize candidate and market information into clear, thoughtful recommendations.
• A proven track record of personally finding and recruiting exceptional talent for complex or difficult-to-fill leadership roles, with a hunter mentality: proactive research, networking and direct outreach rather than reliance on inbound candidates or existing databases, and creative strategies that reach across industries and nontraditional backgrounds.
• Credibility and confidence working with senior executives, including the ability to listen, advise, influence and respectfully challenge when needed, and to establish rapport quickly with highly sought-after executives.
• Intellectual curiosity and the ability to develop a deep understanding of different businesses, functions, industries and talent markets.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple complex searches with urgency, discipline and attention to detail in a fast-paced environment where priorities change and there is no established playbook.
• A collaborative mindset, combined with the initiative and persistence to drive searches forward.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, or other fast-growing consumer brands.
• Experience leading TA programs, process improvements or technology pilots.
• Familiarity with AI sourcing platforms, ATS/CRM tools, LinkedIn Recruiter and no-code or low-code automation tools.
• Experience in both an in-house executive search environment and a retained executive search firm.