Most principals and family office operators have never run a retained executive search before. The process is different from hiring through a staffing agency, posting a role on a job board, or asking a network contact for a referral. This page explains exactly what a retained search looks like, what happens at each stage, and what you should expect from a search firm working at this level.
There are three ways to hire at the senior level. Each one produces a different outcome.
A job posting reaches active candidates only. At the UHNW level, the best candidates for any senior role are almost never actively looking. They are employed, embedded, and being retained by their current principal. A job posting does not reach them.
A contingency recruiter is paid only when a placement is made. This works well for roles where the candidate pool is active and the search is straightforward. Talent Gurus offers contingency for select roles at 35%. We are selective about which contingency searches we accept because the work requires the same quality of process regardless of the fee structure.
A retained search firm is engaged exclusively on your search. They map the full candidate universe, approach the right people directly and confidentially, and take responsibility for the outcome. They are paid in stages regardless of outcome because the work is substantial regardless of whether the search closes. This model is standard for any senior hire where the cost of getting it wrong exceeds the cost of the search fee.
Talent Gurus works on both retained and contingency engagements. For contingency searches we are selective about the roles we accept and charge 35%. For senior family office and household roles where the candidate pool is passive and the search requires full commitment from both sides, we recommend retained. The model is determined by the nature of the search, not a blanket policy.
Before any outreach begins we run a rouka intelligence analysis on your search. This takes 48 hours and covers four things.
Complexity score: A 1 to 10 rating of how difficult this specific search will be to execute, based on role scarcity, location, language requirements, budget position, discretion requirements, and timeline. A Family Office CIO search in a secondary market with trilingual requirements scores very differently from a House Manager search in a major metro with standard requirements.
Compensation benchmarks: P25, P50, P75, and P90 for the role at your specific location with your specific requirements applied. This tells you immediately whether your budget is competitive, below market, or exceptional, and what that means for the candidate pool you can access.
Candidate pool assessment: How many viable candidates exist for this role in this market. For a Family Office CIO nationally this might be 30 to 50 people. For a multilingual Estate Manager in a secondary market it might be 8 to 15.
Sourcing strategy: Where those candidates are, how they are best approached, and what the search timeline looks like given the pool size and budget position.
This brief is included in every engagement. It is also the most important conversation we have, because it sets realistic expectations before the search starts rather than three months in when time and trust have been spent.
Once the intelligence brief is complete we build the search brief together. This covers the role scope, reporting structure, compensation structure, candidate profile, and any specific requirements around background, credentials, or cultural fit.
Getting this right at the start prevents the most common cause of search failure: a brief that shifts halfway through because the client's requirements were not fully defined before outreach began. Changing the brief mid-search means starting the candidate pool assessment again.
We identify every qualified candidate in the relevant market. Not just active candidates. The full universe of people who could do this role well, including those who are currently employed and not looking.
At the UHNW level this is almost always the majority of the pool. Senior family office executives and household professionals at the top of their field are employed. They are not checking job boards. Reaching them requires direct outreach from a search professional they know or have been introduced to through a trusted channel.
All outreach is confidential. The client's identity is not disclosed until there is mutual interest from both sides and a non-disclosure agreement is in place. This protects the principal's privacy and allows candidates to engage honestly without career risk.
We present a shortlist of 3 to 5 candidates. Each one comes with a full professional assessment covering career background, compensation context, cultural fit evaluation, and reference intelligence gathered during the search process.
We do not present candidates we would not hire ourselves. The shortlist is the product of the full search, not a sample of who responded to an outreach message.
We manage the interview process and provide structured guidance on what to assess at each stage. For senior family office roles the interview process typically runs 3 to 4 rounds over 4 to 6 weeks. Rushing this stage produces placements that fail.
For household roles where a working trial is appropriate we advise on structure, duration, and what to assess during the trial period.
We manage the offer stage. This includes compensation structuring, offer presentation, and counter-offer strategy.
Counter-offer activity is high at the senior level. An Estate Manager who is well matched to a principal will be counter-offered by their current employer in 40 to 55% of cases. A Family Office CIO at a competitive firm may receive multiple approaches simultaneously. Managing this stage requires experience and timing.
We do not consider a search closed until the candidate has started in the role.
Senior family office executive roles: 16 to 24 weeks from brief to accepted offer.
Estate Manager and household leadership roles: 10 to 16 weeks.
Head of Security and executive protection: 12 to 18 weeks including background verification.
Complete household team builds: 16 to 26 weeks depending on team size and sequencing.
These timelines reflect the reality of searching a passive candidate pool confidentially. Clients who expect to compress them significantly are either working with a firm that is cutting corners on the process or setting expectations that will produce a failed placement.
Talent Gurus fees are structured as follows.
Retained search: 30% of first-year base compensation, billed in four equal payments of 25% each: at engagement, at shortlist presentation, on the candidate's start date, and at the three-month mark.
Contingency search: 35% of first-year base compensation, paid on placement. Contingency engagements are selective.
The right framing is not cost versus no cost. It is cost versus the alternative. A stalled search that runs for six months before restarting, a placement that fails in year one, or a principal's time spent managing a broken hiring process all carry costs that exceed any search fee.
If you are considering a search or want to understand what the market looks like for a specific role, we will run a rouka intelligence brief within 48 hours. No commitment required.
Contact Charbel directly: charbel@talent-gurus.com
