The benefits of retained executive search begin with experienced search experts who lead the assignment and understand the leadership demands of your industry. A true retained search combines proven industry connections, extensively developed professional networks, and targeted research to identify executives who have done comparable work before and delivered relevant results. Those relationships help your organization reach accomplished leaders who may not be actively looking, responding to advertisements, or visible on job boards. Your organization also gains a dedicated partner to define the leadership mandate, conduct confidential outreach, assess candidates against business priorities, and guide stakeholders through finalist selection and the offer process. Together, these capabilities provide access to relevant leadership talent and informed search counsel from the initial strategy through appointment.

In a contingent search, a recruiting firm generally earns its placement fee when the employer hires a candidate it introduces. In a retained search, the employer engages the firm for a dedicated search assignment, with fees typically paid in agreed stages as the work progresses. Retained engagements commonly include market research, direct executive outreach, assessment, and ongoing advice throughout the search; contingent models and service scope vary by firm. The right model depends on the role’s seniority, complexity, confidentiality, and the level of search support your organization needs.

Your organization receives a search built around the role, business priorities, industry, and outcomes the executive must deliver. Scion leads executive market research, confidential outreach, candidate evaluation, and a focused candidate presentation process, with communication and counsel for the hiring team. We also support finalist coordination, references, compensation discussions, and the offer process within the agreed engagement scope.

Yes. Scion can support sensitive replacements, planned succession, newly created executive positions, and leadership transitions where discretion is essential. We establish the confidentiality requirements with your team and coordinate outreach, candidate communications, and information sharing accordingly. This allows the search to move forward with care for your organization, its stakeholders, and the executives involved.

Scion builds the search around your industry, business model, ownership structure, operating scale, and leadership priorities. Our research, professional networks, referrals, and national connections help us identify executives with relevant accomplishments, including leaders who are not actively job searching. Direct outreach gives us a way to discuss the opportunity confidentially and explore whether an executive’s experience matches the mandate.

We evaluate candidates against the leadership mandate and the business outcomes your organization needs to achieve. The assessment considers relevant accomplishments, scope of responsibility, industry experience, strategic and operational capabilities, team leadership, motivation, and stakeholder expectations. We help your team compare candidates against shared priorities so that the decision reflects evidence and the needs of the role.

Retained search is well suited to a senior hire that is consequential, confidential, highly specialized, or difficult to reach through ordinary recruiting channels. Common situations include CEO succession, C-suite appointments, board leadership, transformation, expansion, and investor-backed leadership changes. It is particularly useful when your organization needs research, proactive executive outreach, and dedicated guidance throughout the hiring process.

Yes. Our US-based executive search team supports organizations across all 50 states, drawing on national connections to identify relevant leadership talent. Searches can address local market requirements, relocation, multi-location businesses, and remote or hybrid leadership arrangements. We discuss geography, travel expectations, and location flexibility at the outset so the search reflects how your organization operates.

Scion supports executive hiring across technology and AI, manufacturing, life sciences, healthcare, financial and professional services, consumer businesses, media, and other specialized industries. We work with enterprise and middle-market companies, family-owned businesses, employee-owned organizations, private equity portfolio companies, and venture-backed businesses. Each search considers both industry requirements and the ownership, growth stage, and operating context of the organization.

Scion recruits CEOs, Presidents, board leaders, C-suite executives, Vice Presidents, and senior functional leaders. Our search areas include finance and accounting, operations, people and HR, revenue, sales, marketing, technology and AI, legal, product, science, communications, and sustainability. We shape the search around the responsibilities and outcomes of the position rather than relying on the title alone.

Yes. You can begin with a business challenge or leadership gap rather than a completed position description. We work with your stakeholders to clarify the mandate, reporting relationships, success measures, relevant experience, and compensation considerations. That shared understanding guides the research, outreach, and candidate assessment.

A retained executive search firm is engaged by an employer to lead a dedicated search for senior leadership, with experienced search professionals guiding the work from strategy through appointment. A true retained search brings more than a recruiting process: it combines subject-matter expertise, established industry connections, and extensively developed professional networks to identify executives who have performed comparable work and delivered relevant results in the industry. Those relationships, supported by targeted research and confidential outreach, help the firm reach proven leaders who may not be actively looking or visible on job boards. The firm defines the leadership mandate, engages and assesses candidates, and advises the employer throughout the hiring decision, with responsibilities, fees, and service scope established in the engagement.

Begin by sharing the position you need to fill, the business challenge, your desired timing, and any confidentiality requirements. A finished job description is not required; our team can help clarify the leadership need and discuss the relevant executive market. Use our Start a Search form to connect with the team and discuss the appropriate engagement scope and next steps.

Start your executive search →

Visit our executive job opportunities page to review current openings and follow the application instructions for a relevant position. You can also register with our executive talent network to share your background for consideration in future searches. Some client engagements are confidential and may not be publicly advertised, and joining the network does not guarantee an interview or placement.

View executive opportunities · Join our executive talent network