What does this appointment need to change?
Retained Executive Search for senior leadership and specialist appointments across Media, Entertainment & Sports Technology in North America & EMEA.
Photo Credit: 808 Talent
At this stage the critical hire usually creates a capability your business doesn’t have yet. We shape the search around the appointment, the stage of your business and the market it must draw from.
The search expands with the role: its reach, the market it needs to cover and the change it is expected to unlock.
Appointments like these need your decision-makers aligned and the role tested before the market is mapped. We do that work first, then assess the people who can deliver it.
SVP, VP, Head of and Director roles across:
Senior individual contributors across:
Across Media, Entertainment and Sports Technology. See the markets we cover
A structured process from first conversation to appointment. Before we approach anyone, we map who exists, what they would cost, why they would move, and how the role needs to be shaped to land them.
We shape the brief with you around your business objective and the reality of the market. We align the people who will decide and make sure the role is clear before we take it to market.
We identify the right people across the whole market, including the adjacent sectors where the strongest candidates can often sit.
Personal approaches from people with standing in this sector, which is why they get answered. This is headhunting, done properly.
Several conversations with each candidate and competency-based assessment before anyone is presented. Together we agree a shortlist of three to five assessed candidates.
Regular updates on what candidates are saying about your business and your competitors, with salary and compensation data from the market. Often one of the most useful parts of the process, especially when entering a new market or geography.
We stay involved through offer, negotiation and acceptance, and into the start of the role. Counter-offers at this level are expected, and we know how to handle them.
For C-suite appointments, First 100 Days Onboard Coaching with Ben is included in the fee. By the time your new leader starts, Ben has spent around 12 weeks getting to know your business, the role and the person, so nobody starts from scratch.
He helps your new leader settle in quickly and hit the ground running. Any concerns on their side come to light early and are dealt with before they grow. It takes risk out of the appointment and gives you a trusted line of communication through those first 100 days.
Coaching can be extended beyond 100 days, and is available as an add-on for other senior hires.
“Having used many different recruitment services, I have never been more confident that the process would yield the results we were looking for.”
Marcus BrodersenCEO, Pixotope
“He took the time to make sure that I was prepared for each stage of the hiring process.”
Eric CarsonCandidate
“From our first conversation, I felt completely at ease and in good hands.”
Tatiana GramoulléCandidate
The people who can transform your business are rarely looking. Finding them takes a search of the whole market, not a scan of a database.
That is what retained search delivers. We identify every credible candidate and assess each one in depth: competency, culture, personality and motivation. Weekly steering calls keep you close to every stage, and candidates are handled with care throughout. In a market this small, how you hire is how you are seen.
Contingency recruitment can get lucky. Retained search is built to get it right.
How the fee works. We agree the fee at the start, based on the role's first-year compensation. It is then invoiced in three stages, each tied to a point in the search you can see for yourself. You pay as the search moves forward, never ahead of it. Our only incentive is the right appointment, and a replacement guarantee is written into our terms.
Every search is different, so we agree the fee once we understand the role, the market and what the search will involve.
Tell us what your business is trying to do next. We will give you an honest read on the market, what the search would require, and whether 808 is the right firm for it.
