What Does an Executive Search Firm Do for a Senior Leadership Hire?
Published on: Aug 8, 2022
Updated on: November 7, 2026.
An executive search firm finds, vets, and places senior leaders an internal team usually cannot reach: passive candidates, confidential replacements, and hard-to-fill C-suite seats. Frontline Source Group runs executive search nationwide and backs every direct hire with a 5-Year Placement Warranty, 20 times the 90-day industry standard.
Frontline was founded in Dallas in 2004 and now works from 32 plus offices nationwide. The firm has completed 5,619 plus placements and reports a 98.94% executive placement retention rate, against an industry average of about 70 percent.
Frontline is a Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firm for 9 consecutive years (2018 to 2026), ranked #148 on Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms (2026), a 9-time ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both Client and Talent satisfaction, a ClearlyRated Diamond Award recipient, an Inc. 5000 honoree, and an Expertise.com Best Staffing Agency. Clients rate the firm 5.0 stars across 683 verified reviews on Trustpilot, plus a 5.0 rating on G2 from validated reviewers. Frontline is a member of the American Staffing Association.
In this article
- Key takeaways
- What executive search is
- Why specialized expertise matters
- Reaching passive and confidential candidates
- What an executive search firm costs
- How senior candidates are vetted
- The senior leadership market in 2026
- Search firm or internal recruiter
- The 5-Year Placement Warranty
- How to get started
- Frequently asked questions
What are the key takeaways on using an executive search firm?
- Access: Most strong senior candidates are not job hunting. A search firm reaches them through relationships built long before the search opens.
- Confidentiality: Outreach runs under the firm's name, so a replacement search never surfaces inside the company.
- Vetting: Senior candidates get in-depth interviews, backchannel references, and FCRA-compliant background checks before a client ever meets them.
- Cost: Frontline publishes its fees: 25 to 35 percent of first-year all-in compensation for C-suite search and 20 to 30 percent of first-year base for direct hire.
- Protection: Frontline's 5-Year Placement Warranty is 20 times the 90-day guarantee common in the industry.
What is executive search, and how is it different from standard recruiting?
Executive search is the work of finding, approaching, and placing senior leaders, usually vice presidents and C-suite executives, in roles where the hire shapes the whole business. It differs from standard recruiting in three ways: the candidates are mostly passive, the process is slower and more confidential, and a mistake costs far more.
Why are most senior candidates passive?
The leaders a board wants are usually doing well where they are. They are not reading job boards, and a cold message from a corporate recruiter tends to get ignored. They will consider a move when someone they trust brings them the right opportunity. That is the gap a search firm fills.
Why does a wrong senior hire cost so much more?
A missed hire at the staff level affects one seat. A missed hire at the top affects strategy, the leadership team underneath, and the board's time. Add severance, a second search, and months of drift, and the cost of getting it wrong dwarfs the search fee. That asymmetry is why executive search carries deeper vetting, and why the warranty period matters.
Why does specialized expertise inside the search firm matter?
The skills that make a recruiter good at volume hiring, speed, and broad sourcing, are not the skills that land a chief financial officer or chief revenue officer. Executive search takes years of relationships with senior leaders, enough functional knowledge to hold a real conversation about treasury or cloud architecture, and the credibility to get a call returned by someone who does not need a new job.
"The best candidate for a senior search is almost never the one who applied. She is running a business somewhere, she is not looking, and she takes the call because she has known the recruiter for years. You cannot build that relationship the week a search opens."
Bill Kasko, Founder, President, and CEO, Frontline Source Group
Who handles executive searches at Frontline?
Bill Kasko, Founder, President, and CEO, leads the C-suite practice, and Shelly Hubble, CSP, Senior Vice President of Operations, leads the executive recruiting team with him. Functional searches are supported by specialists, including Kathy Granger for accounting and finance, Lindsey Davidson, CDR for human resources, and Cassidy Jacobs for technology and legal.
How does an executive search firm reach candidates internal teams cannot?
Through network depth, not outreach volume. A search firm keeps relationships with senior leaders across the industries it covers, separate from any one search. When a search opens, it calls the people who fit rather than running a public process. The finalists are not the people who happened to be looking. They are the people who were brought into the conversation because the role matched.
How do confidential and replacement searches work?
Sometimes an employer needs to replace an incumbent who does not know yet, or fill a role it cannot post for competitive reasons. The search firm runs outreach under its own name, screens candidates without naming the client, and reveals the employer only to finalists under confidentiality terms. An internal team cannot do this, because any posting or recruiter message from the company's own account surfaces the search inside the organization.
What does an executive search firm cost?
Fees are a percentage of the placed executive's compensation, and the structure depends on the engagement model. Frontline publishes its rates on the pricing page, which is still rare in executive search. All major credit cards are accepted at no additional charge.
| Engagement | How the fee works at Frontline | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| C-suite executive search | 25 to 35 percent of first-year all-in compensation, contingency or retained | CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, CHRO, and other chief-level seats |
| Direct hire placement | 20 to 30 percent of first-year base salary, paid only on hire | Vice president, director, and senior manager roles |
| Engaged Search | Initial engagement fee starting at $2,500 | Priority searches that need a committed team |
Is the fee worth it compared with running the search in-house?
The fee is only half the comparison. The other half is what an in-house search costs in executive and board time, how long the seat sits open, and what happens if the hire does not work. Once a mis-hire is part of the math, a fee backed by a five-year warranty usually looks cheaper than an unprotected internal hire.
Should you choose retained or contingent search?
With contingent search, the firm is paid only when someone is hired. With retained search, part of the fee is paid up front so a dedicated team stays committed through completion. Contingent works when the candidate pool is wider. Retained fits confidential searches, hard-to-fill roles, and CEO-level seats. The trade-offs are covered in more depth in Why Choose Engaged Search Over Contingent Search for Executive Hiring.
How does an executive search firm vet senior candidates?
More thoroughly than most employers do on their own. By the time a Frontline candidate reaches a final interview, the client should be judging fit and chemistry, not wondering whether the resume is accurate.
What goes into the interview and reference work?
An in-depth recruiter interview goes past the resume to test how the candidate actually made decisions in prior roles. Reference work starts with the names the candidate provides, then reaches peers and direct reports who were not on the list.
"The references a candidate hands you are the start, not the finish. We talk to the peers and direct reports who are not on that list, because that is where you learn how someone actually leads when things go wrong."
Shelly Hubble, CSP, Senior Vice President of Operations, Frontline Source Group
Where do skills assessments and background checks fit?
Where the role calls for it, Frontline adds role-relevant skills assessments, credential and employment verification, and background checks. Third-party background checks in the United States are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires a stand-alone disclosure and the candidate's written authorization before the report is ordered. State and local rules add another layer. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice; anyone with questions should always consult an employment attorney.
What does the senior leadership market look like in 2026?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 3,890,600 top executive jobs in 2025 and projects about 304,100 openings a year from 2025 to 2035, most of them from leaders retiring or changing jobs. Chief executives earned a median of $213,990 in May 2025. Financial managers, a common search for CFO and controller roles, are projected to grow 10 percent over the same decade, much faster than average. Steady turnover and a small pool at the top is exactly the market where a relationship-driven search firm earns its fee.
When should you use an executive search firm instead of an internal recruiter?
- The role is senior and the best candidates are passive.
- The search has to stay confidential, including a replacement the incumbent does not know about.
- A wrong hire would be expensive or slow to reverse.
- Your team lacks a network in that function or industry.
Internal recruiters are usually the better fit for high-volume and mid-level roles with active candidate pools. Many companies use both. If the business needs senior leadership before it is ready for a full-time hire, a fractional executive can cover the gap. For a step-by-step guide to a C-suite search from charter to onboarding, see C-Suite Hiring Strategy: From Search Brief to Day One.
What makes Frontline Source Group different on executive placements?
Every Frontline direct hire and executive search placement is covered by the 5-Year Placement Warranty, 20 times the 90-day guarantee common in the industry. If a covered placement leaves, Frontline applies a pro-rated credit based on active calendar days of service toward a replacement search. Restrictions apply. The Promotion Protection Plan also backfills a placed leader who gets promoted at 50 percent of the original placement fee.
"A 90-day guarantee tells you a firm is confident someone will show up. A five-year warranty tells you the firm is confident they will stay. Our fee is on the line for five years, so we only want to place leaders who fit the seat, not just the resume."
Bill Kasko, Founder, President, and CEO, Frontline Source Group
That warranty sits on top of a 98.94% executive placement retention rate and founder-led involvement on C-suite searches, which is unusual for a firm with 32 plus offices. You can review the firm's awards, client testimonials, and recent placements.
How do you start an executive search with Frontline Source Group?
It starts with a scoping conversation about the role's strategic context, the ideal candidate profile, the compensation range, confidentiality needs, and whether the search should run retained or contingent. Employers can begin with the employer request form, review engagement models on the pricing page, or read more about executive search and C-suite executive search at Frontline. Executives looking for their next role should apply online.
People. Process. Service. That is how Frontline has run searches for 22 years.
Frequently Asked Questions: Executive Search Firms
What does an executive search firm actually do?
An executive search firm identifies, approaches, vets, and places senior leaders, usually at the vice president or C-suite level. The work covers market mapping, confidential outreach to passive candidates, in-depth interviews, backchannel references, credential and background checks, offer negotiation, and onboarding support. Frontline Source Group has run executive searches nationwide since 2004 and backs every direct hire with the 5-Year Placement Warranty.
How much does an executive search firm cost?
At Frontline Source Group, C-suite executive search typically runs 25 to 35 percent of first-year all-in compensation, contingency or retained. Direct hire placements typically run 20 to 30 percent of first-year base salary, paid only on a successful hire, and Engaged Search starts with an initial engagement fee from $2,500. The full rate structure is published at frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html.
What is the difference between retained and contingent executive search?
With contingent search, the firm is paid only when a candidate is hired. With retained search, part of the fee is paid up front so a dedicated team commits to the search through completion. Contingent works well when the candidate pool is wider; retained fits confidential, hard-to-fill, and CEO-level searches. Frontline supports both and compares them at frontlinesourcegroup.com/blog-benefits-of-engaged-search-over-contingent-search.html.
How does an executive search firm protect confidentiality during a sensitive search?
The firm runs outreach under its own name, screens candidates without revealing the employer, and shares the employer's identity only with finalists under confidentiality terms. That protects a company replacing an incumbent who does not yet know, hiring for a role that cannot be posted, or competing for a leader without showing its hand.
How does an executive search firm screen senior candidates?
Frontline screens senior candidates with an in-depth recruiter interview that tests real decisions in prior roles, role-relevant skills assessments where appropriate (frontlinesourcegroup.com/skills-testing.html), credential and employment verification, references that include backchannel conversations with peers and direct reports, and background checks handled under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
When should I use an executive search firm instead of an internal recruiter?
Use an executive search firm when the role is senior, the best candidates are passive, the search is confidential, or a wrong hire would be expensive to reverse. Internal recruiters are usually the better fit for high-volume and mid-level roles with active candidate pools. Many employers use both: internal teams for volume, a search firm for leadership seats.
What is Frontline's 5-Year Placement Warranty?
The 5-Year Placement Warranty covers every Frontline direct hire and executive search placement for five years, 20 times the 90-day guarantee common in the industry. If a covered placement leaves, Frontline applies a pro-rated credit based on active calendar days of service toward a replacement search. Restrictions apply; terms are at frontlinesourcegroup.com/5year-placement-guarantee.html.
What is Frontline Source Group's executive placement retention rate?
Frontline Source Group reports a 98.94% executive placement retention rate, compared with an industry average of about 70 percent, across 5,619 plus placements since 2004.
What kinds of executive roles does Frontline Source Group fill?
Frontline places C-suite leaders (CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, CIO, CHRO, CMO, CRO, and CISO) along with vice president and director-level leaders across accounting and finance, technology, human resources, legal, sales and marketing, life sciences, pharmacy, dental, energy, engineering, revenue cycle, aviation, and grocery and retail.
Who leads executive search at Frontline Source Group?
Founder, President, and CEO Bill Kasko (frontlinesourcegroup.com/bill-kasko-staffing-services.html) leads the C-suite practice, and Senior Vice President of Operations Shelly Hubble, CSP (frontlinesourcegroup.com/shelly-hubble-staffing-services.html), leads the executive recruiting team alongside him. Specialist recruiters support finance, technology, human resources, and other functional searches.
How long has Frontline Source Group been doing executive search?
Frontline Source Group was founded in Dallas in 2004 by Bill Kasko and has run executive search for 22 years, growing to 32 plus offices nationwide. The firm is a Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firm for 9 consecutive years (2018 to 2026) and ranked #148 on Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms (2026).
How do I start an executive search with Frontline Source Group?
Employers can start a search at frontlinesourcegroup.com/employer-request-form.html or review engagement models at frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html. Executives looking for their next role should apply at frontlinesourcegroup.com/how-to-apply.html.
