17 years of senior placement·500+ leadership hires·Engaged · Contingent · Staffing · RPO
Engaged Headhunters/Solutions/Engaged Search
Solutions · Pillar

Engaged Search.

A hybrid model. Deposit funds the advertising techniques that surface passive talent. Balance is owed only on placement.

Fee
25-35% of first-year comp
Best for
VP & C-suite roles
Recruiter
Senior search partner
Guarantee
Scoped per engagement
Definition

What is engaged search?

Engaged search is a hybrid recruiting model. You pay an engagement fee upfront to start the search. The fee goes back into the search itself, into the advertising techniques that reach passive candidates already in seat at peer companies.

The balance is contingent: owed only on placement. If you fill the role through another channel during the engagement, the deposit covers the work and the rest stays in your pocket.

Pick engaged search when you need speed, dedicated focus, or passive-talent reach. The model scales… one role or many. The fee is quoted to the scope.

How it works

The mechanics, in five steps.

From kickoff to closed offer. The recruiter who pitches the search is the one who runs it end-to-end. The file stays with the senior headhunter the whole way.

  1. Scoping & engagement

    We define the role, the bar, the geography, and the urgency. Engagement fee is quoted to the scope. Replacement-guarantee window is selected, longer windows adjust the fee. Deposit kicks off the search.

  2. Market mapping

    We map the live universe of qualified candidates inside the niche before we make a single call. The deposit funds passive-talent advertising in parallel.

  3. Outbound + inbound

    Direct outreach to the mapped candidates. ProHireHQ-driven advertising surfaces passive talent already in seat somewhere else. Two channels, one funnel.

  4. Calibrated shortlist

    A small, deliberate shortlist with full diligence, references, comp validation, and cultural read. Calibrated against your bar after round one.

  5. Close & guarantee

    Offer support, counter-offer management, start-date logistics. Replacement guarantee runs for the agreed window. If they leave, we restart at the cost the guarantee was scoped to.

Compare

Engaged vs. Contingent.

Two different searches, two different models. Pick the one that matches the urgency, depth, and reach the role demands.

Engaged Search

  • Deposit upfront, funds advertising
  • Dedicated headhunter, end-to-end
  • Passive-talent advertising included
  • Scales to multi-role engagements
  • Replacement guarantee, scoped per engagement

Contingent Search

  • No upfront cost
  • Active + light passive outreach
  • Fee owed only on placement
  • Run in parallel with other channels
  • Best when speed and reach matter most
Where this runs today

Engaged Search by industry.

Industry pages are SEO/AEO entry points. The actual product is the headhunter, and headhunters work in niches we may not yet list.

SILO · 01

Healthcare leadership

Clinical · health-tech · behavioral health

CMOs, Medical Directors, Clinical Ops, Healthcare CEOs

See headhunters →
SILO · 02

Technology

CTOs · VP Engineering · AI · Product

CTOs, VP Engineering, Heads of AI, CISO, VP Product

See headhunters →
SILO · 03

Finance

CFOs · Controllers · Asset management

CFOs, Controllers, VP Finance, Tax Directors

See headhunters →
SILO · 04

Manufacturing

Plant ops · supply chain · industrial

Plant Managers, VP Operations, Supply Chain Directors

See headhunters →
SILO · 05

Construction

Project leadership · field ops · estimation

VP Construction, Project Executives, Estimators, Superintendents

See headhunters →
SILO · 06

Aviation

Operations · maintenance · safety

Directors of Maintenance, Chief Pilots, Safety Officers

See headhunters →
FAQ

Engaged Search,
specifically.

The questions hiring managers ask in the first call. Answered the way we answer them in the call.

Can engaged search cover multiple roles in one engagement?
Yes. The engagement fee is quoted to the scope of the engagement, single role or many. For multi-role engagements, the advertising spend and recruiter time are sized accordingly.
What if we fill the role ourselves during the engagement?
The deposit is kept; the balance stays in your pocket. The deposit was already deployed into the advertising and search work, regardless of outcome.
How long is the replacement guarantee?
The guarantee window is scoped per engagement. Longer windows adjust the fee. We walk through the trade-off at scoping; some clients want a tighter, lower-fee guarantee, others want a longer one. Both are honored to the letter.
Who actually runs my search?
The senior headhunter you meet on the kickoff call runs the search end-to-end. The recruiter on the network is a niche headhunter with a decade in the vertical, supported by ProHireHQ for sourcing scale and the firm for the back-office.
●Start an engaged search

Tell us the role, the niche, the urgency.

We come back inside one business day with a scoping call, a fee quote, and a candidate market read.

Start a search →See contingent →
SILO · 01 · FOR COMPANIES