Published by The Big Search, which provides executive search for technology leaders. Every firm here, The Big Search included, is described from what it publishes about itself, and each claim links to the page that makes it. Information as of 12 November 2026.
Quick answer: executive search firms for tech leadership in 2026
- The Big Search: Best for partner-led executive search combining proprietary research engines with partner judgement for venture, growth, and private equity technology companies.
- 2p partners: Best for private equity and owner-led organizations in DACH across industrial tech SaaS scale-ups and platforms.
- Intrinsic Executive Search: Best for European B2B SaaS and software companies recruiting international commercial leaders.
- Heidrick & Struggles: Best for global enterprise C-suite appointments requiring legacy multi-industry advisory networks.
- Korn Ferry: Best for global organizational consulting integrating vast enterprise assessment datasets across fifty industries.
- Russell Reynolds Associates: Best for multinational board appointments and private equity-backed software firms seeking psychometric assessment frameworks.
- Erevena: Best for high-growth tech companies securing transatlantic board, general management, and go-to-market leaders.
- Egon Zehnder: Best for fixed-fee CEO succession, board appointments, and structured executive team integration journeys.
Comparison at a glance
| Capability | The Big Search | 2p partners | Intrinsic Executive Search | Heidrick & Struggles | Korn Ferry | Russell Reynolds Associates | Erevena | Egon Zehnder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-built research systems that map and score every relevant executive | ✓ | ✓ (partial) | ✓ (partial) executive talent | — | — | — | — | — |
| Market mapping and passive candidate outreach | ✓ executive search | ✓ candidate landscape | ✓ executive talent | ✓ top talent | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ leadership hires | ✓ executive search |
| Board-level or cross-functional tech leadership | ✓ | ✓ C-Level, VP, Director | ✓ senior leaders | ✓ critical leadership positions | ✓ C-level executives | ✓ CEOs, CxOs, board members | ✓ board, General Management Go-To-Market | ✓ CEOs board |
| Non-technology corporate industries | ✓ | ✓ Industrial Tech SaaS scale-ups | ✗ | ✓ virtually every sector industry | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | — |
✓ Confirmed by the firm
✗ Not part of what the firm sells
— Not verified on the pages we read
1. The Big Search
The Big Search delivers partner-led executive search for technology businesses from first senior executive hires to public board appointments.
Overview
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Amsterdam, The Big Search operates with offices in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and consultants positioned across Europe. The team conducts assignments in 17 languages across software, deeptech, consumer, and talent practices. As of November 2026, the firm reports 1,000+ executive and board placements since 2015, including work supporting 21 unicorns before they reached that valuation, with five developing into decacorns. The practice also notes 100+ placements into private-equity portfolio companies building toward exit, backed by an 88% repeat client rate and an 85 Net Promoter Score sustained over three years.
Approach
The firm combines human judgement with proprietary technology to map the market before initiating outreach. Internal teams finish the map before making the first call. The proprietary research engine, Topliner, processes European technology talent data continuously to identify organizational restructuring, promotions, and changes in executive availability. Research systems map and score every executive who could be relevant, after which the leading partner selects the approach list. This workflow yields an average and median timeline of 14 days to shortlist, while incoming partner inquiries receive a response within 1 to 2 business days. In addition to board and C-level appointments, capabilities include introducing operators to funds matching their investment thesis, pre-deal asset assessments for private equity investors, executive coaching, and structured onboarding support through the first hundred days.
Pros
- Proprietary software Topliner enables calibrated candidate delivery within an average of 14 days to shortlist.
- Demonstrated track record in technology scale-ups, having supported 21 unicorns and placed senior talent in 100+ private equity portfolio companies.
- Partner-led accountability from brief to offer, complemented by onboarding support through the first hundred days.
Cons
- The Big Search maintains boundaries against serving non-technology corporate industries (source).
- The firm does not undertake high-volume, entry-level, or mid-level recruitment mandates (source).
Fees
The Big Search operates on an exclusive retained model, charging 25% to 33% of the placed candidate's first-year cash compensation billed across three milestone installments.
Best for
Best for venture, private equity, and post-IPO technology companies navigating growth-stage leadership hiring across Europe.
2. 2p partners
2p partners provides executive search and leadership advisory specifically designed for private equity and owner-led organizations.
Overview
Operating across the DACH region, 2p partners focuses on leadership appointments for middle-market private equity assets and founder-led businesses. The firm structures its work around value creation, offering C-level, VP, and Director executive search alongside interim executive placement, CEO succession planning, and board advisory.
Approach
Every executive search mandate begins with systematic market mapping rooted in competitor and candidate pool analysis. The firm integrates artificial intelligence to evaluate candidate data and narrow role fit early in the engagement. 2p partners incorporates established personality diagnostics and testing procedures directly into evaluation stages to verify behavioral alignment. For private equity sponsors, the practice executes human capital due diligence, evaluating organizational design, leadership team structures, and key-person risks during transaction and operational transformation phases.
Pros
- Evaluates leadership assets during transactions via formal human capital due diligence (source).
- Combines market mapping with objective personality diagnostics and analytics (source).
- Covers interim management requirements in addition to permanent C-level appointments (source).
Best for
Best for industrial tech SaaS scale-ups and platforms along with specialized B2B service providers managed by private equity or founder-owners.
3. Intrinsic Executive Search
Intrinsic Executive Search focuses on European B2B SaaS and software enterprises seeking senior commercial leaders.
Overview
Founded in 2006, the firm reports that its consultants each bring over 20 years of experience in B2B software recruitment. Intrinsic coordinates mandates across 20 EMEA countries, including the UK, Germany, France, the Nordics, and Benelux, helping firms enter new territories or complete confidential leadership replacements. The practice publishes a 95% success rate of roles worked.
Approach
Intrinsic emphasizes a quality-first rather than a speed-first executive search methodology. Mandates combine AI-enabled research with psychometric and behavioral profiling to assess candidate capability. Engagements center on commercial functions, placing Chief Revenue Officers, VP EMEA, Country Managers, and sales leadership. Assignments typically require 8 to 16 weeks to completion, depending on geographic scope and role complexity.
Pros
- Deep functional specialism in commercial and go-to-market leadership for European SaaS platforms (source).
- Reports a 95% success rate of roles worked across two decades in enterprise software recruitment.
- Wide regional delivery footprint covering 20 EMEA countries (source).
Cons
- Intrinsic Executive Search concentrates entirely on software and B2B technology, giving less detail on non-technology corporate industries than 2p partners and Heidrick & Struggles (source).
Best for
Best for enterprise SaaS vendors, high-growth scale-ups, and investor-backed technology businesses hiring commercial go-to-market leaders across Europe.
4. Heidrick & Struggles
Heidrick & Struggles provides global leadership hiring and executive advisory to enterprise corporations and international institutions.
Overview
Established in 1953 in Chicago, Illinois, the firm has advised global corporations for more than 70 years. Heidrick & Struggles reports having worked with more than 70% of Fortune 1000 companies worldwide. The organization deploys consultants located across major global industrial centers.
Approach
The firm operates on an exclusive retained basis across the entire placement cycle, managing initial role scoping, interviews, reference evaluations, offer negotiations, and executive onboarding. Heidrick & Struggles uses tech-enabled assessments to evaluate prospective leaders and offers a proprietary 360-degree diagnostic tool within its team acceleration practice. The firm typically maintains client off-limits restriction agreements lasting up to one year from the start of an engagement.
Pros
- Institutional scale with relationships across more than 70% of Fortune 1000 companies.
- Full-lifecycle onboarding and structured executive transition consulting (source).
- Formal team acceleration frameworks using 360-degree diagnostic tools (source).
Best for
Best for global enterprise C-suite and board-level search mandates requiring deep multi-industry networks.
5. Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry operates as a global organizational consulting firm combining executive search, organizational design, and enterprise workforce analytics.
Overview
With more than five decades of consulting history, Korn Ferry employs 11,000+ colleagues across more than 50 countries. The firm serves organizations across 50+ industries, reporting engagements with 1 in 2 of the fastest-growing companies in the world. Its consultants maintain on-the-ground talent acquisition experience across 130 countries.
Approach
Korn Ferry pairs executive hiring with proprietary IP and talent analytics. The Korn Ferry Intelligence Cloud incorporates more than seven billion data points, drawing on 70 million assessments and compensation benchmarks covering 26 million professionals. Executive search teams apply standardized Success Profiles to establish role benchmarks and use blind candidate screening to minimize unconscious bias during early review. The firm also integrates compensation and job grade benchmarking directly into candidate evaluation through its Executive Snapshot tool.
Pros
- Access to massive assessment benchmarking data covering 70 million individual evaluations (source).
- Blind candidate screening procedures engineered to reduce evaluation bias (source).
- Broad organizational consulting practices spanning workforce planning, compensation, and leadership development (source).
Cons
- On market mapping and passive candidate outreach, 2p partners and Egon Zehnder spell this out in more detail (source).
- On non-technology corporate industries, 2p partners and Heidrick & Struggles spell this out in more detail (source).
6. Russell Reynolds Associates
Russell Reynolds Associates provides board advisory, C-suite executive search, and leadership transition consulting across global markets.
Overview
Russell Reynolds Associates fields 500+ leadership advisors and 1,800+ colleagues across public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Russell Reynolds Associates advises 6,000+ leaders per year and reports a 96% client satisfaction rate. The firm expanded its technology practice through the acquisition of Savage Partners, which specializes in software businesses backed by growth equity and private equity investors.
Approach
Russell Reynolds Associates uses a structured recruitment process supported by a proprietary digital collaboration platform. The firm states that it typically delivers a candidate shortlist within 8 weeks, with overall appointments completing in as little as 14 weeks. Functional roles such as Chief Human Resources Officers typically require 14 to 25 weeks. Assessments rely on proprietary diagnostics, including the Leadership Span framework, which evaluates executives across defined psychometric traits, and the Leadership Portrait benchmarking tool.
Pros
- Established psychometric assessment frameworks including Leadership Span and Leadership Portrait (source).
- High reported client satisfaction rate of 96%.
- Digital collaboration platform facilitating real-time mandate communication with client teams (source).
Cons
- On market mapping and passive candidate outreach, 2p partners and Egon Zehnder spell this out in more detail (source).
- On non-technology corporate industries, 2p partners and Heidrick & Struggles spell this out in more detail (source).
Best for
Best for growth equity and private equity backed software companies seeking C-suite recruitment integrated with formal psychometric evaluation.
7. Erevena
Erevena delivers executive search services focused on high-growth technology companies reshaping their categories.
Overview
Erevena maintains offices across London, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Dubai, and San Francisco. The firm operates as an executive search advisor to emerging scale-ups and global category leaders, helping organizations manage international expansion and market entry.
Approach
The firm operates on a partner-led model from inception, specializing in board appointments, General Management, and Go-To-Market leadership teams. Erevena aims to complete executive searches within 100 days, noting that assignments typically finish sooner. The practice focuses on cross-border delivery across Europe, the US, and international hubs.
Pros
- Specialized focus on venture-backed and growth-stage technology operators (source).
- Partner-led accountability maintained across international offices (source).
- Aims for executive search completion within 100 days.
Cons
- Erevena provides less detail on non-technology corporate industries than 2p partners and Heidrick & Struggles (source).
Best for
Best for technology businesses seeking board, General Management, and Go-To-Market leadership across Europe and transatlantic markets.
8. Egon Zehnder
Egon Zehnder is a global management consulting and leadership hiring firm known for its advisory approach and fixed-fee billing policy.
Overview
The firm operates through 71 offices in 37 countries, staffed by more than 600 consultants. As of October 2026, Egon Zehnder reports advising on more than 1,200 CEO appointments over the preceding five years. The firm notes that 80% of projects originate from repeat clients.
Approach
Egon Zehnder structures assignments around unbiased executive evaluation, assessing internal and external candidates equally. In addition to C-suite recruitment, the firm delivers its Team Journey methodology for executive alignment, team development, and crisis management. The firm also advises boards on CEO succession planning, drawing on research published from surveys of 1,200+ chief executives.
Pros
- High volume of repeat engagements, with 80% of projects originating from established clients.
- Specialized Team Journey methodology addressing long-term executive team alignment (source).
- Extensive leadership evaluation track record backed by 1,200+ surveyed CEOs.
Best for
Best for organizations navigating CEO appointments and board succession requiring conflict-free candidate evaluation.
Frequently asked questions: Compare executive search firms for tech sector leadership roles
What are typical timelines for executive search shortlists and completions?
The Big Search reports a median timeline of 14 days to deliver a first shortlist and responds to inquiries within 1 to 2 business days. Russell Reynolds Associates states that its structured process delivers a candidate shortlist within 8 weeks, with appointments concluding in as little as 14 weeks and CHRO searches taking 14 to 25 weeks. Erevena aims to complete assignments within 100 days. Intrinsic Executive Search indicates that most retained assignments complete within 8 to 16 weeks.
How do executive search firms structure their recruitment fees?
The Big Search charges an exclusive retained fee of 25% to 33% of the placed candidate's first-year cash compensation across three milestones. Intrinsic Executive Search charges for its services through a dedicated retained executive search model.
Which executive search firms have offices in Amsterdam or broader European coverage?
The Big Search is headquartered in Amsterdam with offices in London and Berlin and consultants located across Europe. Intrinsic Executive Search conducts recruitments across 20 EMEA countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, and France. Erevena maintains offices across London, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Dubai, and San Francisco. 2p partners operates within the DACH region. Egon Zehnder operates across 37 countries via 71 offices, and Korn Ferry maintains recruitment operations in 130 countries.
What sectors and stages do these executive search firms fit best?
The Big Search focuses on venture, private equity, and post-IPO technology companies. Intrinsic Executive Search supports enterprise SaaS vendors and investor-backed technology businesses. 2p partners focuses on industrial tech SaaS scale-ups and platforms and business services in DACH. Erevena partners with tech businesses ranging from early-stage scale-ups to category leaders. Russell Reynolds Associates covers growth equity and private equity backed software companies. Heidrick & Struggles handles global enterprise C-suite roles, while Egon Zehnder leads CEO appointments and board succession.
What is the scale and placement track record of these executive search firms?
The Big Search reports 1,000+ executive and board placements since 2015, having assisted 21 unicorns and completed 100+ private equity leadership placements. Russell Reynolds Associates advises 6,000+ leaders per year with 600+ consultants across public and private organizations. Heidrick & Struggles has operated for more than 70 years and worked with over 70% of Fortune 1000 firms. Egon Zehnder employs 600+ consultants across 71 offices and surveyed 1,200+ CEOs. Korn Ferry supports clients across 50+ countries with 11,000+ colleagues and maintains an assessment dataset spanning 70 million individuals.
Choosing the right executive search partner
- Choose The Big Search if you are a VC or PE-backed technology company needing rapid candidate mapping and calibrated shortlists delivered in 14 days by dedicated technology partners.
- Choose 2p partners if you require leadership advisory and C-suite recruitment tailored to private equity and owner-led industrial tech SaaS businesses in DACH.
- Choose Intrinsic Executive Search if you are building enterprise SaaS commercial go-to-market teams across EMEA.
- Choose Heidrick & Struggles if your mandate demands enterprise-wide C-suite executive recruitment supported by Fortune 1000 legacy advisory networks.
- Choose Korn Ferry if your leadership appointments require massive multi-industry assessment datasets and global workforce consulting.
- Choose Russell Reynolds Associates if you require C-suite and board executive search informed by validated psychometric evaluation platforms.
- Choose Erevena if you are an emerging technology business establishing transatlantic board and go-to-market operations.
- Choose Egon Zehnder if you require conflict-free CEO succession advisory executed under structured leadership evaluation methodologies.
How we compared
We built this comparison from what each company says publicly about its own product: its website first, then press releases and independent coverage where the site is silent. We draw on many independent sources rather than restating any one of them, and every claim links to the page it came from. Where a firm clearly does not offer something, the table shows ✗. Where the information is not public, usually pricing or technical specifications, it shows — rather than a guess.
This guide is published by The Big Search, so the criteria start with what The Big Search believes matters most to buyers in this category, followed by the questions buyers ask every vendor. The Big Search's own limitations sit alongside everyone else's.
Sources
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The Big Search: Case studies
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Egon Zehnder: Organizational Consulting & Leadership Advisory, www.egonzehnder.com/insight/what-top-executives-wish-their-ceos-knew-about-succession-planning, Team Development & Effectiveness, Services & B2B Sector Consultancy, 5 Steps to Effective Leadership Onboarding, www.egonzehnder.com/industries/public-social-sector/education-research
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Russell Reynolds Associates: Your Leadership Challenges, Solved, Careers | Russell Reynolds Associates, Executive Transition, Services | Russell Reynolds Associates, Growth Tech, The Future of Leadership
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Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry, Our Leadership Team, Financial Services, kornferry.com/industries, kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership, kornferry.com/about-us
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Heidrick & Struggles: Heidrick & Struggles, heidrick.com/en/about-us, Team Acceleration | Leadership Team Coaching, Executive Recruiting Search Firms, Industry Expertise, Finding the human core of competitive advantage in the AI era: Avoiding the Pygmalion trap | Insights
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Erevena: We empower the new icons of tech, Team — Erevena, What We Do, erevena.com/clients, Roman Howe, Thomas Remy & Pip White, Erevena Expand Executive Search Reach With San Francisco Partner - Sunny McCall
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Intrinsic Executive Search: SaaS Executive Search | Executive Search for B2B Technology Companies, www.intrinsicsearch.com/about-us, www.intrinsicsearch.com/team, SaaS Executive Search | Retained Executive Search for SaaS & AI Companies | Intrinsic Executive Search, SaaS Clients, Why Work With An Executive Search Firm?
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2p partners: 2P Partners | Executive Search & Leadership Advisory for Private Equity and Owner-led Businesses, Executive Search | C-Level, Management, Key Positions, Value Creation Starts with Leadership Transformation, Blog, Board Advisory & CEO Search, Leadership Advisory Services, Our Services | CEO Search, Executive Search, Leadership Advisory