A leadership appointment shapes the decisions, people and performance of a business for years to come. The search needs to establish who has the experience and judgement to take responsibility for what comes next, whether that means succession, international expansion or a change in commercial direction.
Jonathan Margrave and Mark Taylor lead Imperium’s executive search assignments, working directly with clients to define the mandate, examine the market and assess potential leaders. Our dedicated research capability supports confidential approaches across relevant competitors and adjacent businesses, including internationally where the requirement calls for it.
Assessment extends beyond career history. We examine the responsibilities candidates have held, their contribution to business performance and how they would approach your mandate. Detailed candidate packs, broader referencing and comparison with internal contenders where appropriate give you a clear basis for deciding whom to appoint.
Jonathan and Mark work with you to establish what the appointment must achieve, where responsibility will sit and how potential candidates should be assessed. The examples below show how different business situations shape that brief.
Establish what the next leader must preserve, change and take responsibility for.
Continuity, future direction and the time available for a considered handover.
Relevant leadership experience and the ability to earn the confidence of owners and the existing team.
Internal succession options, the case for a deputy appointment and the evidence needed to assess readiness.
Define the local leadership needed to establish the operation and build its team.
Local responsibilities, existing support and the capability the appointment needs to establish.
Relevant market experience, team-building capability and an understanding of the proposed operating model.
Local versus overseas talent, relocation feasibility, decision-making authority and the resources available.
Connect the leadership requirement to the commercial contribution the business needs.
Target products, customers and markets, with realistic expectations of the existing platform.
Experience at the relevant scale, supported by a clear account of the individual’s contribution to results.
Transferability of the track record, business-plan assumptions and alignment between expectations, resources and remuneration.
Clarify the operational or financial responsibility needed as the organisation develops.
Accountability, gaps in the existing structure and the responsibilities that should sit within the role.
Functional depth, commercial understanding and experience managing priorities across different teams.
The breadth of the remit, relationships with existing leaders and what interviews, planning and references should examine.
Illustrative examples. Each mandate is shaped around the client’s circumstances.
An executive search requires informed conversations with both the client and potential candidates. The people representing your business need to understand its priorities, explain the opportunity convincingly and recognise where a candidate’s experience warrants deeper examination.
Mark and Jonathan lead the engagement, supported by Imperium’s consultants and research team. Their involvement connects the initial mandate with the market approach, candidate assessment and advice provided as the search develops.
You have direct access to the partners responsible for the assignment. That matters when the evidence challenges the original brief, an internal contender deserves consideration or a decision requires a more detailed discussion. We work through those questions with you and keep the search aligned with the business’s needs.
A strong career history earns a conversation. A leadership recommendation requires a deeper understanding of what someone has delivered, how they achieved it and whether that experience translates to your business.
Your search team will examine the responsibilities candidates have held, the decisions they have made and their personal contribution to performance. Where business planning forms part of the assessment, we explore how they would approach your mandate, testing their assumptions against the resources, authority and commercial conditions they would inherit.
Detailed candidate packs bring together the evidence, motivations and questions that warrant further examination. Broader referencing adds perspective from former superiors, peers and direct reports. Where appropriate, internal contenders and direct applicants are assessed against the same agreed criteria, giving you a consistent basis for comparison.
Our executive search work spans succession, international expansion and the creation of new leadership roles. Each assignment reflects a different business requirement, from securing operational leadership overseas to reassessing a chief executive appointment when investment plans change.
A specialist institutional brokerage needed a Chief Operating Officer in New York. The local market offered a limited pool of suitable candidates.
We mapped relevant banking and brokerage businesses internationally, extending the search to experienced candidates open to relocation.
A candidate relocated from London to New York to take up the COO appointment.
An established CFO was preparing to retire. The business needed a successor whose experience matched the commercial and operational breadth of the role.
We mapped relevant competitors across EMEA, including candidates open to relocation, to assess experience against the full scope of the appointment.
The appointed candidate joined the business, completing the CFO succession search.
The business needed a Deputy CEO who could learn its operations and prepare for greater responsibility as part of a planned leadership transition.
We searched relevant competitors and considered candidates willing to relocate internationally, assessing their experience against the succession requirement.
The candidate joined as Deputy CEO. The appointment was designed to support a future leadership transition.
A CEO search was commissioned alongside plans for external investment and growth. The investor withdrew during the interview process, changing the requirement.
We reviewed the implications with the client and recommended reconsidering the external hire, identifying its existing COO as an alternative suited to the revised plan.
The search informed a revised succession recommendation. No external CEO appointment was made.
The right person may already be leading a competitor, managing a regional business or carrying responsibility within a larger organisation. Reaching them requires a credible, informed conversation about the appointment and discretion in how that conversation is handled.
We agree the target market and how your business will be represented before approaches begin. Research identifies the relevant organisations and individuals, while candidate discussions establish the scope of their experience, their interest and the circumstances under which a move could become realistic. Where the evidence supports a wider search, we agree expansion into adjacent businesses or international markets with you.
Imperium accepts one competing mandate within each agreed asset class and geography at a time. Our work in that market is committed to your appointment. Existing client relationships and post-placement protections are established at the outset, so you understand the boundaries of the search.
You retain visibility of the working market map and the feedback behind our recommendations. That includes suitable individuals who decline to engage, the reasons people hesitate and any recurring concerns about the proposition. Those findings allow us to advise you while the search is progressing.
The final stages of an executive appointment need careful management. Remuneration, decision-making authority, notice periods and existing restrictions can all influence whether an agreed offer becomes a successful start.
We explore these considerations throughout the search. Candidate motivations, potential counteroffers and practical barriers are discussed early, giving you a clearer understanding of what will be required to secure the appointment. As discussions progress, we work with both sides through the offer process and support the candidate’s resignation where required.
Our involvement continues after the start date. We stay in contact with you and the appointed individual, helping identify concerns early and maintaining continuity between the search and the working relationship.
Every retained appointment carries our 12-month replacement guarantee. You also retain access to the market mapping for that period, with research refreshed at your request if concerns emerge. (Replacement guarantee subject to agreed terms. Excludes redundancy and material breach by the client)
Every Imperium search is retained and supported by direct market research. For board, CEO and C-suite appointments, Mark Taylor and Jonathan Margrave lead the engagement, with assessment tailored to the responsibilities of the position. This can include business planning, broader referencing, detailed candidate packs and comparison with internal contenders.
Yes. Where appropriate, internal contenders and direct applicants can be assessed against the same agreed criteria as candidates identified through the search. This gives you a consistent basis for comparing experience, capability and suitability for the mandate.
Yes. We agree the approach, disclosure of the client’s identity and handling of sensitive information before contacting potential candidates. The search is shaped around the circumstances of the appointment, including any existing leadership arrangements that require discretion.
Where relevant to the mandate, we assess candidates in overseas markets alongside those available locally. International expansion is agreed with you, with relocation interest, remuneration, timing and practical feasibility explored before recommendations are made.
The scope, fee and commercial terms are agreed before the search begins. For an individual retained search, one-third of the agreed search fee is payable on engagement and the remaining two-thirds on successful placement. There is no separate shortlist payment.
Whether you are planning succession, creating a new leadership position or reviewing the strength of the available market, speak directly with Mark Taylor and Jonathan Margrave.
We will help you examine the requirement, the market and the approach your appointment needs. You do not need a finished brief to begin the conversation.
Whether you’re interested in a current search or simply considering your next move, get in touch for a confidential conversation with our team.
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