EXECUTIVE SEARCH
Executive Search for Tech Startups and Growth-Stage Companies
The Right Leadership Hire Can Change the Trajectory of a Company.
CareerEncore provides high-touch executive search for C-suite, VP and other mission-critical roles across tech startups and growth-stage companies, including SaaS, software, AI, fintech, healthtech, cybersecurity and other technology markets.
We combine deep market research, passive-candidate outreach and more than 20 years of recruiting experience with the human judgment required to evaluate leadership, culture and stage-of-growth fit.
20+
years of recruiting experience
10+
years focused on executive search
1,000+
people placed over her career
30-45
days to offer on most searches
TECHNOLOGY MARKETS
Experience Across Technology Markets
CareerEncore has years of recruiting experience across SaaS and software, AI and machine learning, fintech and banking technology, healthtech, cybersecurity and data security, supply chain and logistics technology, and low-code / no-code and workflow automation.
Our experience also extends across insurtech and insurance technology, as well as cloud and data platforms, developer technology, restaurant and hospitality technology, MarTech / AdTech, industrial and IoT technology, robotics, travel technology and other specialized B2B technology markets.
That breadth matters because CareerEncore is not limited to one narrow software category. We know how to learn a market quickly, map the right talent landscape and recruit for the business problem in front of us.
EXECUTIVE SEARCH GOES BEYOND FINDING SOMEONE WHO CAN DO THE JOB
Leaders are the amplifiers of a company's vision, strategy, culture and values.
That is why CareerEncore looks beyond titles, keywords and resume experience. We want to understand:
WHAT WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND
Six Questions Every Search Answers First
01
What does this leader actually need to accomplish?
04
What leadership style will work in this environment?
02
What are the critical success factors?
05
What stage of growth has this person successfully navigated before?
03
What would a fantastic first year look like?
06
What will make the opportunity compelling enough for the right passive candidate to engage?
$5M → $30M ≠ $50M → $80M
Different stages of growth require different muscles. The executive who is exceptional at helping build a company from $5 million to $30 million isn't always the same executive best equipped to scale one from $50 million to $80 million. That distinction matters.
DEEP INTAKE
Every Search Starts With a Deep Intake
Before CareerEncore goes to market, we take the time to understand more than the job description.
The goal isn't to send resumes. It's to understand the hiring problem well enough to help solve it with the right person.
WHAT WE LEARN
We dig into the company, the role, the culture, critical success factors, compensation, growth stage, business objectives, interview process and what the right hire needs to deliver.
WHAT WE CAN SELL TO THE CANDIDATE
Just as important, we identify what we can sell to the candidate. Why should a successful executive leave a good job to have this conversation? What is exciting about the company? What is being built? Why now? What will this person have the opportunity to influence?
That understanding becomes the foundation for the market map, outreach strategy, candidate conversations, qualification and eventual close.
SEARCH MODELS
Choose the Search Model That Fits the Hire
HIGHEST PRIORITY
Retained Executive Search
White-glove search for the most critical leadership hires.
Retained Search is CareerEncore's highest-priority search model. Retained assignments receive first call on CareerEncore's resources, the deepest market work and the highest level of hands-on involvement.
It is designed for senior executive, confidential, highly specialized and business-critical searches requiring the highest level of research, market coverage and dedicated attention.
Depending on the search, the engagement may include:
✓ Deep market analysis
✓ Target-company market mapping
✓ Compensation study and market expectations
✓ Competitor intelligence
✓ Passive-candidate outreach
✓ Candidate-market feedback
✓ Weekly search and candidate reporting
✓ Interview and closing support
✓ Ongoing search calibration
BEST SUITED FOR
C-suite, executive leadership, confidential replacement searches and particularly complex or mission-critical hires.
COMMITTED
Engaged Priority Search
A committed, high-priority search with greater focus, market intelligence and accountability.
Engaged Priority Search is designed for important hires where the client wants a dedicated, high-touch search without necessarily using a traditional retained structure.
Engaged Priority assignments receive precedence over contingency work. The engagement allows CareerEncore to commit resources from the beginning of the search and provides the client with tangible market intelligence rather than simply waiting for resumes to appear.
Depending on the engagement, that can include:
✓ Target-company market map
✓ Market analysis
✓ Compensation insights
✓ Competitor intelligence
✓ Passive-candidate outreach
✓ Weekly candidate and search reporting
✓ Ongoing candidate-market feedback
BEST SUITED FOR
VP, Director and other critical roles where speed, focus and deeper market coverage matter.
ONE PARTNER
Exclusive Search
Focused recruiting with one search partner.
Exclusive Search gives CareerEncore the ability to run a coordinated search strategy without multiple agencies working against one another or approaching the same candidates.
That allows for more consistent candidate messaging, cleaner market coverage and a better experience for both the client and the people being approached.
BEST SUITED FOR
important searches where the client wants one recruiting partner driving the external search.
SELECTIVE
Selective Contingency Search
CareerEncore also accepts select contingency searches when the role, relationship and market make that approach appropriate.
Because there is no upfront client commitment, contingency searches are accepted selectively and worked as capacity allows. Retained and Engaged Priority searches receive precedence and dedicated resources.
Contingency is generally best suited for searches where timing is more flexible and the role does not require the same level of reserved capacity, market intelligence or dedicated search resources.
SEARCH INTELLIGENCE
You Don't Just Get Candidates. You Get Visibility Into the Market.
Depending on the engagement, CareerEncore's search intelligence can include:
01
Market & Competition
✓ Full market analysis
✓ Target-company mapping
✓ Where competitors are sourcing and hiring similar talent
✓ Competitor intelligence
02
Compensation & Candidates
✓ Compensation studies and market expectations
✓ Candidate availability
✓ What candidates are saying about your opportunity
03
Reporting & Calibration
✓ Weekly candidate and search reporting
✓ Ongoing market feedback and calibration
✓ Where the search is gaining traction
✓ Where something may need to change
For higher-touch engagements, this intelligence can also be brought together through more robust reporting or a client-facing talent dashboard.
REACHING THE PASSIVE MARKET
Anyone Can Find Names. The Real Work Is Getting the Right People to Engage.
Many of the executives CareerEncore recruits are not actively looking for another job. Finding a profile is only the beginning.
CareerEncore combines AI-powered market research and modern sourcing technology with an extensive professional network, referral outreach and direct candidate engagement to uncover a wider, deeper talent pool.
We use AI to search more broadly and identify talent that might otherwise be missed, then layer in the human side of recruiting: relationships, referrals, judgment and personalized outreach.
Personalized outreach, direct human engagement, market intelligence and video job descriptions help bring the opportunity to life and create a reason for the right passive candidate to stop, pay attention and have a conversation.
Because we completed the deep intake first, we're able to explain what the company is building, why the opportunity matters and why it may be worth the candidate's attention.
BEYOND THE C-SUITE
Executive Search From the C-Suite Down
We Hire Leaders and Build the Teams Underneath Them.
CareerEncore does not stop at executive leadership. We recruit across:
C-Suite
CEO
CRO
CMO
COO
CCO
CHRO
CIO
CISO
Go-to-Market Leadership
VP Sales
VP Marketing
VP Customer Success
Heads of Function
Directors
Teams Underneath Them
Sales
Marketing
Customer Success
Other high-impact go-to-market roles
So if CareerEncore helps you hire the CRO and that leader then needs to build out the organization, the partnership can continue.
When multiple hires make traditional per-placement search economics impractical, CareerEncore can transition that hiring into a Growth Hiring Partnership or provide Fractional Recruiting support.
TRANSPARENT, CANDID PARTNERSHIP
If the Market Is Telling Us Something, We Tell You.
A true recruiting partner should be willing to tell you when expectations, compensation, requirements or process are working against the search.
CareerEncore values transparency, collaboration and direct communication throughout the engagement.
The goal is not to blindly execute a search specification. The goal is to help make the right hire.
If the market is telling us something isn't working, we tell you.
If candidates consistently raise the same concern, we tell you.
If the compensation is missing the market, we tell you.
If a requirement is unnecessarily eliminating strong candidates, we talk about it.
What Hiring Leaders Say
“
"Renee is a consummate professional and an expert at identifying top talent. She has strengthened our team through her recruitment efforts. If you need a skilled recruiter, Renee is an excellent choice."
REVENUE & GROWTH EXECUTIVE | EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
“
"Renee is a true professional and very easy to work with. Her follow through and attention to detail is always on point. If you need to grow your sales team quickly, I would highly recommend working with Renee."
VP SALES | VERTICAL SAAS
Questions We Hear About Executive Search
When should we use retained executive search?
"This hire is too important to leave to chance." "We're replacing someone confidentially and can't advertise the role." "We can't find the people we want, and they aren't applying to our job posts."
Retained search makes sense when the hire is business-critical, confidential, particularly difficult or requires deep passive-market coverage and a highly committed search process.
What's the difference between retained and Engaged Priority Search?
Both are committed, high-touch searches. Retained Search is CareerEncore's highest-priority model and is generally designed for the highest-level, confidential or most complex executive assignments. It receives the deepest level of research and hands-on support.
Engaged Priority Search is also a high-priority committed search and provides focused market coverage and meaningful market intelligence for critical roles that may not require a full retained structure. The right model depends on the role, urgency, market and level of support required.
Do you only recruit C-suite executives?
"We need the CRO, but then we need the team underneath them too."
No. CareerEncore recruits executives and senior leaders, but we also help build Sales, Marketing and Customer Success organizations from leadership through individual-contributor levels.
How do you find executives who aren't actively looking?
CareerEncore proactively maps the market, identifies relevant passive talent and uses AI-forward research, professional networks, referral outreach and personalized engagement to create interest in the opportunity.
Finding someone's name is easy. Getting the right person to engage requires understanding what matters to them and knowing how to position the opportunity.
Let's Talk About the Hire You Can't Afford to Get Wrong.
We'll start with the role, what success needs to look like, where the search stands today and what may be getting in the way. Then we'll recommend the search model that makes the most sense.
Start with a free 20-minute hiring strategy consultation. No pressure. No one-size-fits-all pitch.