Executive search for the roles next to the CEO
The best peoplearen’t looking.We find them.
We fill the roles next to the CEO: chief of staff, founders associates, strategy and corporate development, often with former McKinsey, BCG and Bain consultants. We map the whole market, approach the right people personally and assess them on a real task from your business.
- Two partners lead every search
- First profiles usually within two weeks
- Four roles filled in under ten weeks
- 1,400+profiles screened
- 121approached
- 1hired
Formerly
The problem
Why the roles next to the CEO are so hard to fill
The right people aren’t looking.
Most of the people who fit are happy in their current role. They rarely answer a job ad.
Name lists fall short.
A classic search starts with a list of known names. Anyone not on it is never approached.
The logo on a CV doesn’t tell you enough.
No CV shows whether someone can run a CEO’s agenda. You only see that on a real task.
In the case below, four well-known headhunters had failed at exactly these roles.How we filled them
Approach
How we find them
A classic search starts with a list of names. Ours starts with the whole market and ends with a task from your business.
Case study · anonymised
A team from chief of staff to founders associate, in under ten weeks
- Situation
- A fast-growing real estate scale-up with about 100 employees, after its Series B. Rapid growth called for a dedicated business development team with four roles.
- Challenge
- Four well-known headhunters had failed to fill the roles, and HR was stretched to the limit by the company’s growth.
- Result
- We filled all four roles, from chief of staff to founders associates, in under ten weeks.
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Chief of staff
1,400+ screened121 approached1 hired: Senior manager from BCG
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Founders associate
2,000+ screened49 approached1 hired: from M&A advisory
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Founders associate
2,000+ screened41 approached1 hired: from strategy consulting
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Associate, CEO office
1,500+ screened39 approached1 hired: from strategy consulting and a law firm
Screened: profiles that met the job criteria and that we reviewed and assessed. Approached: candidates we actively recruited and brought into the selection process.
LEADBeyond truly outperformed our expectations. We had previously tried four different headhunting firms to build our new teams from scratch, but none could deliver. In just 10 weeks, LEADBeyond achieved what others couldn’t.How we assessed the chief of staff
Instead of a standard case, the finalists got a real task from the company: a 15-minute presentation on how they would set up a quarterly agenda and a steady execution rhythm for the founders, followed by 30 minutes of questions. It covered strategic planning, management rhythm and tools, monitoring the environment and a short assessment of the company’s position.
Beyond strategy profiles, too
For the same company we filled two senior financial accountant roles in under three weeks, after four headhunters had failed here as well: more than 2,000 profiles screened, 35 approached.
Pace
What you see, and when
We usually present the first pre-qualified profiles within two weeks. In the case, all four roles were filled in under ten weeks.
Our rhythm
In the case
- Our rhythmDay 1Kick-off: mandate and profile
- Our rhythmWeek 2First pre-qualified profiles, usually
- In the caseunder 3 weeksTwo senior financial accountants hired
- In the caseunder 10 weeksAll four roles filled, from chief of staff to founders associate
We agree the timeline of your search together at kick-off.
Roles
Who we search for
Roles where structure, pace and judgement matter. For growth companies and start-ups, for private equity and portfolio companies, and for consulting firms.
Chief of staff
Right hand to the CEO or the founders, with a path to the leadership team if you want one.
Read the articleFounders associate
Generalists for the CEO, COO and CGO office who drive projects from day one.
Read the articleStrategy & corporate development
Former McKinsey, BCG, Bain and Roland Berger consultants for strategy, transformation and value creation.
Read the articleInvestment & finance
Investment analysts and finance roles in growth companies, up to senior financial accountant.
Directors & CTO
Directors for product, people, operations and public affairs, and chief technology officers.
A different role?
Describe the role to us in 30 minutes. We will tell you honestly whether we can fill it well.
Discuss the role
Who searches
Two partners. Every search led in person.
Former partners at McKinsey & Company and Roland Berger. We approach candidates as peers because we have walked their path ourselves, and we stay your contacts from kick-off to signed offer.
- No researcher team in between: we run the outreach, the interviews and the recommendation ourselves
- We train consultants at leading firms, from analyst to partner level, and know what matters in these profiles
Our standard
We only present people we would hire ourselves, and we tell you honestly when we are not the right fit.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is LEADBeyond Recruit?
LEADBeyond Recruit is the executive search practice of LEADBeyond GmbH, based in Munich. We fill roles close to the top: chief of staff, founders associates, strategy and corporate development, often with former McKinsey, BCG, Bain or Roland Berger consultants. The founders, Frederic Rupprecht (formerly McKinsey & Company) and Jonathan M. Günak (formerly Roland Berger), lead every search themselves.
Which executive search firm hires chiefs of staff and former consultants in Germany?
That is exactly what LEADBeyond Recruit focuses on. In the case on this page we filled four roles for a scale-up in under ten weeks, including a BCG senior manager as chief of staff, after four other headhunters had failed. What makes a good search is covered in our article on hiring a chief of staff.
Do you reach candidates who are not looking?
Yes. Most of the right people are happy in their current role. We approach them personally and as peers, as former consultants. For the chief of staff role in the case, we screened more than 1,400 matching profiles and actively brought 121 candidates into the process.
How soon will we see the first profiles?
We usually present the first pre-qualified profiles within two weeks. In the case, all four roles were filled in under ten weeks.
How do you assess candidates?
Against the criteria we agree with you at kick-off, in structured interviews and with a real task from your business instead of a standard case. We assess three dimensions: problem solving, impact, and communication and presence. Why that tells you more than the logo on a CV is explained in hiring former McKinsey, BCG and Bain consultants.
Chief of staff or COO: which do we need?
It depends on whether you need someone to run the CEO’s agenda or someone to own operations. We explain the difference and the typical signals in chief of staff or COO?, and in a first conversation we work it out for your situation.
What does a search cost?
That depends on the role and scope; you receive a proposal after the first conversation. The fee models common in the market and what to look out for are explained in our article on executive search fees.
Next step
Let’s talk about your search
30 minutes with Frederic Rupprecht or Jonathan M. Günak: the role, the market and the approach. We tell you honestly whether we are the right choice.
LEADBeyond GmbH · Tölzer Str. 1 · 82031 Grünwald near Munich · Germany