How Senior Leadership Roles Are Actually Secured
(Director, Head of Function, VP, C-Suite)
This guide is written for experienced professionals targeting senior leadership roles — Director, Head of Function, VP, or C-suite — particularly where traditional applications, recruiters, or job boards no longer seem to produce results.
At senior level, hiring operates very differently from junior or mid-level recruitment. Roles are rarely advertised in the same way, decisions are often made informally, and visibility matters more than volume. Many highly capable leaders struggle not because they lack experience, but because they are using channels designed for a completely different hiring problem.
This page explains how senior leadership roles are actually filled, why common job-search tactics break down at leadership level, and what approaches consistently work when the goal is access to real decision-makers.
How Senior Leadership Roles Are Actually Filled
Most senior leadership roles are filled long before they ever appear on a job board — if they appear at all.
At leadership level, hiring is rarely a simple vacancy-replacement exercise. It is usually triggered by one of the following:
- a strategic shift (growth phase, turnaround, expansion, acquisition)
- a leadership gap that has become visible internally
- pressure from the board, investors, or ownership
- a failed internal promotion
- a quiet exit, restructure, or role redefinition
In these situations, organisations prioritise certainty over speed. Rather than broadcasting a role publicly, they first explore trusted options:
- internal succession or interim-to-permanent appointments
- referrals from board members, founders, investors, or trusted operators
- direct approaches to known leaders with relevant experience
- private recruiter shortlists built before any public listing exists
By the time a senior role is advertised publicly, the organisation often already has:
- a preferred profile in mind
- one or two informal front-runners
- a clear sense of what “good” looks like
Public advertising becomes a compliance step — not a discovery process. This is why many senior candidates only see opportunities once the real decisions are already underway.
Why Job Boards Stop Working at Senior Level
Job boards are designed for scale, not judgment.
They work best when requirements are clear, skills are comparable, volume is helpful, and risk is low. Senior leadership hiring is the opposite.
- most senior CVs look strong on paper
- achievements are contextual, not comparable
- impact is qualitative, not keyword-based
- judgment, trust, and fit matter more than credentials
Applicant Tracking Systems flatten complex careers into surface-level signals. The issue is rarely the candidate’s capability — it is the channel’s inability to recognise why that capability matters.
Where Recruiters Help — and Where They Don’t
Recruiters can be valuable when a role is clearly defined, funded, and urgent.
However, recruiters are paid by employers — not candidates. Their work is necessarily reactive and constrained by active briefs. If you rely solely on recruiters, you are limited to the roles they happen to be instructed on at any given moment.
What Actually Works at Senior Level
Successful senior moves are rarely about applying more. They are about positioning, access, and timing.
- clear leadership positioning and narrative
- targeted market mapping
- proactive, credible outreach
- direct exposure to decision-makers
- consistency over time
This is the context in which a managed or representative approach — often referred to as reverse recruitment — sits.
Clear leadership positioning and narrative
Senior roles are narrative-led, not CV-led. Decision-makers are asking:
- what problem does this person solve for us right now?
- have they handled situations like ours before?
- can we trust their judgment under pressure?
A strong senior narrative connects experience to context and removes ambiguity. Without it, even strong careers blur together.
Targeted market mapping
Senior roles usually emerge from inflection points, not job ads. Effective searches anticipate these moments rather than reacting to vacancies.
Proactive, credible outreach
The goal of outreach is not to ask for a job. It is to be known, understood, and credible before a hiring decision crystallises.
Consistency over time
Senior moves take time. Momentum compounds through sustained, structured effort — not short bursts of reactive activity.
How Senior Leaders Typically Work With Us
Senior leaders who work with us are not outsourcing responsibility for their careers — they are adding structure and leverage.
- clarifying leadership positioning and narrative
- identifying the right organisations before roles exist
- mapping relevant decision-makers
- running discreet, credible outreach
- maintaining momentum alongside existing commitments
If This Reflects Your Situation
This approach is not right for everyone. It works best for experienced leaders who want to be intentional rather than reactive. Reverse recruiters work on behalf of senior candidates, proactively representing them to relevant organisations before roles are formally advertised.
