See What Our Partner Client's Are Saying


Testimonials


See What Our Partner Client's Are Saying


Testimonials

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

SELECT CLIENTS

Executive

Case Studies

01 DEEP DIVE
POWER & ENERGY · INVESTOR RELATIONS

Multi-Diciplinary Investor Relations Shortlist Delivered in 8 Weeks

Brought in to replace another agency's 12-month unsuccessful search with an interview-ready, operator-grade finalist.

◷
12 months previously stalled
ϟ
8 weeks final shortlist
✓
Placement completed
♙
Saudi Client mandate

The Mandate Brief

A leading global energy company had worked on this critical Investor Relations mandate for approximately 12 months with limited traction. The search had completely stalled. Elm Hunt was brought in to rebuild the brief, sharpen the success profile and execute a highly discreet, targeted market approach.

Read More +

What Was Breaking the Search

  • The “Gloss” Trap: The market was flooded with presentation-heavy profiles. Most candidates lacked the deep operational discipline, strict disclosure control and strategic narrative management required to withstand intense market scrutiny and strategic narrative management required.
  • Passive & Locked Talent: High-calibre IR leaders were deeply embedded with their current CEOs and CFOs and unlikely to respond to conventional approaches.
  • Counteroffer & Speculation Risk: Senior movement in a competitive market such as Riyadh required tightly controlled, confidential engagement rather than broad market exposure.

Our Intervention

  • Rebuilt the Mandate: Moved beyond the generic job description to pinpoint and define the exact capabilities and immediate commercial outcomes required by the board.
  • Sharpened the Success Profile: Drew a hard line between candidates who could merely present an IR story and genuine operators capable of managing institutional disclosure and stakeholder relations.
  • Mapped the Hidden Market: Ignored active applicant pools and mapped the relevant regional and global passive talent market.Targeted relevant regional and global passive executives with verified track records.
  • Discreet Executive Engagement: Approached senior candidates selectively and confidentially, protecting both the client's reputation and the candidate's current standing.

The Outcome

Elm Hunt delivered an interview-ready, operator-grade finalist in 8 weeks, successfully closing a business-critical mandate that had been vacant for a year, moving from a 12-month stall through final shortlist and placement.

Why It Mattered

The search required more than access to candidates. It required a sharper mandate, a deeper understanding of the hidden market and a highly controlled approach to senior executive engagement.

Insight

A stalled executive search is rarely a candidate supply issue. It is almost always a failure of mandate calibration, market mapping, or execution strategy. Elm Hunt resolves these underlying bottlenecks before introducing candidates to the pipeline.

Fewer candidates. Better information. Better decisions.
Discuss a Similar Mandate →
02 DEEP DIVE
EXECUTIVE SEARCH · C-SUITE / BOARD-CRITICAL

Restoring Momentum to a Stalled, Board-Critical C-Suite Mandate

Brought in to salvage a mission-critical executive search that had stalled after months of internal misalignment.

◷
Months search stalled
ϟ
Within days profile calibrated
✓
100% agreement stakeholders aligned
♙
Board ratified tier-one executive

The Mandate Brief

A prominent GCC organization engaged us to salvage a stalled, mission-critical leadership search. The mandate had been open for several months, tying up internal resources, stalling critical market initiatives, and increasing enterprise risk.

Read More +

What Was Breaking the Search

  • Asymmetric Expectations: The CEO, CHRO, and Board were evaluating candidates against fundamentally conflicting criteria, balancing aggressive commercial growth against rigid regulatory governance and cultural integration.
  • Late-Stage Attrition: Because the internal scorecard was unaligned, top-tier profiles progressed through multiple rounds only to fail at the final hurdle.
  • Enterprise Risk: Each failed cycle compounded corporate risk, caused market lag, and threatened to alienate highly protective, passive executive talent.

Our Intervention

  • Stakeholder Alignment: We paused outward market activity and locked the non-negotiable deal-breakers and must-haves across the CEO, CHRO, and Board.
  • Unified Scorecard: We developed a singular grading matrix blending commercial velocity with governance requirements, with every stakeholder agreeing to the same framework.
  • Passive Market Mapping: We mapped passive, cross-border leaders across the GCC who were insulated from standard recruitment channels.
  • Scorecard Standard: Every finalist was pre-vetted against the agreed-upon scorecard, ensuring interview panels measured the same variables.

The Outcome

The fragmented process was transformed into a decisive, decision-ready search. Stakeholders reached 100% agreement on the finalized success profile within days of calibration, while the unified scorecard eliminated late-stage surprises. The Board unanimously ratified a tier-one executive.

Why It Mattered

Fixing the alignment breakdown first reduced the risk of repeating failed search cycles, mitigated market lag, and protected the organization's reputation with senior passive talent.

Insight

When a high-stakes search stalls, the constraint is not always access to talent. In this case, the decisive intervention was establishing one agreed definition of success before returning to the market.

Align the decision-makers first. Then approach the market.
Discuss a Similar Mandate →
03 DEEP DIVE
FINTECH · KSA & DIFC ASSETS & INVESTMENTS

Head of FinTech Search — Finalist in 14 Days

A highly specialised FinTech leadership mandate requiring a candidate who could bridge technology, investment strategy and commercial execution.

ϟ
14 days finalist presented
✓
30 days appointment completed
◷
FinTech specialist mandate
♙
Assets & Investments leadership search

The Mandate Brief

A specialist FinTech leadership mandate required a candidate with more than conventional technology experience. The client needed someone able to operate across FinTech, assets and investments, with the commercial understanding and leadership capability to translate technology into business outcomes.

Read More +

What Was Breaking the Search

  • The Hybrid Profile Challenge: The mandate sat at the intersection of technology, financial services and investment — significantly narrowing the genuinely relevant talent pool, and the client was hiring this role for an emerging market in the investment space.
  • Title-Matching Wasn't Enough: Conventional searches produced candidates with adjacent experience, but not necessarily the combination of sector knowledge, commercial judgement and leadership capability required.
  • Passive Senior Talent: The most relevant executives were already embedded in senior roles and were demanding inflated salaries knowing their skills were scarce at the time.

Our Intervention

  • Defined the Critical Profile: We first understood the demands of the new regulation being introduced and the client's specific goal and what they intended to achieve over the next 12 month period. We shortlisted parallel companies leading the FinTech market, researching what their financial product and development position was to gain a better understanding of who to identify as a good fit. Focusing on the combination of FinTech, investment and leadership experience that mattered rather than relying on title similarity.
  • Mapped the Specialist Market: We looked beyond active applicants to identify relevant executives across the regional and wider FinTech and investment market.
  • Targeted Passive Talent: Senior executives were approached selectively and confidentially, creating engagement without unnecessary market exposure.
  • Focused the Assessment: Candidates were assessed against the actual mandate requirements rather than simply presenting technically relevant CVs.

The Outcome

Elm Hunt located and presented a credible finalist within 14 days, with the appointment completed within 30 days.

Why It Mattered

The mandate demonstrated that specialist executive hiring is not simply about finding people with the right title. The challenge was identifying a leader who could operate credibly across FinTech, assets and investments while meeting the client's specific leadership requirements.

Insight

When a role sits between sectors, the obvious talent pool is rarely the complete market. The search needs to identify where the relevant capabilities actually sit — then engage those executives with a mandate that gives them a reason to listen.

Fewer candidates. Better information. Better decisions.
Discuss a Similar Mandate →