Finance & Technology Leadership
Executive & C-Suite Search
CFOs, CTOs, India Finance Heads and Controllers across India, the Gulf, the UK and the US — including the India-linked talent corridor most firms cannot map. One senior partner takes the brief, approaches candidates directly, and stays in it through offer and the first 90 days. No resourcer, no CV dump.
No brief required. Bring the role and we'll tell you what it realistically costs and how long it takes — whether or not you hire us.
Or see the free 2026 finance leadership pay bands →
Available in IST, GST, GMT & US ET/PT hours · Senior partner responds within 2 hours
Leadership hires where getting it wrong is expensive
Not a volume agency. One senior partner runs each search personally, brief to close — and we will tell you if the role should be a Finance Head rather than a full CFO.
India Entry & GCC Leadership
GCC Finance Heads and Controllers fluent in both US GAAP and India statutory — the combination generalist firms spend months failing to find.
GCC Finance Head recruitment →CFO, Finance Head & Controller
CFOs, Finance Directors, India Finance Heads, Controllers, Treasury and FP&A. Eleven years in BFSI means we assess the person, not the CV.
CFO recruitment in India →CTO & Engineering Leadership
CTOs, VPs of Engineering and Heads of Product. We test whether a candidate has genuinely scaled a platform or simply maintained one.
How we assess CTOs →Embedded RPO
Building a full India finance or engineering function rather than filling one seat. Unlimited hires in scope, no per-placement fee.
How RPO works →Also: interim CFO and CTO cover · talent mapping · salary benchmarking · family office and promoter group search, by referral. See who we are not for →
Leadership hiring across India, the UAE, the UK and the USA.
Cross-border mandates run from a single point of ownership — one senior partner, one research team, one standard of shortlist, whichever market the role sits in.
One Partner, Four Markets
India
Mumbai · Bangalore · Hyderabad · Chennai · Delhi
Primary Market · INR→ AEUAE / GCC
Dubai · Abu Dhabi · DIFC · ADGM
GCC Hub · AED→ UKUnited Kingdom
London · Manchester · Edinburgh · Bristol
Finance Hub · GBP→ USUnited States
New York · San Francisco · Austin · Boston
GCC & India-Entry · USD→One network, four markets
A large share of finance leadership in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and London qualified in India and moved mid-career. We map that population natively — who they trained under, which firm they left and why, who else from their cohort moved — because it is the same network we work in India.
Most search firms map the destination. We map the whole path, in both directions: Indian-origin leaders running functions in the Gulf, the UK and the US, and the India-side leadership that global companies need. Billing in INR, USD, GBP or AED.
Leadership hiring by Indian city & region
We place C-suite and senior leadership nationally — CFO, Finance Head, CTO and VP Engineering in any Indian city. The pages below cover our deepest markets in detail; Kolkata, Ahmedabad and other hubs are covered directly, brief on request.
Each market hires differently. These cover what is locally true — where the talent sits, what it costs, and what is specifically hard about that role in that city.
What you can verify before you call
Talfino is a young firm run by a partner with eleven years in finance and technology hiring. Rather than publish testimonials you cannot check, here is what is checkable — and the commitments we operate to.
You sign off the target list before we contact a single person
Named organisations, named levels, off-limits list agreed in writing. You strike anyone you do not want approached — a competitor you partner with, a client, a former employer. Nothing goes to market until you have signed it off.
That is how you know the search is real mapping rather than a database query, and how you find out on day two rather than week six that the brief was pointed at the wrong pool. See the full process →
As placements accrue we will publish what actually matters — median brief-to-offer time, and how many placed leaders are still in seat at twelve months. Those numbers will go here, whatever they say. About the founder →
2026 finance leadership pay bands
Indicative fixed base ranges across India, the UAE and the UK, with sourcing stated openly. Budget a role before you brief it.
| Role | India (₹ LPA) | UAE (AED/yr) | UK (£/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFO | ₹80–180L | 400k–800k | £150k–250k |
| GCC Finance Head | ₹60–90L | — | — |
| Financial Controller | ₹45–80L | 240k–400k | £90k–140k |
Benchmark your exact role
The bands are the market in general. For what your role should pay — by company stage, sector and city — a senior partner sends a tailored view within one business day.
The questions we would ask
What does it cost?
Contingency in India is 10% of fixed annual CTC for mid-to-senior roles and 15% for executive and C-suite, payable only when your hire joins. Retained starts at 18%, milestone-based.
Fees are on fixed annual CTC — variable pay, joining bonus, ESOP and employer PF are excluded. On a senior India package that distinction is worth several lakh, so we state it upfront. UK, UAE and US mandates quoted in local terms, billed in GBP, AED or USD.
What does the 48-hour shortlist actually mean?
Within 48 hours of a full brief you get a first calibration shortlist — three to five leaders identified and assessed against your brief. It is a starting point, not the finished search. Directly approached passive candidates take longer to reach and arrive in later rounds.
The number that matters is brief to signed offer: typically five to nine weeks for a CFO or CTO, plus 60–90 days notice in India.
You are a young firm. Why take the risk?
Fair question, and we would rather answer it than dress around it. We do not yet have a decade of placements to point at. So the commercial terms carry the risk instead: contingency payable only when your hire joins, 90-day replacement on all placements and six months on C-suite, and a 50% refund if we cannot replace within 60 days. If the search does not work, you have not paid for it.
Can you help a US, UK or Gulf company hire in India?
It is our flagship practice. GCC Finance Heads, Controllers, CTOs and engineering leaders for overseas parents building India teams — with USD, GBP or AED billing, calls in your time zone, and W-8BEN on request. Full detail in the guide for overseas companies hiring in India.
When are you the wrong firm?
Volume hiring, roles below senior leadership, urgent starts inside Indian notice periods, functions outside finance and technology, board appointments needing a global network, and any period when we are at capacity. We publish the full list at who we are not for.
More: retained vs contingency · how search firms in India compare · Bangalore vs Hyderabad · for candidates
Start Your Search Today
Whether hiring exceptional finance talent or seeking your next senior opportunity — we'd love to hear from you.
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