How We Run a Mandate
A full walkthrough, stage by stage — including a worked illustrative example with real market timelines.
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Brief, market map, target approval, confidential approach, assessment, shortlist and closing are visible stages — with one accountable senior partner.
One senior search partner owns the mandate from brief to close, with the target market mapped before confidential outreach begins.
Stage 1 — Calibration (day 0–2)
Before any sourcing we establish three things: which profile the role genuinely needs, whether the compensation matches it, and who sits on the interview panel. Most failed searches are misdiagnosed here rather than under-sourced later. If compensation and requirement do not reconcile, we say so now rather than in week four.
Stage 2 — The Approved Map (day 1–3)
You receive the target list before we contact anyone: named organisations, named levels, off-limits agreed in writing. You strike anyone you do not want approached. Nothing goes to market until you have signed it off.
The research team builds a named target list of companies and incumbents, and we share it with you. You see the pool we are working, not just the output. If the list is wrong we find out on day two, not week three.
Stage 3 — First shortlist (48 hours from signed brief)
This is a calibration shortlist, not the finished search. Directly approached passive candidates — a sitting CFO who was not looking — take longer than two days to reach and qualify, and arrive in the second and third rounds. Brief to signed offer typically runs five to nine weeks.
First calibrated candidates within two days. Every candidate directly approached, not database-matched, each with a written rationale for fit against the specific brief.
Stage 4 — Process management, with a written update every Friday (week 2–4)
Search firms go quiet when a mandate is going badly, which is exactly when you need to know. You get a short written update each week: who was approached, who declined and why, what the market is telling us about the brief, and what happens next. A slow week gets an honest email saying so.
Interviews, structured referencing and compensation discussion run in parallel rather than sequentially. Referencing is done on the specific claim — if a candidate says they led a refinancing, we verify what they led, with someone who was there.
Stage 5 — Offer and notice (week 4 onward)
Senior candidates serve long notice and receive counter-offers. We stay engaged through notice, because this is where searches are most often lost — not at shortlist.
A worked example
The following is illustrative — a representative mandate built from market timelines and published compensation data, not an account of a specific client engagement.
| Stage | Timing | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Brief & calibration | Day 0–2 | Role confirmed as a scaling-stage FD, not a CFO. Band reset to ₹75–95L from an initial ₹60L assumption. |
| Mapping | Day 1–3 | Target list of 30–45 incumbents, shared with the client. |
| Shortlist | Day 4 | 4–5 directly approached candidates with written fit rationale. |
| Interviews | Week 2–4 | Two rounds, panel pre-agreed at calibration to avoid diary slippage. |
| Referencing & offer | Week 5–6 | Claim-specific referencing in parallel; bonus mechanics agreed up front. |
| Notice | Week 6–19 | 90-day Indian notice, with active candidate engagement throughout. |
Roughly six weeks to offer, sixteen to nineteen weeks to seated.
Our commitments
- No fee until your candidate joins on contingency mandates.
- Free replacement if a placed candidate leaves within 90 days — six months on CFO, CTO and other C-suite appointments. Applies whether they resign or you terminate for performance. If we cannot replace within 60 days, you may take a 50% refund instead.
- Non-exclusive — run us alongside anyone else.
- If the shortlist misses, we refine the brief and go back to market at no extra cost.
- We will tell you when we are the wrong firm — including when the role does not warrant a search.
Ready to see the target map for your role?
Bring the role and we will tell you what it realistically costs, how long it takes, and whether it is a search worth running at all — whether or not you hire us.
No brief required · Senior partner replies within 2 hours · Contingency payable only when your hire joins