De-risking the hire, not filling a vacancy.

Since 2015 we have refined a search, assessment, selection and onboarding process built around one idea: the cost of getting a pivotal technology hire wrong is too high to leave to chance. This is what it actually consists of.

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100%

of retained searches filled — every one since 2015

96%

of 50+ placements since 2015 still in role at 12 months

30 days

typical time to a secured hire from engagement

12 months

replacement guarantee as standard, whatever the reason

Measured across 50+ retained searches Edison Hill has run since 2015.

The four steps

Run the same way, every single time.

The consistency is the product. A process followed most of the time produces a number you can't stand behind.

Behavioural job survey

We get every hiring stakeholder aligned on what “right” actually means — before a single candidate is approached.

Deep market mapping

The whole addressable market, mapped and screened — not a shortlist drawn from whoever happens to be looking.

Competency-based screening

Structured, video-based assessment against the agreed brief, so every candidate is measured the same way.

Onboarding & retention

The search doesn’t end at the offer. It ends when the hire is embedded — which is why they’re still there at 12 months.

See it, don't take our word for it

The process, in Warren's own words.

How the search runs for clients and candidates — from first brief to embedded hire.

Why the retention number is the one that matters.

Anyone can fill a role. Filling it with someone who is still there — and still effective — a year later is a different discipline, and it is the only one worth paying for. A placement that leaves at month seven hasn't saved you anything; it has cost you the search, the onboarding, the momentum and the second search.

That is why our process doesn't end at the offer. Edison Hill's i-Search platform carries structured assessment through selection and into onboarding, so the standard applied at week one is the same standard applied at shortlist.

The result: 96% of our placements are still in role at 12 months, and 93% at two years. For comparison, industry benchmarks put executive-level retention at 81.5% over the same first year^*.

^* Pave attrition benchmarks, 2026 — 399,000+ datapoints.

What you get, on every assignment

A brief agreed in writing by every stakeholder before the market is approached
The full addressable market mapped — not a shortlist of whoever is available
Competency-based video screening against that brief, applied identically to every candidate
A 12-month replacement guarantee as standard
A typical time to secured hire of 30 days from engagement

What we don't do

Contingency. If several firms are racing you, we're the wrong choice
Volume shortlists. If we send you six resumes, six of them are serious
Every technology role. The concentration on CTO-level search in New York is deliberate

Straight answers

How retained search works.

What is a retained search firm?

Retained means we work exclusively on your search, on a dedicated basis, and stay committed to it until it is filled. Contingency recruiters are paid only if their candidate lands, which pushes them to send volume quickly across many clients at once. For a pivotal leadership hire, that incentive points the wrong way.

What is the 12-month replacement guarantee?

If a placement leaves within twelve months, for any reason, we run the search again. It is standard on every assignment rather than something you negotiate for. In practice it is rarely called on — 96% of the people we place are still in role at 12 months.

Why does the process start with a survey rather than candidates?

Because the most common reason a leadership search fails is that the people hiring never agreed on the job. A behavioural job survey across every stakeholder settles that in writing before anyone is approached — which is also what makes a 30-day search realistic rather than optimistic.

If you’re responsible for a pivotal hire, let’s talk.

Fifteen confidential minutes on the role, the market and whether we’re the right firm for it.

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