Graduate Executive Search Consultant – Private Equity
Leeds | Up to £30k + bonus
Our client is a specialist executive search firm working exclusively within Private Equity — placing C-suite leaders into PE-backed portfolio companies, and investment professionals directly into PE firms. Sectors span commercial services, industrial services, HVAC and building automation, largely across the US market, with a strong reputation for de-risking high-stakes leadership hires.
This is a rare chance to learn executive search from the ground up, in one of the most commercially sophisticated corners of recruitment — where the stakes, fees and calibre of client conversation are a world away from high-volume agency work.
The Role
You’ll be trained from day one in retained executive search: market mapping, direct approaches to senior executives who aren’t job-hunting, structured assessment, and managing a search end-to-end for demanding institutional clients. No switchboard cold-calling — you’ll learn how to have credible conversations with CEOs and Partners.
You’ll be:
✅ Researching and mapping target companies and executives
✅ Identifying and approaching senior leaders for live mandates
✅ Managing candidate pipelines through structured assessment
✅ Building your own network within a sector or geography over time
✅ Working alongside senior consultants on live, high-value searches
✅ Support the wider senior leadership team on broader business initiatives — organising conferences, events, and their high-performing podcast to attract more senior leaders”
What We’re Looking For
A strong academic record, you’ll need to think and write with precision
Genuine intellectual curiosity about business, leadership and what makes companies succeed
Resilience and comfort with rejection — long-cycle, high-reward, not instant gratification
Confidence to call senior people who have every reason to say no
Goal Orientated – part of the interview process is to share long term goals and aspirations and to provide a breakdown as to how you plan to achieve this
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