Hiring a senior Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff is rarely as simple as finding someone with the right experience on paper. Senior support roles sit at the heart of a business, often working closely with founders, CEOs and senior leadership teams. The right person needs more than a strong CV. They need to understand the business, the culture, the pace and, importantly, how their principal works. This is where retained search can make a real difference.
What is retained search?
Retained search is a recruitment model where a client appoints one agency exclusively to manage a search. Rather than simply introducing candidates who are already available, the recruiter becomes a dedicated hiring partner throughout the process. For senior support roles, this means taking the time to properly understand the brief, mapping the market, approaching passive candidates and managing everything from the initial search through to appointment.
Why use a recruitment agency for senior support roles?
The strongest candidates aren't always actively looking for their next opportunity. An experienced recruitment agency has the relationships and market knowledge to reach people who may never respond to a traditional job advert. For senior support roles in particular, this can be invaluable. The right candidate may already be happy in their current role and only open to a move when the right opportunity comes along.
Retained search in practice
We recently worked with a client who was building the support team around a newly appointed CEO. Of the three new hires, the Chief of Staff position was retained. Following a successful pitch, we worked closely with the client to understand the mandate, agree the brief and establish a clear timeframe for the search. From there, we mapped the market, advertised the role and approached suitable candidates directly. Candidates from both routes were interviewed and rigorously screened before a shortlist was presented to the client. Working on a retained basis meant we could spend the time getting into the detail of the role and understanding the nuances that mattered to the client. It also meant we could manage the process closely from start to finish, keeping things moving while making sure the experience was as smooth as possible. The search resulted in a successful hire, alongside the wider support team recruited around the new Chief of Staff.
The client told us:
“Thank you for all your efforts working on these roles. We hadn’t anticipated such a speedy process, and our CEO is really positive about the candidates we have sourced.”
The benefits of retained search
For me, the biggest difference is the depth of the partnership. A retained search gives the recruiter the time and remit to properly understand the business, the existing team and what the individual really needs to bring to the role. It also allows the search to be much more targeted, combining market mapping and direct approaches with candidates already known to the agency. For senior support appointments, this matters. An EA or Chief of Staff can become a key part of how a CEO operates day to day. Cultural fit, judgement, discretion and working style can be just as important as experience.
How to hire for senior support roles
The starting point should always be understanding what the role actually needs to achieve. What does the CEO need more of? Where are the gaps in the existing team? What kind of person will complement the way the business operates? A good hiring partner should be able to challenge the brief where needed, benchmark the market and help identify the skills, experience and personality required. For senior support roles, recruitment works best when it feels like a partnership rather than a transaction.
And ultimately, that's what retained search allows you to build.
