Chief Executive and Board Search
Discreet, founder led searches for chief executives, managing directors, chairs and independent directors, for the transitions that must stay private until they are ready to be announced.
The model matches the consequence of the appointment.
Every level runs on the same disciplined method. What deepens with each level is the depth of assessment, the intelligence delivered and the share of our fee placed at risk.
Chief executives, chairs and the boards around them.
Chief executives and managing directors
Group and company chief executives, managing directors and founder successors.
Chairs and committee chairs
Chairs of the board and of audit, risk, nomination and remuneration committees, where technical depth must sit alongside authority.
Independent non executive directors
Directors who bring sector judgement and independence of mind, and who will challenge management constructively.
Family and founder boards
The first independent directors on a family board, who can earn the trust of the family and the confidence of lenders and investors.
Boards preparing to list
Directors with the listed company experience and governance standing that investors and regulators expect.
Joint venture, government linked and advisory boards
Nominees who represent a shareholder while acting in the interest of the company, and senior advisers for chief executives.
Three situations where this engagement fits.
Founder and family transitions
When a founder or family chief executive is preparing to step back from the operating role and continuity matters more than disclosure.
Sensitive departures
When the current chief executive's departure is not yet known, and the search must be completed before any announcement.
Mergers and new ventures
When two organisations are combining, or a new venture is being formed, and the leader must be in place before integration begins.
What a confidential search requires.
The Founder on every call
The Founder leads the search personally. No part of the approach is delegated.
A restricted team and a code name
Research is run by a small, named team under a mandate code name and confidentiality undertakings.
An approach built for discretion
Candidates are approached through trusted channels with a disguised brief until mutual interest is established.
Board grade evidence
Shortlisted candidates complete the APEX Leadership Profile and two behavioural assessments, with independent references the candidate does not choose.
The board kept in step
A weekly cadence with the chair or nominations committee, and a written view at each decision point.
Twelve months of accountability
Integration checkpoints through the first year, with the longest assurance period we offer.
A board search starts with the board.
Board composition review
Before a board search, we map the skills, experience and diversity already on the board against the strategy, so the brief addresses the real gap.
A long list beyond the usual names
We look beyond the directors who already hold several seats, to senior executives ready for their first board role.
Governance and conflicts diligence
Independence, time commitment, other directorships and reputation are checked with the same rigour as capability.
Induction support
We help the chair plan the induction so the appointment contributes from the first meeting.
Evidence, not a stack of CVs.
Talent Landscape Report
The size and shape of the market for the role, live compensation and the realistic time to appoint, before the first approach.
A calibrated shortlist
Each candidate framed by fit, risk and likely impact in the first twelve months, with the evidence behind each judgement.
APEX and behavioural reports
A principle and behaviour consistency review and derailment risk reading for each finalist, written for the board.
Offer and transition design
Offer architecture, notice and garden leave strategy, and the plan for the first conversations with the incumbent team.
Apex: Outcome Partnership.
Chief executive and board mandates run on our Apex model: the deepest assessment, the full Intelligence Layer of market evidence and the Outcome Partnership in full, with the largest share of our fee held until the appointment has proven itself and continuity assurance for up to 365 days. Selection tests vision, influence and change leadership.
The engagement architectureWhere this leads
Succession and Capability
Build the bench behind the new chief executive, so the next transition is planned rather than forced.
Explore 02Executive Leadership Search
The chief officers who will carry the strategy with the new leader.
Explore 03The case for confidential search
Why sensitive successions must be run differently.
ExploreAn executive search firm in Dubai, working across the GCC.
Hunters and Skipper is a founder led executive search and leadership advisory firm based in Dubai. We search for chief executives, board directors and C Suite leaders across the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, with reach into India, Africa, Europe and South East Asia.
We work with listed companies, family owned groups, government related entities and investor backed businesses. Where national talent programmes such as Emiratisation and Saudisation apply, qualified national leaders are built into every longlist.
Appointing the leader who will define the next chapter?
Chief executive and board appointments begin with a confidential conversation with the Founder, without obligation.