VP Product. Staff Product Manager. Principal Product Manager. Lead Product Manager. These aren't roles you fill from a job board. The candidates are specific, the market is shallow, and the wrong hire is expensive. We place niche, high-calibre product leaders and practitioners in the roles that VC- and PE-backed businesses rely on.
A retained, bespoke search for a product role most firms try — and fail — to fill through contingency or advertising.
Genuine market coverage including passive candidates who'll never appear on a job board.
A product leader or practitioner placed against your specific business context — not a generic job description.
Product roles fail when they're filled from a generic brief. We start by understanding what the role actually needs to deliver.
We begin by defining what this role needs to achieve — not what the job description says. What does a VP Product, Staff Product Manager, Principal Product Manager, or Lead Product Manager need to deliver in year one at this specific portfolio company? That shapes who we look for.
We map the specific talent pool for this role. Specialist roles have narrow candidate universes. We know them. This step takes longer than a standard brief — because precision here saves weeks downstream.
We approach candidates personally. Specialist searches don't benefit from volume. Every candidate we contact has been assessed as a potential fit before outreach begins.
We go deeper on assessment for product roles than generalist ones. The functional knowledge needs to be genuine. We validate product judgement through structured conversation and peer-level reference — not just competency interviews.
Two to three candidates. Quality over quantity. Each comes with a full written assessment of product fit and VC and PE operating suitability.
We manage offer and onboarding. Product roles are often pivotal hires in portfolio companies. We set the right expectations on both sides for the first 90 days.
If a contingency search or advertising campaign hasn't delivered — let's talk about running it properly.