Executive Search
Executive search for the roles that define your future
Specialist executive search for the engineering, manufacturing and energy businesses that power global industry. We find exceptional leaders, and set them, and your organisation, up to succeed together.
What We Do
Retained executive search built for the businesses that power global industry
Jenova Partners is a boutique executive search and strategic advisory firm working with boards, founders, investors and operating teams across engineering, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure. We place fewer, more consequential appointments — and we carry each one from mandate to the first 100 days.
Because leadership appointments are treated as business decisions, not recruitment exercises, we define success before the search begins, ensure the organisation is genuinely ready for the leader it brings in, and support the transition that determines whether an appointment holds.
Strategic Leadership Appointments
Executive Mandates
Our Conviction
What sets a great appointment apart
A great appointment is more than a great CV, it’s the right person, empowered by the right systems. Jenova Partners combines rigorous retained search with strategic advisory, so a leadership appointment is treated as the strategic investment it is.
The Challenge
Great appointments share a pattern: success is defined before the search begins, the organisation is genuinely ready for the leader it brings in, and the first 100 days are treated as strategy, not admin. Get those three things right for a hire to succeed from the start. That work is what makes an appointment hold. Because the best appointments emerge when an exceptional individual is matched with an organisation that has the clarity, alignment and commitment to unlock their potential.
Great leaders deliver when the role fits the environment
A leader who excels in a global multinational brings different strengths to a founder-led business. The real question isn’t whether a candidate is capable; it’s where their capability will have the greatest impact. We match leaders to the environments where they’ll thrive.
Leaders thrive when the organisation is ready for them
Boards bring in leaders to raise the bar, and that lands best when resources, priorities and support are aligned behind them. Readiness is an organisational strength we help you build before day one.
Success is set before the search and in the first 100 days
When success is clearly defined, and onboarding is treated as a strategy, an exceptional appointment compounds. We lay those foundations early, so momentum builds from the very start.
Our Philosophy
Leadership appointments create value when treated as business decisions, not recruitment exercises
What determines the outcome is rarely the candidate. It is the clarity of the mandate, the readiness of the organisation, and the alignment of stakeholders behind a shared direction. Talent without those conditions underperforms. Capability matched with the right environment delivers lasting results.
Our role is not simply to identify exceptional people. It is to ensure that when they arrive, the organisation is ready to make them succeed.
Because enduring performance is not determined by who joins, it is determined by how well leadership and organisation are brought together around a common purpose.
Process & Toolkit
Our five disciplined phases each draw on a defined toolkit: the craft of executive search
The toolkit is applied proportionately to the mandate, so boards can see the evidence behind the recommendation and the support the leader needs to succeed.
Define
Clarify success, align stakeholders and establish the leadership mandate before the market is approached.
Diagnose
Assess the environment a leader would inherit, including culture, commercial infrastructure, strategic clarity and governance commitment.
Search
Map the market discreetly and engage leaders with the confidentiality and care senior appointments require.
Assess
Validate leadership capability, commercial impact, cultural fit and the evidence behind each recommendation.
Integrate
Support the appointment through the transition period where momentum, confidence and alignment are built.
Retained executive search, run the way it should be
Jenova Partners operates exclusively on a retained basis. The mandate is commissioned in advance, the search is run by senior consultants rather than researchers, and the fee is not dependent on a candidate being sourced from a database. It is the standard for board and C-suite appointments precisely because the cost of a wrong executive hire far exceeds the cost of the search.
The five phases above are applied proportionately to the mandate — a full board succession and a single interim appointment demand different weightings. Whatever the scope, the same discipline applies: success is defined before the market is approached, the evidence behind every recommendation is visible, and the leader is supported through the transition where appointments are won or lost.
Sectors We Serve
Executive search across the industrial sectors that matter
Our consultants work where global industry is built. We place leaders across energy and natural resources, industrial manufacturing, infrastructure and process industries, in the UK and internationally.
Renewables & Clean Tech
Oil & Gas
Mining & Critical Minerals
Utilities & Grid Modernisation
Aerospace, Defence & Space
Automotive & Future Mobility
Capital Equipment & Machinery
Building & Construction Materials
Robotics, Electrical & Electronics
Digital Infrastructure
Transportation & Logistics
Utilities & Waste
Chemicals & Advanced Materials
Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences
Food, Beverage & Ingredients
Pulp, Paper & Packaging
Textiles
United Kingdom
Europe
North America
Middle East
Wider Markets
Honest Counsel
Our most valuable contribution is ensuring a board is fully prepared to attract, appoint and support the right leader
Interim and fractional leadership, used well, is not a discount substitute for permanent hiring. It is a distinct governance tool: a way to build commercial infrastructure ahead of a permanent appointment, to bridge a transition without losing momentum, or to give the board an independent, time-bound diagnostic of what the function genuinely requires before that requirement is written into a permanent job description.
The decision should follow the diagnosis, not precede it. We help boards make that call with rigour, and then execute the search that follows, whether that is a retained search for a permanent leader or the placement of interim leadership against a clearly bounded mandate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Executive search, in plain terms
What is executive search?
Executive search is a specialist, retained approach to appointing senior leadership. Rather than matching candidates to a vacancy, we work with boards, founders and investors to define what success looks like for the role, then discreetly map and engage the leaders who can deliver it. It is a complete senior appointment process — from mandate and market mapping through assessment and referencing to integration and the first 100 days.
How does the executive search process work?
Our process has five disciplined phases, each drawing on a defined toolkit. Define — success is agreed before the market is approached. Diagnose — the environment a leader would inherit is assessed. Search — the market is mapped discreetly and senior leaders engaged with confidentiality. Assess — leadership capability, commercial impact and cultural fit are validated against evidence. Integrate — the appointment is supported through the transition where momentum and alignment are built.
What is the difference between retained and contingent search?
Retained executive search is commissioned in advance: the client engages the firm exclusively, and the fee reflects the commitment of senior consultants, time and market access. Contingent recruitment is paid only on placement, which in practice tends to favour speed over depth — and the strongest senior candidates are rarely available through database matching. For board, C-suite and critical leadership roles, retained search is the standard, because the cost of a wrong appointment far exceeds the cost of the search.
How much does executive search cost in the UK?
Most UK executive search firms charge a fee based on the first year’s guaranteed remuneration of the appointed candidate. As a general guide, board and C-suite roles are often 30% to 33% of first-year guaranteed cash compensation, and senior leadership and director-level roles commonly 25% to 30%. Fees are agreed up front and structured in stages across the search, so the mandate is predictable and transparent. Our guide to executive search fees in the UK explains the structures in full.
Which sectors and markets does Jenova Partners work across?
Jenova Partners is positioned from a London HQ with international reach across Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and wider markets. We specialise in energy and natural resources, industrial manufacturing, infrastructure and process industries — the businesses that power global industry.
Can conversations be confidential?
Yes. Confidentiality is central to senior leadership appointments, succession discussions and advisory conversations. Succession and search conversations are handled discreetly from the first approach, for both the client organisation and the candidates involved.
Let's Talk
Make your next leadership appointment with confidence
Whether you’re planning a board-level succession, building commercial leadership for an international growth phase, or appointing a CEO to lead a turnaround, the earlier we’re involved, the more we can do to set the appointment up to succeed. The most valuable conversation often happens before a search formally begins.