Performance Manager

Harrison Clarke; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Harrison Clarke is seeking an exceptional Performance Manager to develop, coach and elevate our Research organisation. This leadership role focuses on creating one of the highest-performing research teams in executive search, combining coaching, accountability and capability development.

You'll work with senior leadership to build systems, raise standards and develop future leaders as the business grows in the AI, infrastructure and enterprise software space.

Qualifications

• You've built and developed high-performing people.
• Experience managing ambitious, target-driven teams.
• Strong coaching and mentoring capability.
• Confidence delivering difficult feedback with empathy.
• Exceptional organisational skills.
• High standards and attention to detail.
• A growth mindset.

Responsibilities

• Own performance across the Research function.
• Establish clear KPIs, scorecards and success metrics.
• Conduct weekly one-to-ones and structured performance reviews.
• Hold individuals accountable to ambitious goals.
• Identify performance gaps early and create improvement plans.
• Develop researchers from graduate level through to senior leadership.

Skills

People leadership

Coaching & mentoring

Performance management

Goal setting & KPIs

Communication & feedback

Growth mindset

Job description

Build the Team That Builds the World's Most Innovative Companies.

At Harrison Clarke, we're not a traditional recruitment business.

We're a specialist Search & Venture firm that partners with category-defining technology companies backed by the world's leading venture capital firms. We've helped build foundational engineering teams for companies that have gone on to reshape industries, and we continue to work alongside exceptional founders solving some of the hardest technical problems in AI, infrastructure, cybersecurity and enterprise software.

As we continue to scale, we're looking for an exceptional Performance Manager to develop, coach and elevate our Research organisation. This isn't an operational management role.

It's a hands-on leadership position focused on creating one of the highest-performing research teams in executive search.

The Opportunity

• Our Research team sits at the centre of everything we do.
• They are responsible for identifying world-class engineering talent, developing deep market intelligence and creating competitive advantages that our clients simply cannot access elsewhere.
• Your role is to ensure every researcher consistently performs at an elite level.
• You'll combine coaching, accountability, performance management and capability development to create an environment where exceptional people continually improve.
• You'll work closely with senior leadership to build systems, raise standards and develop future leaders within the business.

What You'll Be Responsible For

Performance Management

• Own performance across the Research function
• Establish clear KPIs, scorecards and success metrics
• Conduct weekly one-to-ones and structured performance reviews
• Hold individuals accountable to ambitious goals
• Identify performance gaps early and create improvement plans

Coaching & Development

• Develop researchers from graduate level through to senior leadership
• Deliver structured coaching across sourcing, market mapping, candidate engagement and execution
• Observe workflows and provide real-time feedback
• Build individual development plans
• Help every researcher maximise their potential

Excellence & Standards

• Continuously raise the quality bar across the team
• Ensure exceptional delivery standards on every search
• Improve sourcing methodologies and research processes
• Embed best practices across all practices
• Drive consistency without sacrificing innovation

Operational Improvement

• Analyse performance data and identify trends
• Improve productivity through systems and workflows
• Introduce new tools, AI workflows and automation where appropriate
• Create scalable processes as the business grows

What We're Looking For

You've built and developed high-performing people. You'll likely have:

• Experience managing ambitious, target-driven teams
• Strong coaching and mentoring capability
• Confidence delivering difficult feedback with empathy
• Exceptional organisational skills
• High standards and attention to detail
• A growth mindset

Why Harrison Clarke?

You’ll join a company that’s redefining what a modern search firm looks like.

We combine world-class executive search with venture investing, partnering with many of the most exciting technology companies in the world long before they become household names.

Our clients are backed by leading global investors and are building the future of AI, cloud infrastructure, enterprise software and deep technology.

You’ll work alongside ambitious, intelligent people who genuinely care about excellence and are building a business with long-term impact.