Consultant

Perform Search; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Perform Search is seeking a Senior Consultant who will own client relationships end-to-end, lead searches from kickoff to placement, and mentor Associates and Researchers. The role is promotion-track toward Partner with increasing revenue contribution and practice-building responsibilities.

The position emphasizes maintaining candidate quality, client experience, and a strategic mindset to drive successful outcomes across multiple concurrent searches for senior-level clients.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in leading client relationships at a senior level
• Track record of completed searches at Director through C-suite
• Ability to own a client relationship without Partner cover
• Strong assessment judgment and defend recommendations under pressure
• Excellent written communication for candidate assessments and client materials
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and competing priorities
• Experience mentoring junior team members

Responsibilities

• Own full accountability for search outcomes from kickoff through placement and onboarding
• Lead client intake and translate business context into a defensible search strategy and target market
• Set calibration standards and adjust strategy as the market shifts
• Direct Associates and Research on execution, priorities, and pipeline quality
• Manage multiple concurrent searches while maintaining quality and pace
• Run offer strategy, negotiate, and close with candidates and clients
• Serve as primary client owner for assigned searches and deliver progress updates
• Provide market intelligence and calibration feedback, including adverse news
• Expand relationships within existing client organizations to generate repeat work
• Contribute to new business through referrals, network activity, and warm origination
• Support pitch development and participate in new business meetings
• Convert candidate and placement relationships into future client opportunities
• Carry revenue or origination expectations as tenure increases
• Mentor Associates and Research on interviewing, assessment, and client readiness
• Improve firm methodology, tooling, and quality standards
• Build reusable practice knowledge like market maps and benchmarks

Job description

The Consultant is a senior execution and client ownership role at Perform Search. This person owns client relationships, leads searches independently end to end, and is accountable for search outcomes. Consultants set the standard for candidate quality and client experience, and they mentor Associates and Research.

Where an Associate executes the search, the Consultant owns it: the strategy, the client relationship, the difficult conversations, and the result.

This is a promotion-track role toward Partner, with growing expectations around revenue contribution and practice building.

Key Responsibilities

Search Ownership

• Own full accountability for search outcomes, from kickoff through placement and onboarding
• Lead client intake and translate business context into a defensible search strategy and target market
• Set the calibration standard for the search and adjust strategy when the market pushes back
• Direct Associates and Research on execution, priorities, and pipeline quality
• Manage multiple concurrent searches without loss of quality or pace
• Run offer strategy, negotiation, and close with candidates and clients

Client Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary client owner for assigned searches
• Run progress updates and slate presentations with authority and clear point of view
• Deliver market intelligence and calibration feedback, including news the client does not want to hear
• Manage scope, expectations, and escalations directly
• Expand relationships within existing client organizations and generate repeat work

Candidate and Market Credibility

• Engage credibly with C-suite, board members, founders, and investors
• Build and hold a durable personal network in a defined industry or functional practice
• Write assessments that clients rely on for decisions, not just summaries
• Represent Perform Search as a subject matter voice in the market

Business Development

• Contribute to new business through referrals, network activity, and warm origination
• Support pitch development and participate in new business meetings
• Convert candidate and placement relationships into future client opportunities
• Carry a defined revenue or origination expectation as tenure increases

Team and Firm Leadership

• Mentor Associates and Research, including feedback on interviewing, assessment, and client readiness
• Improve firm methodology, tooling, and quality standards
• Build reusable practice knowledge such as market maps, comp benchmarks, and org insight

Qualifications

Required

• 5+ years in leading client relationships in a specific domain.
• Track record of completed searches at the Director through C-suite level
• Demonstrated ability to own a client relationship without Partner cover
• Strong assessment judgment and the ability to defend a recommendation under pressure
• Excellent written communication, particularly candidate assessments and client-facing materials
• Comfort managing ambiguity, competing priorities, and difficult conversations
• Experience directing or mentoring junior team members

Preferred

• Depth in a specific industry or functional practice
• Evidence of repeat business or client expansion
• Search firm experience in a retained model

Success Indicators

• Searches close on time with slates the client trusts
• Clients return and refer without Partner intervention
• Associates working under this person get better, measurably
• A growing personal network that produces both candidates and clients