Principal Recruiter

The Chief of Staff Association; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare stipend

Unlimited PTO and 11 paid holidays

401k

Remote flexibility

L&D opportunities

Job summary

The Chief of Staff Association in the United States seeks an experienced executive search professional to lead searches for senior leaders, design strategy, and manage client relationships. This is a full-time, exempt role based in Colorado or New York, with uncapped commissions on placements and a healthcare stipend.

You will map markets, assess candidates, and guide clients from kickoff to onboarding, shaping leadership teams for high-growth companies and investors.

Qualifications

• Five or more years in corporate or retained executive search.
• Track record of managing full-cycle, client-facing searches at senior leadership level.
• Comfort with an ATS and modern sourcing tools (TeamTailor, LinkedIn Recruiter, Juicebox).
• Ability to operate in a lean, entrepreneurial environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication, with the presence to advise senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the client kickoff on each search, aligning on scope, success profile, and measures of a strong placement.
• Translate a leader’s brief into a clear search strategy, target market, calibration approach, and timeline.
• Own market mapping and sourcing for searches, building longlists via direct approach, referrals, and talent intelligence.
• Conduct competency and behavior-based interviews and assess fit with leaders and teams.
• Manage referencing and due diligence, delivering reasoned recommendations.
• Run shortlist presentations and calibration sessions, advising clients on market realities.
• Oversee offer negotiation and candidate care through resignation and counteroffers.
• Manage onboarding to ensure placements land well and demonstrate value.
• Keep search documentation current and uphold quality standards across searches.
• Mentor junior team members and feed market insight back into the practice.

Skills

Five+ years in executive search

Strong written/verbal communication

Client-facing leadership

ATS / sourcing tools

Entrepreneurial mindset

Tools

TeamTailor

LinkedIn Recruiter

Juicebox

Job description

The Chief of Staff Association is the international professional body for the chief of staff profession, with members occupying positions of influence in more than 50 countries and the only globally recognized Certified Chief of Staff® credential. We advance the profession through education delivered in partnership with institutions such as Harvard Business School, the University of Oxford, and SDA Bocconi, a global member network, and original research.

Our Talent Division partners with founders, CEOs, investors, and enterprise leaders to place exceptional chiefs of staff into the roles where they will have the greatest effect. Clients come to us at moments of real consequence, during rapid growth, organizational change, or leadership succession, when the cost of the wrong hire is high and the value of the right one is significant. Because we sit inside the profession’s own professional body, our searches draw on a depth of network, market insight, and candidate access that a standalone firm cannot easily replicate.

This is a full-time, exempt opportunity for candidates based in Colorado or New York.

What You Will Do

Search strategy and intake

• Lead the client kickoff on each search, aligning on the role scope, the success profile, and the measures that will define a strong placement before any outreach begins.
• Translate a leader’s brief into a clear search strategy, including the target market, the calibration approach, and the timeline you will hold the search to.

Sourcing and research

• Own market mapping and the sourcing approach for your searches, building longlists through direct approach, referral, and talent intelligence using tools like LinkedIn Recruiter and Juicebox.
• Manage candidate engagement throughout, keeping pipelines warm and your reasoning visible in TeamTailor, our applicant tracking system.

Assessment and selection

• Run competency and behavior-based interviews against the success profile, assessing not only capability but fit with the principal and the wider team.
• Manage referencing and due diligence, and bring each client a reasoned recommendation with a point of view rather than a stack of profiles.

Client management throughout the search

• Run shortlist presentations and calibration sessions, advising clients on market realities and helping them reach a confident decision.
• Keep clients informed through a steady rhythm of clear updates and advisory conversations, holding momentum across the life of each search.

Offer, close, and onboarding

• Manage offer negotiation and candidate care through resignation and any counteroffer, protecting the placement to its conclusion.
• Oversee the early onboarding period so that placements land well and clients see the value of the work.

Quality and practice contribution

• Keep search documentation and reporting current, and uphold the firm’s methodology and quality bar across every search.
• Mentor junior team members as the team grows, and feed market insight back into the practice and the Certified Chief of Staff® community.

What You Bring

• At least five years in corporate or retained executive search, ideally with a leading global firm or a high-end boutique.
• A track record of managing full-cycle, client-facing searches at senior leadership level, including your own sourcing rather than relying on a research team.
• Confidence with an applicant tracking system and modern sourcing tools; experience with TeamTailor, LinkedIn Recruiter, or Juicebox is an advantage.
• The judgment and composure to operate in a lean, entrepreneurial environment
• Strong written and verbal communication, with the presence to advise senior leaders with authority and warmth.

How Success Is Measured

You will typically carry a portfolio of concurrent searches, measured on time to shortlist, the quality and durability of each placement, and client satisfaction. We will align on clear expectations with you at the outset and review them with you regularly.

Compensation and Benefits

$100,000 base salary plus uncapped commission on placements. Where you source a mandate yourself, your commission on that placement increases, so recruiters who bring in their own work are rewarded for it.

Benefits include: Healthcare stipend, Unlimited PTO and 11 paid holidays, 401k, Remote flexibility, L&D opportunities

Why This Role

• You will work without unnecessary layers, managing client relationships and running your own searches, with the support of our Sales and Delivery team.
• You will help shape the leadership teams of high-growth companies, investors, and enterprise leaders, and see the effect of your work directly.
• As a member of the team, you will have access to the Certified Chief of Staff® community and the Association's training material and consultant network.

What to Expect from Our Selection Process

Our process is designed to assess the whole person and to give you a clear sense of us in return:

• A short Predictive Index assessment
• A 30-minute video screening interview with our Director of Executive Search
• A 45-minute video panel interview with the VP of Operations and Principal Recruiter
• Case Study
• Final In-person Interview with Managing Partner