Executive Search - Senior Research Associate

Heidrick & Struggles; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Heidrick & Struggles in Johannesburg is seeking an experienced Senior Associate to drive critical parts of the executive recruiting lifecycle. You will identify candidates, conduct in-depth interviews, and craft assessments in partnership with senior consultants.

You will collaborate across global teams, develop market insights, and contribute to client relationships while maintaining high standards of ethics and quality. This role offers significant visibility and growth potential.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years of professional experience in recruitment or 3+ years transferable recruiting experience.
• Postgraduate Honours degree from a tier-one university.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with external clients and candidates.

Responsibilities

• Conduct industry and client research to map the executive talent landscape.
• Assist consultants by preparing business development materials and presenting candidates.
• Interview candidates, write assessments, and present them to clients.

Skills

Client relationship

Executive communication

Writing assessments

Industry research

Team collaboration

Education

Postgraduate Honours degree

Job description

About us

Managing top talent isn’t just our business. It’s our passion, and we are committed to investing in and developing the careers of our own people.

Heidrick & Struggles is a premier provider of executive search, leadership assessment and development, organization and team effectiveness, and culture shaping services globally. In our more than 70 year history, we have conducted some of the most high-profile C-suite and board-level searches in the world. We are working with our clients across 29 countries to help them accelerate their performance and respond with agility to new opportunities and challenges in every industry. We continue to raise the bar in serving our clients as trusted leadership advisors, and we are also providing an expanded range of data-driven, tech-enabled tools and platforms across our executive search and consulting businesses.

We look for people with experience from a variety of industries and diverse educational backgrounds who are passionate about partnering with innovative and influential organizations and share our commitment to our purpose – to help our clients change the world, one leadership team at a time.

Additional information on the firm can be found at www.heidrick.com

What We Do

Executive Search Senior Associates play a critical role in the execution of all facets of the executive recruiting lifecycle, from candidate identification to placement. Working closely with our expert Search Consultants, Senior Associates build upon their existing professional skills in a hands‑on environment and continue to receive world class mentorship and professional development in an apprenticeship‑style method. Our Senior Associates drive most aspects of the recruitment process, from developing the search strategy with the Consultant through managing its execution. Senior Associates also get exposure to business development activities. The search process includes working with clients to develop position specifications; identifying and interviewing prospective candidates and building a pipeline of qualified candidates for active searches meeting the client’s requirements; developing the candidate relationship; and candidate referencing.

An integral part of a Senior Associate’s role is assisting with client relationship management, sustaining relationships with senior executives and guiding candidates through their recruitment journey.

While learning the Search industry, Senior Associates invest significant time researching and learning about various industries, executive roles and functions, and do so in collaboration with colleagues across the globe. The Senior Associate role provides a great degree of visibility, significant responsibility and the opportunity for high impact with an excellent career track potential on a well‑defined path.

Role Responsibilities

Research & Writing

• Conducting industry specific and client company research, mapping the executive talent landscape to bring market insights to the Consultant/Client.
• Assisting Consultants in preparing business development materials to present to prospective and current clients.

Internal and External Communication

• Contacting prospective candidates to elicit interest in client opportunities, obtaining referrals, and/or collecting market intelligence and feedback.
• Conducting in-depth interviews to assess candidate qualifications and fit to position specifications.
• Writing candidate assessments and presenting candidates to clients.
• Managing candidate relationships throughout the entire life cycle of the search and keeping the Consultant abreast of candidate updates.
• Contributing to client relationship management with the Consultant.

Living Our Values

• Partnering well across a multitude of stakeholders with the aim of developing productive and trusting relationships with colleagues across the firm.
• Fostering an environment of collaboration; viewed as a team player.
• Acting as a culture carrier; contributes to firm, practice and/or office initiatives.
• Demonstrating self‑awareness, humility, empathy, and open‑mindedness in the workplace.

Ethics & Quality

• Maintaining the accuracy, quality, and integrity of all Search information in our various internal and external research tools.
• Maintaining status reports and client ready reports for both internal and external presentation(s) to Consultant and Client.
• Managing multiple concurrent projects and completing high quality deliverables on time.
• Acting with the highest regard to professionalism, confidentiality, and ethics.
• Succeeding and persisting through challenges, motivated to do the right thing.

Basic Role Qualifications

• 4-6 years professional experience or a minimum of 3+ years of transferable recruiting experience.
• A postgraduate Honours degree from a tier one University is required
• Exhibits skill and developing mastery of professional communications, displaying adeptness in writing, articulating, and delivering information with confidence and impact.
• Exhibits a proven ability to collaborate with external clients and candidates, showcasing adeptness in influencing and fostering productive partnerships.

We are looking forward to meeting you!