Retained & confidential executive search
Executive search for insurance & financial services leadership
Linkrs Mandate is our retained model: exclusive, partner-led, and built for the hires where a wrong choice — or a leak — costs far more than the search. Leadership roles, scarce senior expertise, and searches that must stay invisible.
What it covers
Director and C-level roles — chief actuary, head of underwriting, claims director, CFO, CRO, compliance director, transformation director, chief data officer, country manager — and senior expert roles where the candidate pool in the Benelux is measured in dozens, not hundreds.
It is also our vehicle for confidential search: replacing an incumbent who doesn't yet know, building a team ahead of an announcement, or entering a market quietly. The employer stays anonymous until mutual interest is real, and every approach is made by a partner, personally.
How a mandate runs
- 01
Definition
We work with you to define the role, the realistic candidate universe, and the story that will move someone who is not looking. If the brief is unrealistic for the market, you hear it now.
- 02
Full market mapping
We map the complete universe across Belgium and the Netherlands — every organization where this profile exists, not just the people who happen to be visible.
- 03
Partner-led approaches
Discreet, personal, in the candidate's own language. Senior people in this market talk to partners, not to sourcers with a script.
- 04
Calibrated shortlist
A shortlist with real assessment notes: motivations, risks, compensation reality, and how each candidate compares against the market you actually have.
- 05
Offer and landing
We construct the offer with you, manage resignation and counter-offer dynamics, and stay involved through the first months. A replacement guarantee backs every mandate.
When to choose Linkrs Mandate
- Leadership or key-function roles where the cost of a wrong hire is structural
- Confidential searches — replacements, pre-announcement builds, market entry
- Profiles so scarce that only a mapped, exhaustive search is credible
- You want one accountable partner, exclusively committed, with milestone reporting
And when it isn’t the right tool
Retained search is overkill for a well-understood specialist role with a healthy market — you would be paying for exhaustiveness you don't need. That search runs faster and cheaper as a Linkrs Search assignment, and we will route it there ourselves.
Where we run this most: Actuarial · Risk & Compliance · Commercial & Distribution
Frequently asked questions
How is a retained fee structured?
In milestones — typically at engagement, shortlist and placement — agreed in the engagement letter. You are buying a committed, exhaustive search process, not a lottery ticket on a placement.
How do you keep a confidential search confidential?
The employer is anonymized until mutual interest is established, approaches are made only by a partner, information is shared in stages, and candidates confirm discretion before receiving detail. We structure searches so that, where needed, even the shortlist does not learn the company name until final interviews.
As a candidate, what does a Mandate approach mean for me?
It means the role is senior, exclusive to us, and usually not advertised anywhere. You deal with a partner, your details go nowhere without your explicit consent, and you get an honest read on whether the move improves your position — including when it doesn't.
How long does an executive search take?
Most mandates present a shortlist within four to six weeks; completion typically lands between two and four months depending on notice periods, which in Belgium and the Netherlands are substantial at senior level. We give you a realistic timeline at definition, then report against it.