USNext-Gen Leaders
Redefining senior leadership hiring. We challenged executive leaders and clients to think about their senior leadership hiring. They asked us for a solution that combines the rigour and trusted partnership of search with the adaptability and cost-effectiveness of contingency models.
Next-Gen Leaders – Shaping the Future of Technology, Data & Transformation
Listening to our executive leaders and clients, one of biggest obstacles to ensuring long-term capability growth and successful business outcomes was the challenge around hiring their direct reports and senior leadership teams. These Next-Gen leaders are pivotal hires, shaping enterprise-wide innovation and providing the bridge between strategic vision and technical execution.
At Xpertise Search, we specialise in identifying, tracking and supporting these transformational and rising-star leaders, building our Next-Gen Hive-Mind of C-Suite referred and recommended individuals. We leverage that network to rapidly provide visionary leaders with high-growth potential & capability, providing the confidence of a search process without any retained fees or exorbitant costs.
Target Roles
We recruit senior leaders across the technology, data & transformation verticals, reporting into the C-Suite or SLT layer. We’re not defined by job title but below is a list of some of the positions we deliver against:
Director / VP / Head of:
- Engineering / Technology
- Architecture / Strategy
- Cyber Security / Information Security
- Data Engineering / Governance / Management & Operations
- Data Analytics / Science / AI & Machine Learning
- Transformation / Change
Next-Gen Hive-Mind
What is the Hive-Mind?
It’s an exclusive community of rising star leaders in the technology, data & transformation verticals. Each individual is either referred or recommended to us by our C-Suite and SLT clients or are individuals we’ve tracked and worked with through their accelerated career growth.
We go through an intensive vetting process with all of our Next-Gen leaders, enabling us to react swiftly to your needs and deliver exceptional individuals against an accelerate timeline. We take the time to understand their journey, their skills and their development needs, providing our clients with an in-depth background and breakdown of experience.
If you would like to be a member of our Hive-Mind community or would like to refer a future leader, please click here.
Key Features
Next-Gen Hive-Mind
Exclusive access to our unique, pre-vetted network of high potential leaders in data & technology.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)
We embed DE&I principles throughout our process, ensuring leadership teams reflect diverse perspectives and drive organisational success.
Bridging the Gap
Next-Gen Leaders combines the thoroughness of a search process with the flexibility of contingency, giving you access to an unparalleled network of data and technology leaders.
Xpertise Commitment
Our unique costing model aligns with the success and longevity of placements, sharing risk while delivering tangible value beyond the hire.
Data & Technology Xpertise
With 60+ years of combined expertise in data and technology, we are market deep specialists, able to access untapped talent.
Working in Partnership
As your trusted partner, we design a structured hiring process that builds trust and aligns leadership talent with your business needs.
DE&I in Next-Gen Search
Diverse and inclusive leadership is an essential element of our search process, we understand the value it brings, strengthening business, fostering creativity and enhancing decision making, driving innovation and long-term success.
We leverage AI-driven technology and our extensive candidate network to ensure a broader and more inclusive scope, identifying and engaging with underrepresented talent. This enables us to create diverse shortlists for our clients, not only meeting the cultural and technical requirements but delivering a transparent, equitable hiring process.
Last year, 26% of our leadership hires were women, a testament to our commitment to DE&I and to improving gender diversity in senior roles. Embedding DE&I into every stage of the search, we help our clients build teams that reflect the world we live and work in.
Frequently Asked Questions About Next-Gen Leaders
What is the Next-Gen Leaders service?
Next-Gen Leaders is our senior leadership hiring proposition for roles one level below C-suite - Directors, VPs, and Heads of function across technology, data, and transformation. It applies the rigour of an executive search process without a retained fee, making it better suited to SLT-level appointments where speed and cost-effectiveness matter alongside quality.
What is the difference between Next-Gen Leaders and Executive Search?
Executive Search is a fully retained proposition for C-suite appointments - CIO, CTO, CDO, and equivalents. Next-Gen Leaders targets the layer directly below: the senior leaders who report into the C-suite and are critical to execution. The process is equally rigorous, but the commercial model is contingency-based rather than retained.
What roles does Next-Gen Leaders cover?
We recruit Director, VP, and Head of level roles across: Engineering and Technology, Architecture and Strategy, Cyber Security and Information Security, Data Engineering, Governance and Analytics, AI and Machine Learning, and Transformation and Change. If the role sits between C-suite and mid-management in the technology or data function, it falls within our scope.
How quickly can Next-Gen Leaders deliver candidates?
Because the Hive-Mind is pre-vetted and actively maintained, we can typically move to shortlist significantly faster than a traditional contingency search. Timelines vary by role complexity, but our network-first approach removes the lag of starting each search from scratch.
Is there a fee to use Next-Gen Leaders?
Next-Gen Leaders operates on a contingency basis - there is no retained fee at the outset. Our fee is payable in two equal instalments: half on the candidate's start date, and half on successful completion of their probationary period. The second payment is genuinely at-risk, meaning our commercial interest is aligned with yours until the hire has proven themselves in post.
How does Next-Gen Leaders embed DE&I into the process?
We use a combination of AI-driven sourcing tools and our broader network to ensure shortlists are diverse by design, not by default. Last year, 26% of our leadership hires across both propositions were women. DE&I is embedded into the briefing, sourcing, and assessment stages - not added at the end.