Leadership & confidential search

Search quietly.
Hire a leader.

Your AI recruiting team maps the market, approaches people without naming the business, runs one structured senior interview, and gives your board a shortlist with reports.

Confidential outreach · Name maskedZia · every channel
Zia

A Series C consumer platform in India is searching for a Chief Technology Officer. Are you open to a private conversation?

Anil M.

Possibly. Who is the business?

Zia

The name stays private for now. I can share the stage, the scale and the reporting line.

Anil M.

Fine. Thursday evening works.

Name withheldBusiness described only
Market mapWho leads comparable teams

Trusted by hiring teams at

WalmartBMWBooking.comRazorpayDocuSignPaytmRandstad DigitalKPI PartnersCodeRabbitDeccan AISpace MatrixPhilogenUnifi CapitalenParadigmphamaxMastercomAnthriqSolinasPopular Motor CorporationPopular Motor VenturesStelloSurf

Senior searches fail on leaks and on weak signal. Describe the business without naming it, map who is out there first, and hold every senior candidate to the same conversation.

What boards and founders tell us

The stakes are highest here.

A leak ends the search

If the current leader or their team hears about it, you are managing a crisis instead of a hire.

You do not know who is out there

Search firms bring their usual names. Few show the whole market first.

Interviews vary by who asks

Senior candidates are charming. Without a structure, panels reward the best talker.

Who you hire

Functional heads to the C-suite.

C-suite & founders’ team

The few roles that shape the company.

Chief Executive OfficerChief Technology OfficerChief Financial OfficerChief Operating OfficerChief Product Officer

VP & functional heads

People who run a department.

VP EngineeringVP SalesHead of MarketingHead of PeopleHead of OperationsGeneral counsel

Replacements & board roles

Searches that cannot be public.

Confidential CXO replacementBusiness unit headCountry managerIndependent director
The flow for leadership search

Map the market, approach quietly, interview with structure.

The same three agents, with confidentiality built in.

MeeraAI recruiter
Meet Meera
Find

A market map before any outreach

Meera shows how many leaders truly fit, where the pool narrows and what the role pays, before searching. You see the real talent pool and decide who is worth approaching.

YOU NO LONGER
  • rely on one firm’s rolodex
  • guess pay for the level

Market Mapping

CSVHypothesis
Addressable pool

~40–60 approachable leaders

Verdict (hypothesis)

Doable, with a 6–8 week search at this bar.

Biggest constraint

Few have led more than 100 engineers.

Talent-Pool Waterfall
L0

Engineering leaders, United States

~18,000–22,000
L1

+ Led teams of 100+ engineers

~2,100–2,600
L2

+ Scaled a B2B SaaS platform

~600–800
Final

+ Reachable, open to a confidential move

~40–60
Compensation (OTE)
P10
$340K
P50 · Median
$420K
P90
$520K
ZiaOur career strategist
Meet Zia
Reach

Confidential mode on every message

In confidential mode Zia describes the business without naming it, and answers candidates’ questions from the job facts.

EmailWhatsAppSMSCallXReddit
YOU NO LONGER
  • hand-write masked intros
  • risk a slip in the wording
Zia · Confidential searchZia · every channel
Zia

A growth-stage consumer business is searching for a Head of Product. Open to a private conversation?

Shweta

Possibly. What is the scope?

Zia

The name stays private for now. I can share the stage, the team size and the reporting line.

Zia

Booked: private call Thursday 08:00

NairaAI interviewer
Meet Naira
Interview

A structured senior interview

Naira asks about strategy, trade-offs and leading teams through the same plan for every senior candidate, and records the moments behind each rating.

YOU NO LONGER
  • run panel after panel
  • compare notes from memory
Senior interview · CTOreport
Strategy84
Team leadership78
Technical judgement88
Stakeholder handling70
Evidence quote on every bar
ELYouThe final call
See a sample report
Decide

You and the board decide

Read each finalist’s report, share it with your board by link, and keep every decision and override in the audit log. The hire stays yours.

YOU NO LONGER
  • circulate PDFs
  • explain who said what
Naira report cardVoice · Naira

Maya ThompsonApplied for Collections SpecialistInterviewed Sep 27, 2026, 38 min

74.0/ 100 overall

AlignedIntegrity 96%English (CEFR) B2
“Clear, calm caller who secured a payment plan without pressure tactics; audit caught 4 of 5 compliance slips. Speaks fluently at a natural call pace.”

Handle a Customer Who Disputes a Past-Due Balance

M2Voice only
Module Score4.1 / 5

Strengths

  • Verified identity before discussing the balance
  • Offered a concrete 3-month plan unprompted

Weaknesses

  • Slight hesitation stating the exact due date
  • Did not repeat the total balance for confirmation

Evidence (transcript quotes)

  • “I understand this is frustrating — let's find a plan that works for you and confirm it today.”

Hiring you can stand behind.

ENTERPRISE-GRADE · 5 LAYERS
Inside the flow

A confidential search, start to finish.

Mapped first, approached quietly, interviewed on one structure, decided on the record.

Confidential

Name withheld

Zia describes the business, not its name, in every message.

Business described
Name withheld
Confidential You
Market map

Who is out there

See comparable leaders and pay before you approach anyone.

24
comparable leaders mapped
Anil M. CTO · consumer
Rhea S. VP Eng · fintech
Karan B. CTO · logistics
Senior interview

Same questions

Strategy and team leadership asked of everyone, one structure.

Naira · live
Judgement

Trade-offs voiced

How they decide, what they gave up, what they learnt.

Strategy84
People78
Judgement88
Audit

Every decision logged

Decisions and overrides are recorded for the board.

Brief locked
Outreach sent
Interview done
Shared to board
Facts

Notice and package

Current and expected CTC, notice, location and motivation, on each report.

Notice 90 daysCTC 1.4 CrExpects 1.9 CrMumbaiReason: scope
Before & after

Leadership search, before and after

The usual way
A firm’s shortlist, no view of the market
Company name in every first email
Different panel questions for each candidate
Impressions from five conversations
Board gets a PDF and a hunch
Who approved what is unclear
ELWith EmployLabs
Market map first: who, where and what they earn
Zia’s confidential mode: a description, not a name
One structured senior interview
Report with evidence quotes per criterion
Finalists shared by link, no login
Every decision and override audit-logged
By the numbers

The engineering behind every hire.

Sourcing800M+professional profiles to search
Engagement5M+candidate conversations on every channel
Interviews50K+AI interviews completed
Shortlists10K+shortlists delivered
Time saved200K+recruiter hours saved
Coverage40+industries hired for
FAQ

We have the answers

How it works, what it costs, and what your candidates see.

Can EmployLabs run a confidential executive search?

Yes. In a confidential search, candidates hear a description of the business, not its name. Meera finds and ranks leadership candidates with the reasons shown, Zia approaches them on six channels and books interviews, and Naira interviews by voice at the right seniority. You decide from a report with evidence.

What does confidential mode do?

Candidates hear a description of the business, not its name, in outreach and in answers to their questions.

What is the market map?

Before searching, Meera shows who is hiring, what they pay and where the people are. You see the pool for your role and decide whom to approach.

Can Naira interview senior candidates?

Yes. The plan uses strategy, trade-off and team-leadership questions, the same for every candidate, with moments recorded behind each rating. Candidates also get their own report a few minutes after finishing, so they know right away whether they are a fit.

Who can see a finalist’s report?

Your team and the people you share it with. Hiring managers and board members read it by link with no login; links expire after 14 days or when you revoke them.

Does this replace a retained search firm?

It can run a search end to end, from market map to shortlist, or you can use it beside a firm. Every plan includes a TA specialist overseeing the role, and Enterprise adds a dedicated one.

How is candidate data protected?

Hiring data is never sold or shared. Only reviewers you authorise can open recordings, every decision is audit-logged, and Enterprise adds SSO and a data agreement.

Let's talk
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Your next hire is
already out there.

Tell us who you need. We find, contact and interview them, and you meet the best.

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