Graduate Executive Search Consultant
Location: New York City | Level: Graduate Entry | Type: Full-Time I $80,000 + bonus I August Start Date
The Opportunity
This is an opening at one of the most prestigious specialist executive search firms operating in global financial services. Since its founding in 2014, our client has grown into a leading transatlantic buy-side executive search firm, partnering with the world's leading hedge funds, commodity merchants and merchant trading platforms to identify, assess and secure trading and investment talent at the most senior level.
They operate across four international offices — including an established and expanding New York presence — and have built their entire team from the ground up, with every consultant trained in-house to ensure a methodology that is original, consistent and genuinely their own. The culture combines the intellectual rigour of top-tier management consulting with the energy and ambition of a high-growth firm, and New York sits at the centre of that growth.
They are now looking for an exceptional graduate to join their New York team ideally to start in August
What You Will Do
Working directly alongside Lead Consultants and Managing Directors in New York, you will be responsible for delivering on search mandates across global markets from day one. You will be embedded in one of the world's most dynamic financial hubs, engaging daily with the most competitive talent market on the planet — US and global hedge funds, trading houses and private equity platforms.
Day-to-day, this will involve:
- Headhunting and approaching senior-level executives at leading investment platforms across the US and globally
- Mapping out teams, building org charts and developing a granular understanding of the competitive landscape across Wall Street and beyond
- Developing and maintaining long-term relationships with key individuals across the New York investment community
- Identifying what differentiates exceptional talent from the merely good — and having the conversations that extract and incentivise them to move
- Delivering on retained and contingent-exclusive mandates spanning liquid asset classes, private equity and infrastructure investment
- Working closely with European offices as part of a truly international team, with exposure to transatlantic mandates from the outset
Who We Are Looking For
- An exceptional graduate — a 3.5 GPA / 2:1 or above from a leading university is required; intellectual horsepower matters more than subject
- Polished, poised and professionally presented — you will be engaging with senior executives at the world's leading investment firms from the outset, and you need to carry yourself accordingly
- Genuinely curious about financial markets — you do not need to be an economist, but you must want to understand the world you are operating in
- Resilient, patient and mentally strong — search at this level requires the ability to absorb setbacks and keep going; this is not a role for the easily discouraged
- Competitive with a team edge — you want to win, but you understand that the best outcomes are built collaboratively
- Socially intelligent — the ability to build rapport quickly with sophisticated, senior professionals in a fast-paced New York environment is essential
- Highly organised — you will be managing multiple mandates and relationships simultaneously across time zones
What Is On Offer
- A multi-stage interview process culminating in a meritocratic assessment centre — if you make it through, you will have genuinely earned your place
- Two weeks of intensive training across New York and Edinburgh offices to begin your career properly
- Career development tailored to your individual interests and progression
- Direct exposure to some of the most competitive and intellectually stimulating search mandates in global finance, from the heart of Wall Street
- A compensation structure that is market-leading for those who perform
- The opportunity to build a long-term career at a firm that is a recognised leader in transatlantic executive search