Anonymized engagements from retained search work. Names and identifying specifics are omitted at client request. Timelines and outcomes are real. Many of our engagements are confidential and cannot be shown here.
An RF defense business operating as a subsidiary of a larger parent company needed a BU Director to lead the unit through an inflection point. The prior search firm had been on the engagement for six months with no closeable candidate. The parent company was running out of patience and the unit needed leadership in seat.
We mapped the candidate market against the actual operating profile the role required, not the title on the requisition. The candidates the prior firm had been chasing did not fit the day-one operating realities of the business. We went direct to operators who had run comparable RF and defense electronics units, ran a disciplined two-stage screen, and presented a tight slate.
Six weeks from kickoff to signed offer. The candidate was not on a database. They took the call because of the relationship, not the requisition.
A founder-led aerospace and defense manufacturer needed a Controller to take ownership of FP&A and prepare the business for the next stage. The founder wanted someone with the technical depth to run the function and the trajectory to grow into broader responsibility as the business grew into needing it.
We sourced on a longer time horizon than a standard search. We screened for technical skill, but also for career trajectory, leadership instinct, and willingness to grow with a closely held business that was not yet ready for a CFO.
We placed the Controller. They were promoted twice over the years that followed and eventually became President of that business unit. That outcome is not luck. It is what happens when you hire for the next role, not just the open one.
A confidential search for a Director of Programs at a defense-adjacent operator. The role required a relocation, which immediately narrowed the candidate pool and added time pressure to the offer stage. The client could not run an open requisition because of internal dynamics and competitive sensitivities.
We worked the search quietly and direct. Every candidate conversation was held under confidentiality. We pre-aligned the relocation package, the family logistics, and the start-date window before we let any candidate get deep into the process, so the offer stage would not become the negotiation stage.
Six weeks from kickoff to signed offer, including relocation. Both sides went into the offer with no surprises because the work had been done upstream. Discretion was maintained throughout.
A Senior Project Manager role at an A&D operator where the program timeline could not wait on a typical search cycle. The client retained EXO because they needed both the speed and the rigor that contingency could not provide.
We had the spec, the comp benchmark, and the candidate shortlist within the first week. Direct outreach to known operators in the program management community. Two-stage screen on every candidate. Pre-aligned the offer structure before final interview so close was clean.
Three weeks from kickoff to signed offer. The program kept moving on schedule. That speed was possible because the relationships and the comp data were already in hand before the engagement opened.
Confidential replacements, pre-board succession planning, and sensitive organizational transitions are run without a public requisition. Engagement details stay with the client.
If your situation looks like any of the engagements above, or if confidentiality is the constraint, we should talk. Tell us what is on the table and we will give you a straight answer on whether we can help.