Retained executive search
The search partner for innovative business.
BLKCODE finds the engineering, product and commercial leaders who turn ambitious companies into category winners. Retained search, ruthlessly researched, closed in weeks — not quarters.
For companies
Hire a leader who changes the trajectory
You don't need two hundred CVs. You need the eleven people in the world who can do this job, mapped, approached and closed. That's the search we run.
Brief a search →For candidates
Your next role, before it's advertised
Most of our mandates never reach a job board. Tell us what you'd leave your current role for, and we'll call when — and only when — it exists.
Join the network →Specialisms
Deep in the functions that build the product — and sell it
We don't recruit "tech" broadly. We run six practices, each led by someone who has hired for that function in-house.
Engineering Leadership
CTOs, VPs of Engineering, Heads of Platform and Infrastructure — leaders who scale teams from 10 to 200 without losing velocity.
Product & Design
CPOs, product directors and design leaders who ship what customers pay for, not what roadmaps promise.
Data & AI
Heads of AI, ML engineering leads and data platform owners for companies where the model is the moat.
Commercial & GTM
CROs, VPs of Sales and growth leaders who have taken technical products from £1m to £50m ARR.
C-Suite & Board
CEOs, COOs, CFOs and non-executive directors for venture-backed and founder-led businesses at inflection points.
Venture & Operations
Talent partners, platform leads and operators placed directly with funds and their portfolio companies.
Approach
One search. Five stages. No spray, no pray.
Every mandate is retained and exclusive. The steps below are a sequence, not a menu — each one gates the next.
Brief
Two hours with the hiring team. We leave with a scorecard, not a job spec.
Map
We chart the entire market for the role — typically 80–150 named individuals — before approaching anyone.
Approach
Direct, personal outreach from a partner. No InMail templates, ever.
Assess
Structured interviews scored against the brief's scorecard, plus back-channel references.
Close
Offer design, comp benchmarking and resignation support until day one — and past it.
"They sent five names. We interviewed four, hired one, and would have hired two more if we'd had the budget. That ratio doesn't happen by accident."
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