HID_EN · Management Search · Found where others don't look.

The proposition

The best managers in your market are already employed. They are not on job boards. They are not updating their profiles. They are performing — quietly, consistently — inside businesses that need them as much as you do.

HID_EN reaches them anyway. Not through advertising. Not through databases. Through a search process built on discretion, depth, and the kind of network that takes years to build and cannot be replicated by a generalist agency.

We work with SME owners, founders, MDs, and HR Directors who understand that a management-level hire done properly is not a cost. It is an investment in what the business becomes next.

"The right person at management level does not change one job. They change what the business is capable of."

How we work

Exclusive Search The focused mandate.

One search. One dedicated focus. HID_EN works exclusively on your mandate — not shared with other agencies. Faster, more focused, and more discreet than contingency search. Defined process with clear milestones and regular updates. Typical timeline: four to eight weeks.

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Retained Search The considered mandate.

A thorough, methodical search for roles where getting it right matters more than getting it fast. Full retained engagement — HID_EN is your search partner from brief to appointment. Deep market mapping before a single approach is made. Typical timeline: six to twelve weeks.

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Embedded Search The ongoing partnership.

HID_EN becomes part of your business — handling all management hiring on an ongoing basis. A dedicated search resource embedded within your hiring function. Monthly retainer model — predictable cost, unlimited mandates. Minimum commitment: three months.

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Who we work with

Our clients are business owners and leaders who are time-poor, discerning, and deeply sceptical of conventional recruitment. They run businesses of twenty to two hundred and fifty people. They value discretion above all else. They want one trusted firm, not five CVs from five agencies.

We search across the management functions that determine whether a growing business scales well or stalls. The right hire in any of these disciplines can redefine what a business is capable of.

Finance Legal Human Resources Marketing Sales Operations

The process

The Brief

We begin with a conversation about your business — not just the role. We want to understand your culture, your pace, what success looks like, and why this hire matters now.

The Search

We go into the market. Not a database — the market. We identify who exists, who is performing, and who would be open to the right conversation. We approach them directly and personally.

The Assessment

We assess every candidate before they reach you. Competence, character, and cultural fit. What we present is a recommendation, not a shortlist.

The Appointment

We support the process through offer, acceptance, and start. We remain available through the first ninety days. We do not disappear when the search concludes.

In practice

Professional Services · Finance Director

A privately owned professional services business needed a Finance Director following the departure of a long-standing incumbent. The search was sensitive — the role could not be advertised, and the business could not risk the market knowing it was open.

HID_EN ran a fully confidential retained search over eight weeks. The successful candidate was a senior finance professional at a competitor business who had not considered moving. They were appointed at month three and remain in post.

About

HID_EN exists because the most important management hires are the ones that cannot be made conventionally.

The people a growing business needs at management level are almost never available. They are already doing the job — just not for you. They are not on job boards. They are not responding to InMail. They are not attending networking events looking for their next move.

We find them. Not by searching harder than other agencies, but by searching differently. We operate in the space that conventional recruitment does not reach — identifying talent that the market does not know is available, and making the approach that turns a passive professional into a serious candidate.

We work exclusively, retained, and embedded. We do not work contingency. We do not brief the same mandate to competing agencies. We are selective about the work we accept because the quality of our output depends on the depth of focus we give each search.

Every search we run is confidential. Every candidate we approach is treated with the same respect we would want extended to our own people. Every placement we make is one we are willing to stand behind.

Martin

Founder · HID_EN · Found Group

Start a search

If you have a search that matters — one where the wrong hire would set you back — we would like to hear about it.

We are selective about the work we take on. That is part of what makes us useful to you.