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Search and staffing for critical infrastructure teams.
Whether you are staffing a ground-up campus, backfilling a critical facilities shift, or replacing a leader without announcing it, the engagement is built around the risk of the seat - not a one-size contract.
Pick the model that matches the risk.
Three ways to run a search, with different levels of commitment, market coverage, and reporting.
Retained search
For leadership, confidential replacements, and single-point-of-failure roles where a miss is expensive.
- Full market map of the target geography
- Committed delivery timeline and weekly reporting
- Off-limits and confidentiality terms agreed up front
- Written candidate assessments, not resume forwards
Engaged search
For priority hires that still need genuine market coverage but do not require a full retained process.
- Shared commitment at kickoff, balance on placement
- Prioritised over non-committed work
- Agreed shortlist size and delivery window
- Exclusive for a defined period, then reviewed
Contract & project staffing
For commissioning peaks, turnover pushes, warehouse and OFCI programs, and coverage during a hiring freeze.
- Headcount tied to a schedule, not a fiscal year
- Contract, contract-to-hire, and SOW arrangements
- Travel, per diem, and rotation handled up front
- Scales up and back down as phases close
| Retained | Engaged | Contract | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Leadership, confidential and hard-to-fill roles | Priority individual contributor and manager hires | Schedule-driven and temporary headcount |
| Market coverage | Full map, documented | Targeted, prioritised | Bench plus active outreach |
| First slate | Typically 2 to 3 weeks | Typically 1 to 2 weeks | Days, depending on the skill set |
| Reporting | Weekly written updates and market feedback | Milestone updates | Availability and start-date tracking |
| Commercials | Staged fee | Partial up front, balance on placement | Hourly bill rate or SOW |
Fee structures and guarantee periods are confirmed in writing before any search begins.
How a search actually runs.
Five stages, each with something you receive - so you always know where the search stands.
Intake and role calibration
A 30-minute working session on facility type and scale, self-perform versus oversight, the reporting line, the interview panel, the approved range, and the two or three things that will genuinely disqualify a candidate.
- You receive: a written search brief and scorecard
Market mapping
Target company lists built from the operators, general contractors, commissioning agents, OEMs, and integrators that actually produce this skill set in the geography, including the ones your team may consider off-limits.
- You receive: the target list and any off-limits conflicts
Outreach and screening
Direct outreach and a structured screen covering project scale, facility environment, commissioning level exposure, redundancy topologies worked in, travel tolerance, compensation, notice period, and competing processes.
- You receive: written assessments with the risks named
Shortlist and interviews
A calibrated slate rather than a volume dump, with scheduling handled, panel prep notes supplied, and feedback collected from both sides within 24 hours of each stage.
- You receive: a shortlist, scheduling, and two-way feedback
Offer, close, and onboarding
References, offer strategy against the candidate's real alternatives, counteroffer preparation, resignation coaching, start-date logistics, and check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days.
- You receive: reference notes and post-start check-ins
Market feedback
If the range is short, the title is wrong, the location is the blocker, or the panel is moving too slowly, you hear it while it can still be fixed rather than in a post-mortem.
- You receive: compensation and availability reality checks
Qualified against the environment, not just the title.
Titles travel badly in this industry. A project manager on a fit-out is not the same hire as a project manager on a 100 MW greenfield campus, and a technician from a commercial high-rise is not a critical facilities technician. Screening is built around what the person has actually stood in front of.
- Facility type and scale: hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, edge
- Project stage: greenfield, expansion, retrofit, Day 2 in a live hall
- Commissioning exposure by level, from factory testing through integrated systems testing
- Electrical and mechanical topology worked in, including redundancy configurations
- Systems fluency: BMS, EPMS, DCIM, switchgear, UPS, chilled water, air-cooled and liquid-cooled halls
- Safety and quality discipline: energised work practices, LOTO, QA/QC documentation, punch and turnover packages
- Owner, GC, and vendor-side perspective and how that shapes the hire
Resumes forwarded without a conversation, candidates who have not confirmed interest in your specific site and schedule, or a slate padded to look busy. If the market is not producing, you will hear that instead.
Confidential replacement searches are run without naming the client until a candidate is qualified. Candidate information is shared only with the named panel, and we do not recruit from a client's team during an active engagement.
Searches are run on an equal opportunity basis. Background checks, drug screening, and site-specific badging or clearance requirements are surfaced to candidates before they enter your process, not after an offer.
What makes a search move.
The fastest searches share the same three conditions. The slow ones usually break on one of them.
A panel that can move
Pre-booked interview slots and 48-hour feedback keep strong candidates in play. In this market, a week of silence is usually a lost candidate.
A range that clears the market
If the approved range sits under what the market pays for that scope in that geography, we will show you the comparison data early rather than burn six weeks proving it.
A clear must-have list
Three genuine must-haves beat a fifteen-line wish list. Narrowing the bar to what the job truly requires is usually what unlocks a stalled requisition.
Terms, timelines, and guarantees.
How are fees structured?
Permanent placements are a percentage of first-year base compensation, agreed in writing before the search starts. Retained and engaged searches stage that fee across kickoff, shortlist, and placement. Contract staffing is billed at an agreed hourly rate or under an SOW.
Is there a replacement guarantee?
Yes. Permanent placements carry a guarantee period agreed at engagement, during which a departure is replaced at no additional search fee, subject to the terms in the agreement.
Can you support a search that spans several sites?
Yes. Multi-site and program-level hiring is common in this market. Roles are worked in a coordinated sequence with one point of contact and consistent screening criteria across every location.
Do you handle contract and contract-to-hire?
Yes - commissioning support, QA/QC coordinators, OFCI and warehouse logistics staff, and project controls are frequently staffed on contract while a program ramps, then converted if the role becomes permanent.
How do you handle off-limits agreements?
Off-limits terms are agreed at kickoff and honoured for the duration stated in the agreement. We do not recruit from a client's organisation during an active engagement.
Tell us about the seat you need filled.
Send the requisition or a few lines about the role and we will come back with a view of the market, a realistic timeline, and the model that fits.