Joining Our Research Team

JOINING OUR RESEARCH TEAM

About Us 

From our offices in London, New York, 

and Auckland, Society is becoming 

the executive search firm of choice 

for responsible businesses and 

purpose-driven organisations 

around the world. 

We work on a retained basis for a highly international 

client portfolio, including: 

• universities; 

• charities and INGOs; 

• schools and colleges; 

• social enterprises; 

• hospitality and leisure businesses; 

• retail and consumer goods firms; 

• public sector bodies. 

The recruitment sector has a reputation for being shallow 

and transactional: motivated solely by the bottom line. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Recruitment can be a 

positive, enabling force. We believe that by finding 

exceptional people for meaningful roles within good 

organisations, we can help to make the world a better place. 

We also care deeply about our own impact: 

• Society is a certified B Corporation. This means that 

every aspect of our business has been assessed against 

rigorous standards of social and environmental 

performance, accountability, and transparency. 

• Each year we give at least 10% of our profits to our 

charity partner, The Society Foundation, in order to 

help potentially vulnerable people back into work. 

• We have publicly declared a Climate Emergency and 

committed ourselves to reaching Net Zero greenhouse 

gas emissions by 2030 at the latest. 

To keep ourselves accountable, we publish an annual 

Impact Report and details of how the appointments we 

make fit within the framework of the UN’s Sustainable 

Development Goals (SDGs): 

www.society-search.com/responsibility 

02 Society | Joining our Research Team

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

As headhunters, we have both an historic 

opportunity and a moral obligation to 

build more diverse, equitable, and 

inclusive workplaces. We are proud 

of the fact that in 2021, 57% of our 

appointments were female, and 31% were 

from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic 

background (although we appreciate 

how reductive the term ‘BAME’ is). 

Central to our approach is the use of data. We have 

created our own platform for conducting anonymous 

diversity monitoring, and we use this to build up a rich 

picture of where the strengths and weaknesses of our 

research practice lie within each team. 

In December 2021, we launched our Inclusive 

Recruitment Toolkit, the content of which is drawn 

from our collective experience and from extensive 

conversations with others committed to this agenda. 

It is a succinct compendium of practical actions that we 

consider with our clients, in order to refine and improve 

their recruitment approach, and it has been celebrated by 

clients and candidates alike. 

Society has been lucky enough to work with some of 

the leading champions of equality, including advising 

Stonewall on their CEO appointment. We were a 

founding signatory of the Voluntary Code of Conduct 

for Executive Search Firms, an initiative aimed at 

securing a higher number of female appointments at 

Board level. We have also sought to be a vocal and 

engaged ally in important discussions around movements 

such as Black Lives Matter, facilitating webinars on 

diversity in recruitment, and arranging firm-wide antiracism 

training for our team. 


The Role 

Society’s Research Team is the engine 

room of our business. It provides the 

crucial underpinning of all our assignments. 

We seek to hire and develop truly worldclass 

researchers who understand every 

element of their trade in exquisite detail, 

who possess genuine flair and creativity in 

how they approach research, and who can 

execute the process elements of even the 

trickiest assignments with clinical precision. 

The core elements of a researcher role include: 

Headhunting 

• utilising sourcing calls, our in-house CRM system (currently 

FileFinder), LinkedIn, external databases, social media, and 

the internet in order to generate suitable candidates and 

market intelligence for each assignment; 

• approaching potential candidates and personally 

advocating opportunities to them in order to secure 

their interest or recommendations; 

• assessing the suitability of candidates through initial 

telephone or video screening interviews; 

• providing regular verbal or written updates to clients; 

• attending and/or leading candidate interviews; 

• attending client briefings and Candidate Review Meetings. 

Relationship and Knowledge Management 

• routinely communicating with candidates and clients 

around the world; 

• building and maintaining these relationships to the 

highest possible standard; 

• continually expanding your sector knowledge and 

broadening your networks; 

• turning down unsuccessful candidates in a manner 

that ensures future approaches will still be welcomed 

and valued; 

• helping to raise the profile and reputation of the firm; 

• enhancing team performance through sharing 

expertise across the business. 

Project Leadership 

• managing and delivering projects to a high standard 

and to agreed deadlines, meeting all quality benchmarks; 

• producing high quality client reports including Candidate 

Review Documents, commentaries, and proposals; 

• creating attractive and informative candidate 

information packs; 

• booking media space on behalf of clients and 

negotiating rates where appropriate; 

• handling reference checks. 

Our most experienced researchers (Principal Researchers 

and Delivery Consultants) operate with a high degree of 

autonomy and can have significant client management 

responsibility. All colleagues are encouraged to take on 

wider responsibilities within the firm. We are also happy 

to support colleagues looking to pursue a fee-earning 

consulting career in the longer-term. 


Person Specification 

We’re building our firm to provide innovative 

and ethical leadership within the recruitment 

sector at large. Each hire we make is crucial 

to fulfilling this vision. We are seeking to 

create a diverse team of researchers that 

reflect and embrace the outward-looking 

and international nature of our work. 

We are open to appointing researchers at any level. 

To join us as a Senior Researcher, a Principal Researcher, 

or a Delivery Consultant, you will be expected to have 

some relevant prior experience in an executive search, 

recruitment, advisory, consultancy, or in-house 

environment. But we are also open to hiring people 

without prior experience into either an Associate 

Researcher or Researcher role. 

Essential Criteria 

• a naturally curious and investigative personality – 

always keen to learn more about people, organisations, 

and the world around you; 

• tenacity, resilience, and the ability to work 

under pressure; 

• a willingness to operate with a high degree of 

autonomy, taking real ownership and accountability; 

• a genuine interest in at least one of the sectors Society 

focuses on; 

• the ability to build rapport with people from a wide 

range of backgrounds and cultures, and to really enjoy 

interacting with them too, whether by phone, video 

conference, or in person; 

• exceptional verbal communication skills; 

• outstanding written communication skills; 

• natural organisational ability, a methodical mindset, and 

great attention to detail; 

• a collaborative approach, working well with teammates 

across different time zones and locations; 

• quick wits, common sense, and sound judgement; 

• high levels of integrity and a genuine personal 

commitment to Society’s values and ethos. 

Desirable Criteria 

• previous experience in an executive search firm or a 

recruitment agency; 

• experience of living/working internationally; 

• fluency in a second language. 


Working at Society 

We aim to pay all colleagues a competitive 

base salary. We also offer an 

incentivising quarterly bonus scheme, 

related to the satisfaction scores you 

receive from your clients. 

Some of our colleagues work almost entirely remotely. 

Other colleagues work entirely from an office. Most of us 

do a blend. But there are no fixed expectations. We are 

happy to agree arrangements on an individual basis, and 

for these to change or evolve over time. 

Standard hours for all colleagues are Monday to Friday, 

from 9am to 5.30pm, with up to one hour for lunch. 

However, we allow people to work these hours quite flexibly, 

particularly if they need to accommodate working across 

different time zones, or have family/caring commitments. 

We want people to be comfortable bringing their whole 

self to work and passionately believe in the importance 

of inclusion. 

Additional benefits include: 

• 25 days holiday p/a plus all UK Bank Holidays; 

• a whole-company closure period between Christmas 

and New Years’ Day; 

• a Group Company Pension Plan (employer contribution 

of 5%, employee contribution of 4%); 

• an annual profit-share bonus; 

• a life assurance or ‘Death in Service’ scheme equal to 

4x salary; 

• a season ticket loan, if required; 

• access to the Juno employee benefits platform; 

• an Employee Assistance Programme; 

• a Cycle to Work scheme; 

• Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll giving; 

• an annual whole-company charity day; 

• two days of paid volunteering leave per annum; 

• a ‘Researcher of the Month’ scheme; 

• ethical payslips from our B Corp payroll partner. 

You will also be supported with a thorough and 

structured induction process, regular ongoing training, 

a buddy scheme, and opportunities for development 

and progression. 


Appointment Process and How to Apply 

Society is committed to the equal 

treatment of all current and prospective 

employees and does not condone 

discrimination of any kind. We strongly 

encourage suitably qualified applicants 

from a wide range of backgrounds to 

apply to join our business, and we will 

support any requirements for reasonable 

adjustments to our assessment process. 

If you are interested in joining our team, then we would 

be delighted to hear from you. Please email us at 

recruitment@society-search.com with a copy of your 

CV, along with a brief covering letter or message. 

We must stress that applications without an accompanying 

covering letter or message may not be considered. 

Interview and Assessment Process 

Our internal recruitment process typically consists of 

two stages: 

• stage one is a telephone/Teams/Zoom interview; 

• for graduate level candidates, stage two is an 

assessment session where you will be asked to 

complete a written exercise, a short verbal 

presentation, and a final interview; 

• for more experienced candidates, stage two is a further 

in-depth interview, potentially accompanied by a short 

‘scenario’ exercise. 

Some General Tips 

If you are writing a covering note, please try to show us 

that you’ve looked into our firm and done a bit of 

background reading about the executive search sector 

in general. 

Try to avoid listing your skills in generic terms. Instead, 

give us a little concrete evidence for how your experience 

and talents match up with our Person Specification; 

If you want some more detailed advice about how to 

write a good CV or covering letter then please visit the 

Resources section of our website. 


Headhunting is an intellectually stimulating and fast-moving environment 

that rewards inquisitive people with strong interpersonal skills. 

This article explains more about why we think headhunting 

is a great career choice. 

+44 (0)203 653 0462 • hello@society-search.com • www.society-search.com 

Society Limited is registered in England and Wales • Company No. 6917936 

London • New York • Auckland

Joining Our Research Team

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