How we work
You choose the level of commitment. We match it.
Every engagement is governed by a signed agreement and a dedicated search professional. We place management and leadership, branch and operations managers through the C-suite. Here's how each track works, so you can pick the one that fits the seat, not a one-size-fits-all retainer.
Start with your situation
Most buyers don't start by asking "engaged or retained?" — they start with a seat to fill. Find the situation that sounds like yours, and we'll point you to the right engagement.
Your situation
I have a critical executive or leadership seat to fill.
What we'd recommend
Retained Search
The hire you can't get wrong — full partnership, a dedicated team, and our strongest guarantee.
Your situation
I have a proven management need I just can't fill.
What we'd recommend
Engaged Search
A committed search for a role we know is fillable — more firepower than contingency, lighter than retained.
Your situation
I'm not sure the market — or the compensation — is really there.
What we'd recommend
Search Feasibility Sprint
A clear-eyed read on who's actually available and what they cost, before you commit to a search.
Your situation
I have continuous, multi-seat leadership hiring.
What we'd recommend
Embedded Talent Partnership
A Bloom-embedded recruiting function for ongoing management and leadership hiring across a growing platform.
Your situation
I'm not sure we're even ready to run a search yet.
What we'd recommend
Search Readiness & Advisory
We'll tell you honestly what's missing — role definition, comp, process — and help you fix it first.
A recommendation, not a menu. Tell us the seat and we'll point you to the right engagement — even when it's the lighter one.
Search engagements
Contingency Search
Pay only when you hire.
- Best for
- Branch and operations management
- Commitment
- No deposit. Exclusive to Bloom, invoiced when your new hire starts.
What's included
- Dedicated, exclusive sourcing
- Candidate screening and qualification
- Every submittal carries Bloom's recommendation
- Offer management support
Need a contingency search moved to the front of the line? Priority Activation puts accelerated sourcing and prioritized bandwidth behind it, and it's credited toward your placement fee.
Engaged Search
Commit to the search, get dedicated priority.
- Best for
- Operations to senior management
- Commitment
- A deposit activates the search, and up to three concurrent searches. Exclusive to Bloom.
What's included
- Worked ahead of our contingency requisitions
- First candidate slate within 5–10 business days
- A written update every Monday
- Bi-weekly strategy calls with your hiring manager
- Exclusive, Bloom is your sole partner on the role
Retained Search
Our deepest engagement, run at two levels.
Fully retained, fully exclusive: a senior recruiter's dedicated capacity from kickoff through onboarding, with the diligence the most important seats deserve.
What's included
- A senior recruiter's full, exclusive capacity
- Compensation analysis before the search begins
- Weekly progress reports with market intelligence
- Bi-weekly strategy calls throughout the engagement
- Onboarding support through 90 days post-placement
Professional Search
Senior professional & management rolesSpecialized, hard-to-fill professional and management seats you can't afford to get wrong, run with the full retained process.
Executive Search
Director & aboveDirector, VP, and C-suite leadership. The highest-stakes seats, with the deepest diligence and the longest guarantee.
Beyond placement
Not every need is a single search. Two ways we partner on the bigger picture.
Advisory Services
Standalone, no search required
A clear-eyed read before you commit to a search: what the role pays, who's actually available, and where the market stands.
What's included
- Compensation intelligence by role and market
- Talent availability and market-landscape report
- Referral network for out-of-market searches
- Credited toward your placement fee if a search follows
Embedded Talent Partner
PE-backed platforms · multi-site operators · ongoing leadership hiring
A Bloom-embedded recruiting function without the overhead of building an internal team, dedicated sourcing and a continuously-maintained pipeline for ongoing management and leadership hiring across a growing platform.
What's included
- Dedicated sourcing for management and leadership roles
- Top-of-funnel pipeline built and maintained continuously
- ATS management and candidate tracking
- Weekly pipeline report with status and metrics
- Month-to-month, scoped in writing up front
How a Bloom search runs
However you engage us, the work follows the same disciplined path, built to find the right person and make sure they stay.
- 01
Scope the seat
We start by learning the role, the team, and what 'great' actually looks like here, the real bar, not a generic job description.
- 02
Source the market
We go direct to the operators who fit, including the ones who aren't looking. Most of the best people never apply.
- 03
Vet on the Field Performance Index
Every candidate is measured against the eight factors that predict who performs and stays, not just who interviews well.
- 04
Present a real short list
You see a tight slate of vetted finalists with our honest read on each: strengths, risks, and fit.
- 05
Run the close
We manage interviews, references, the offer, and the negotiation, so strong candidates don't slip away at the finish.
- 06
Stand behind it
Every placement carries our 45 / 90 / 365-day guarantee. If it doesn't stick, we make it right.
Our promise, both ways
The people we place are off-limits — for good.
Once we place a leader with you, we will never recruit them away. Keeping great people is hard enough; our job is to help you hold them, not churn them. It's also why so many of the leaders we place come back to us — as clients.
Not sure which track fits your hire?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you honestly which engagement makes sense, even when it's the lighter one.
Talk it through