A US executive and specialist search firm built around long briefs, calibrated shortlists and accountability that extends well beyond the candidate's start date.
Prodigy Search runs retained executive and specialist searches for US clients across technology, finance, professional services, life sciences and operations. We are deliberately small. The principals run the searches, sign off the work, and stay on the placement past the start date.
The firm is registered in New Jersey and we work US-wide. Our network sits deepest in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic but our principals have closed searches in every major US metro and several smaller markets that you would not find an agency network in.
The principal who hears the brief is the principal who runs the search end to end - longlist, outreach, slate, offer, counter-offer, placement-success. There is no junior researcher running the desk in the background. There is no account manager handover at the contract.
Every shortlist is three to five candidates, presented with a one-page written assessment per candidate covering capability, motivation, fit and risk. We will not pad with optical candidates so the slate looks fuller. If we cannot calibrate a fifth candidate to your standard, you will see four.
The 180-day replacement window is the floor, not the ceiling. We run structured placement-success calls at 30, 60 and 90 days with both sides. The retainer covers the placement holding, not just the offer landing.
Take contingent searches against three other firms. Run a search where the comp band is below market for the role - we will tell you on the first call. Pull a candidate from one of your competitors without their explicit, written consent. Pretend a candidate is "almost there" when references are not landing. Treat a placement like a closed ticket the day after the start date.
CEOs, board members, founders, senior HR leaders and specialist hiring managers at US companies running a high-stakes leadership or specialist hire. Series A through public-company. Mid-market through enterprise. The common thread is that the role matters enough to retain rather than throw at a contingent panel.
Retained, with a clear three-stage retainer schedule and a written engagement letter before search begins. No surprise invoicing, no "search admin" line items. The fee is a single percentage of first-year cash compensation, agreed before the brief call.