10 April 2025
Executive search has long been seen as something of a dark art—many people assume it relies on a ‘little black book’ of contacts and whispered introductions. But my experience of senior recruitment at top executive search firms in the UK supporting an evolving education landscape, that model is a small part of the whole picture.
At Anderson Quigley, particularly within our Schools Team, we work with education providers around the world to bring rigour, clarity, and conscience to the executive research process. Our goal? To help schools access the very best leadership talent—often the candidates who aren’t actively looking, but who are open to the right opportunity when it’s presented with thoughtfulness and insight.
So, what does good executive research look like? No one process is exactly the same, but all good processes generally abide by certain criteria:
Good senior recruitment begins with a clear, collaborative strategy. From the outset, we work closely with our clients to understand the brief in full—not just the role, but the culture, values, and strategic goals of the organisation. This partnership phase is essential. It shapes everything from how we craft the messaging to how we position the opportunity in the market. Some schools are used to working with recruiters, some are not. Through curious questioning and spending time with the school or group, we build the strategy with the client to ensure an effective recruitment campaign.
When targeting passive candidates—those not actively seeking a new role—a more nuanced, personal approach is required. For senior recruitment, you cannot rely on advertisements, CV databases, or generic outreach like recruitment agencies do. Instead, we build a bespoke headhunting campaign, rooted in data and market intelligence. The power of lists should not be underestimated! Helpfully, there are lists of schools for just about any criteria, if you know where to look. We map organisations and the people within them, making contact meaningfully and conscientiously with our target list, always being mindful of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) considerations. Similarly, the power of recommendations is an effective tool we deploy to generate an appropriate target list.
A truly inclusive search isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about actively challenging bias, expanding the talent pool, and ensuring every candidate we speak to feels heard and respected. That includes tailoring our outreach to appeal to a wide range of potential leaders and removing unnecessary barriers to entry.
There is a difference between ‘sourcing’ candidates and ‘engaging’ them. The ability of the recruitment team to ‘get in front of’ candidates, whether in-person or by phone, is key to both selling the brief but also screening the candidate. The trick to engagement in a process comes from those early interactions being about much more than qualifications and relevant experiences. Understanding the chemistry, ambition, and alignment of the prospective candidate all feed into the positioning of an opportunity and a mutual understanding of suitability. Ultimately, it’s about listening. And it’s much more powerful to be face to face with someone when hearing what they have to say as opposed to exchanging emails or instant messages. The nature of global recruitment doesn’t always allow for in-person engagement, but connecting over video call is a well-trodden path that the majority of educators are more than comfortable using.
Throughout the search, we keep our clients in the loop with honest feedback and emerging themes from the market. Sometimes that feedback shapes the brief. Sometimes it highlights hidden opportunities or challenges. Either way, it ensures our clients are never flying blind—they’re informed, responsive, and prepared.
Executive research done well is structured, strategic, and rooted in values. It’s not about who you know—it’s about how you go about finding out who’s out there, and then getting in front of those people. The search for educational leaders is too important to be left to chance applications or a ‘black book’ of recommendations. Recruitment ought to be rooted in lists and market research as much as it is in networks and recommendations. In our experience at AQ, the best search strategies encompass both in equal measure, and the search strategy is delivered by conscientious researchers with the ability to engage talent at the highest levels.
If I’ve missed anything crucial or you have a different experience of executive research than I do, I’d welcome hearing more. And if your school or education group has an appointment you’d like to partner with me and the AQ Schools Team on, please be in touch.
For nearly a decade, Phil Gifford has worked in education recruitment. Initially, his focus and specialism was the domestic independent schools sector in the UK; however, in recent years, he has been handling executive searches for education providers globally, facilitating a range of academic and operational leadership appointments for prominent education brands. He enjoys the breadth and variety that education search offers and has experience partnering with charitable organisations and trusts, for-profit private schools, education consultancies, and school groups and associations, as well as working directly with individual school owners and proprietors.
A key driver for the work Phil carries out is the appreciation of the social impact that education leaders have in their communities and beyond. Ensuring that the highest calibre of leaders occupy those positions of influence is a powerful mechanism to positively influence the outcomes of many and is something that ought to require great attention and care.
Phil joined the AQ Team in 2023 to support growth in the Schools practice, and he’ll be networking with and engaging education leaders across a spectrum of functions within the education sector, both domestically in the UK and overseas. You can connect with Phil on LinkedIn or email him at phil.gifford@andersonquigley.com.
