Headhunter
A recruiter — typically working for a specialist agency — who proactively identifies and approaches high-quality candidates for senior or specialist roles, often when those candidates are not actively job seeking.
A headhunter (also called an executive recruiter or search consultant) specialises in finding passive candidates — people who are not actively looking for a new job but might be open to the right opportunity. Headhunters are most commonly used for senior, specialist, or hard-to-fill roles where the target candidates are not posting their CVs on job boards.
Headhunters typically work on a retained or contingency basis. Retained headhunters are paid an upfront fee to conduct a dedicated search. Contingency recruiters are paid only when a successful placement is made, usually as a percentage of the placed candidate's first-year salary (commonly 15–25%).
For remote roles, headhunters can be particularly valuable as they can search for candidates across geographies rather than being limited to a local market. However, remote hiring also enables companies to conduct effective direct sourcing at a global scale, reducing reliance on agencies for many roles.