Executive Search Firm Services

The Vendor is required to provide executive search firms across two engagement tiers: full executive search services and supplemental search services.
- Requirement:
1. Position definition and planning
•    Conduct intake meetings with the hiring authority, search committee, and key institutional stakeholders
•    Facilitate position analysis to clarify role scope, reporting relationships, and success criteria
•    Research and advise on competitive compensation benchmarks aligned with comparable public art and design institutions
•    Draft or refine a comprehensive position profile and opportunity statement for use in recruitment marketing
•    Develop and agree upon a detailed search timeline, communication cadence, and committee engagement plan
•    Advise on search committee composition and diversity best practices
2. Candidate recruitment and sourcing
•    Conduct proactive, targeted outreach to prospective candidates through direct sourcing, professional networks, and diversity-focused pipelines
•    Advertise the position through appropriate national, regional, and discipline-specific channels
•    Manage all applicant inquiries and respond to candidate questions on behalf of agency
•    Maintain a confidential applicant tracking system and provide access to agency search committee as agreed
•    Submit regular pipeline progress reports (minimum biweekly) to the hiring authority
3. Screening and assessment
•    Conduct initial screening of all applications against agreed-upon qualifications
•    Perform structured interviews with long-list candidates (typically 12–20 candidates)
•    Prepare written candidate profiles and summaries for the search committee
•    Facilitate search committee review and deliberations, including structured committee interviews
•    Administer or coordinate any agreed-upon leadership assessments or psychometric tools
•    Advise committee on evaluation criteria, unconscious bias mitigation, and equitable assessment practices
4. Due diligence and reference verification
•    Conduct formal, structured reference checks on finalist candidates (minimum 6 references per finalist)
•    Coordinate and interpret third-party background screening in compliance with applicable law
•    Provide the hiring authority with a written summary of reference feedback
•    Conduct discreet credential verification (education, employment history)
5. Offer negotiation and onboarding support
•    Facilitate offer negotiations between the institution and the selected candidate
•    Provide market compensation data and negotiation strategy guidance
•    Support transition planning, including coordination with hr on onboarding logistics
•    Conduct a candidate relationship check-in at 30, 60, and 90 days post-hire
•    Provide a placement guarantee with a minimum 12-month replacement commitment at no additional cost if the hired candidate departs.
6. Search reporting and close-out
•    Provide a final search report summarizing sourcing strategy, pipeline demographics, assessment methodology, and lessons learned
•    Diversity reporting: the vendor will provide data capturing gender, race, ethnicity, disability status, and veteran status at the conclusion of each search including:
o    Diversity reporting on submitted candidates
o    Final diversity report at end of search including all candidates contacted and candidates submitted
•    Return or securely destroy all confidential candidate materials per agreed data retention policy
•    Conduct a search debrief with agency leadership to assess process and outcomes.