Happy 4th of July - Proudly supporting US businesses
The hire that changes your company's trajectory.
Meridian's retained search is a single, confidential mandate for your most consequential leadership hires — owned end to end by the partner who runs it, accelerated by an AI research layer, and guaranteed for twelve months.
A confidential search, owned end to end.
Retained search is how the most consequential roles get filled — C-suite, board, and VP+. You engage one firm, exclusively, and we commit senior time to a structured, discreet process from role architecture to a signed offer. No contingency scramble, no research pool, no handoff.
Owned by a partner
The recruiter who scopes your search runs it — briefing to close. You work with judgment, not a coordinator or a research pool.
Confidential by default
Replacement and market-sensitive searches run without a signal. Discretion is the default setting of every mandate, not an add-on.
Guaranteed for a year
A 12-month replacement guarantee with 30/60/90-day check-ins after the start date. We stay accountable well past the placement.
A search you can see, stage by stage.
Six stages, each with a date and a deliverable. You are never guessing where your search stands.
Discovery & role architecture
A structured intake with the partner who runs the search — the mandate, the compensation, the must-haves. Together we build the scorecard you'll hire against.
Research & market mapping
An owned AI research layer reads 800M+ profiles against the approved spec — 200–500 mapped candidates, and everyone we approach is told AI was used.
Assessment & human verification
Structured competency interviews and reference-informed evaluation. Every AI-surfaced score is reviewed and signed off before a name reaches you.
The slate
A shortlist of three to five, each with a written assessment against the scorecard — considered judgments, not a stack of résumés.
Offer, close & onboarding
We manage the offer, the negotiation, and the close — then hand off to a clean start. Most searches are placed within seventy-five days.
The guarantee
A 12-month replacement guarantee with 30/60/90-day check-ins. If a placement doesn't hold, we run the search again.
Every retained search, to the same standard.
- Structured role spec & hiring scorecard
- AI candidate map — 200–500 profiles
- Human-verified shortlist of 3–5
- Written assessment for every finalist
- Structured competency interviews
- Reference-informed evaluation
- Offer, compensation & close guidance
- 30/60/90-day onboarding check-ins
- Full AI-use disclosure & audit trail
- 12-month replacement guarantee
AI buys back the hours. Humans make the call.
An AI research layer reads the market at a scale no team could — but every candidate is told, a human signs off on every score, and every decision is logged. The premium fee is priced for judgment at the moments that matter.
Where we go deep.
Your first CISO — for VC-backed software and the underserved mid-market, with a fractional-CISO bridge when a full-time hire isn't yet right.
Series A–C leadership — from VP Engineering and Head of AI through CRO, CFO, and CEO — at the pace funding demands.
Chief Compliance and regulatory searches, where domain credibility and a 105-day market are the standard, not the exception.
Functions placed
CEO · CFO · COO · CTO · CRO · CMO · CHRO · CISO · CCO · Chief AI Officer · VP Engineering · Head of AI · Board Directors
Published fees, before you sign.
Start with a conversation, not a contract.
A confidential conversation with the partner who would run your search — never an SDR. We'll tell you what it costs and how long it takes before anything is signed.
Explore our operational excellence division.
Meridian places the leaders. BasePoint — our sister company under North Bridge Path LLC — builds the operational teams beneath them: offshore staffing and virtual assistants that keep businesses running. Two divisions, one ecosystem.
