CEO Recruitment & Executive Search in Queensland

Full Executive Recruitment

Kingston Human Capital can manage the full executive recruitment process or support selected stages where your internal team needs additional capacity, executive search capability, project coordination or specialist recruitment expertise.

Our executive recruitment support can include refining the role brief, developing the attraction strategy, writing and placing advertisements, executive search, market mapping, longlisting, shortlisting, interview coordination, panel support, scribing, reference checks, selection report writing and offer management. We design the service around your organisation’s internal capability, governance requirements, stakeholder needs and timeline.

Most clients ask us to manage the entire executive recruitment process, but we can also step in where your team needs extra capacity, independent process support or deeper access to the executive candidate market.

Targeted and hands-on recruitment

Kingston Human Capital combines targeted executive search with practical hands-on recruitment project support, which is especially useful for senior, sensitive or complex appointments.

We are particularly experienced in government and complex recruitment environments where stakeholder alignment, evidence-based assessment and defensible documentation matter.

We support organisations that need more than advertising and application processing. We invest the time to understand what success looks like, search beyond the visible market and approach executives who may not actively apply. We can then support every stage through to an accepted offer, giving you one accountable partner and a process shaped around your organisation.

Senior public sector and commercial leaders

Kingston Human Capital recruits senior leaders for government, public sector and commercial organisations across Queensland and Australia.

Executive searches may include chief executives, directors, senior public sector leaders and senior specialists. We are best suited to organisations that need a carefully managed search, access to passive talent, practical support beyond candidate sourcing, and a recruitment partner that can work with governance, confidentiality and stakeholder requirements.

If a role sits outside our strongest networks or expertise, we will be clear before accepting the assignment. This helps protect the quality of the search and ensures your organisation receives advice that is honest, practical and aligned with the leadership appointment you need to make.

Structured executive search

Your internal team knows your organisation. An executive search partner brings dedicated search capacity, external market reach and the time required to identify senior leaders who may not respond to advertising alone.

Kingston Human Capital researches the market, maps comparable organisations and approaches potential executive candidates directly and confidentially. These are often leaders who are not actively looking, will not apply through a public advertisement and need a credible, well-managed conversation before considering a move.

We also manage the recruitment project around the search, so your internal team can keep leading the organisation while the search, candidate engagement, shortlist development, assessment support and documentation are progressed with structure and focus.

Executive Team Members: Gerard Kerr, Michelle Bassett or Elizabeth Kingston

Your search will be led by our Executive Team members; Geard Kerr, Michelle Bassett or Elizabeth Kingston, our executive search team possess years of experience across the Australian market. They are your key point of contact and will personally lead the briefing, stakeholder conversations, search strategy, candidate assessment and key client updates, reporting and outcome delivery. They will be supported by a dedicated search delivery team. 

Before engagement, we will explain who is representing your organisation in the market, who is accountable for delivery, who will manage key client updates and who to contact throughout the search. This gives you clarity about the people leading the briefing, stakeholder conversations, search strategy, candidate assessment, reporting and outcome delivery.

Executive Search Pricing Model

The cost of an executive search can be structured as a percentage of the successful candidate’s salary package or as an agreed fixed fee for the complete project.

The right pricing model depends on the seniority and complexity of the appointment, the breadth of the search, the candidate market, and how much of the process Kingston Human Capital is managing. If the engagement is through a Standing Offer Arrangement or preferred supplier agreement, pricing should follow the terms of that agreement.

Before work begins, you should receive a clear proposal outlining the fee, inclusions, project stages and any additional costs. The aim is to make the commercial model clear before the search begins, so there is no ambiguity about what you are paying for or what will be delivered.

Our Executive Recruitment Process

A Kingston Human Capital you can expect structure, clarity and regular communication. Our executive recruitment process starts with a detailed briefing to clarify the leader required, the outcomes they must deliver, the stakeholders who need confidence in the appointment and the environment the leader will be working in. We then agree on a project plan, responsibilities and realistic timeline.

Depending on the engagement, the process can include advertisement advice, market mapping, targeted executive search, longlisting, assessed shortlisting, interviews, panel support, scribing, selection reporting, reference checks and offer management.

Throughout the process, clients receive updates on market response, progress, emerging risks and decisions required. If remuneration, candidate availability or stakeholder delays affect the search, we raise those issues early so they can be managed before they compromise the outcome.

Most executive recruitment processes are completed within approximately six weeks, including two weeks for advertising, where the role, market conditions, candidate availability and client approvals support that timeframe.

Our Executive Market Expertise

Kingston Human Capital does not rely only on advertising. We identify where strong potential candidates are likely to be, research the market carefully and approach suitable executives directly and confidentially through market mapping, networks, referrals and targeted search.

We represent your opportunity properly by explaining its purpose, challenges, impact and potential, so accomplished leaders have a credible reason to consider the role even if they were not actively looking.

Interested candidates are then assessed against an agreed success profile, including the outcomes, experience, capabilities and leadership approach required. This means the shortlist is based on evidence and role fit, not only on who applied, who interviewed well or who submitted the strongest application.

Full End-to-End Recruitment

Yes. In Kingston Human Capital, finding candidates is only one part of making a sound executive appointment. We can support interview question design, assessment methods, panel briefings, interview coordination, panel advisory support, accurate scribe notes, reference checks and selection report preparation.

For confidential searches, we agree on protocols before approaching the market. This may include who can know about the search, how the opportunity will be described, when the organisation’s identity can be disclosed and who can access candidate information.

Your organisation retains the decisions and approvals that must remain with you, while we provide the practical support, documentation and process discipline needed to help the appointment stand up to stakeholder scrutiny.

Senior public sector and commercial leaders

Kingston Human Capital designs each search to produce more than one appointable candidate wherever the market allows. The aim is to help clients reach the final decision with a strong first-choice candidate and an excellent alternative, rather than relying on a single option. This changes the final conversation from “Did we find anyone?” to “Which of these strong candidates should we appoint?”

We reduce offer risk by exploring candidate motivation, expectations, remuneration, competing opportunities, notice periods and likely counteroffers early in the process. We stay close to preferred candidates, help shape the offer and manage communication through acceptance and commencement.

Any replacement commitment, including its duration and conditions, should be set out clearly in your proposal. The strongest protection is a rigorous brief, deep search, evidence-based assessment, honest candidate conversations and a carefully managed offer.