How we work with clients

Clients come to Oplu when judgement and context matter: when the role sits inside the Principal’s private sphere, when the market for it is small and quiet, when a failed hire costs more than the search, or when the office is new and the Principal has no network for operating roles.

Often the reason is practical. Running a confidential search alongside the office or the household takes time nobody has, and a broad search widens the circle of people who know.

When the role is junior, local and public, a specialist is rarely worth it. We say so.

We place across the UK, the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, in Office & Administration, Investments & Finance and Household & Lifestyle.

• The situation: why this hire, why now, what has been tried before, and what happens if it is not made
• The authority the role carries: what it decides, what it escalates, and who it reports to
• Who decides on the hire, and who else must agree before anyone is approached: office leadership, trustees or advisers, and in a household often a spouse or partner
• Coverage: locations and residences, live-in or live-out, hours, travel and time zones
• The package in gross figures: base, bonus, benefits and any accommodation
• Who may know that a search is running, what a first approach can say, and when a candidate may learn who you are

Agreeing authority and working pattern before the search starts helps to prevent churn later.

1. 1

   Brief

   Two to four conversations with the Principal or their representative before anyone is approached. The result is a written brief we both work to.

2. 2

   Search

   Our network first: people we have interviewed or met through Principals and advisers. Then we map comparable roles in comparable offices and households and approach people directly, in confidence. We do not approach people we have placed, and we agree off-limits households with you before the search.

3. 3

   Shortlist

   Three to five people for most retained searches, each interviewed by us for 60 to 90 minutes on track record, judgement, discretion and written clarity. At this level most CVs look alike, so we match the person, not the CV.

4. 4

   Appoint

   You decide the interview stages; we coordinate them and any paid trial, take the references and support the offer. We check in at one week, one month and three months after the start.

What you receive

• A written profile of each candidate: experience, working style, package, notice, and where they will and will not thrive
• A reference summary: two references as standard, written up for you
• A shortlist comparison: the candidates side by side against the brief
• A market note: what the search found on availability and pay for the role
• The process in four stages, brief, search, shortlist and appoint: a written brief first, a discreet search with direct approaches and controlled disclosure, then offer support, transition planning and check-ins after the start
• Access throughout to the people running your search, and the shortlist in OpluList, behind one password-protected link

A search starts the week the brief is taken, with a dedicated team from day one.

What we ask of you

• Time with the Principal at the key moments: the brief, the shortlist and the final interviews
• Feedback within a few days of each interview
• An honest budget
• The awkward details in the brief: family dynamics, previous hires that did not work, internal politics
• A prompt decision at offer stage, because the best candidates have options

Most searches run retained. Exclusive and contingent terms apply where the role suits them, and we recommend the structure when we take the brief.

Retained. How we work best. You commit to the hire; we commit the senior time, the first call on our network and the priority on our desk, and we work as an extension of your team.

Exclusive. For a client who would rather not commit to a retained search.

Contingent. We work alongside other firms. The quality of our work does not change; the commitment and the priority do. More usual where the candidate market is deep.

What a client is really paying for is access to people they could not get to themselves, an honest view on whether each one is right, and all the hours they do not have to spend finding out.

We can agree an NDA before you share the brief.

We agree with you what can be shared, with whom and at what stage. The market hears a role and a type of household or office, not a name, and a candidate learns who you are only once they reach your shortlist. Disclosure runs both ways: we name a candidate to you only once they have agreed what you will be told.

Two references as standard, taken directly with previous Principals, family office directors or the person the candidate supported, not an HR department. We ask what the person really did, how they handled access and sensitive information, why they left, and what the next Principal should know on day one. References are staged to protect people in live roles, written up for you, and anything sensitive we tell you in conversation.

We use current AI and recruitment technology throughout a search, from mapping the market to managing candidates in our CRM, with tools we build in-house. It widens the research and speeds up the administration. The judgement stays human. A person who knows your household or office assesses every candidate. Your shortlist arrives through OpluList: each candidate’s CV, video introduction, written profile, our assessment and reference status behind one password-protected link.