Before we source a single candidate, we diagnose the gap your revenue motion actually has. Then we place an operator vetted by someone who has run the number, and we stand behind the hire for six months.
It is not just the salary. It is the year of lost pipeline, the team that churns under the wrong leader, and the founder time spent managing a problem you thought you had solved.
You felt pipeline pain and hired a VP of Sales. The real gap was demand generation. Twelve months later the number still has not moved.
A keyword-matched shortlist cannot separate the operator who built a number from the one who inherited it. You find out which you got in month five.
Contingency search is paid at signature. Whether the hire works is no longer their concern. The risk lands entirely on you.
Every Northbound engagement is the full picture, not a stack of resumes handed off at the finish line.
We map where pipeline breaks, who owns it, and what a winning hire actually has to fix. You get an honest read before you spend a dollar on the search.
A clear definition of the position, the outcomes it owns, and the bar a candidate has to clear. Agreed before sourcing, not reverse engineered after.
A targeted set of operators, each screened against the scorecard by someone who has run the number. Quality over volume, every time.
We run interviews, references, comp framing, and close, then back the placement for six months. You make the call. We make sure it is an easy one.
Four legs, one heading. Each step is built to make the placement stick, not just close the fee.
We map your revenue motion and pressure test the role. You leave with a defined position, a scorecard, and an honest read on whether you need a hire at all.
We work a targeted shortlist of operators vetted against the scorecard. Quality over volume. Every name is someone we would hire ourselves.
We run the process to offer: interviews, references, comp framing, and close. You make the call. We make sure the call is an easy one.
The placement carries a six month replacement guarantee. If the fit breaks in that window, we re-run the search at no additional fee.
Northbound focuses on the go-to-market function. The leaders who own pipeline, conversion, and the systems underneath them.
Most search firms collect the fee at signature and disappear. Northbound stands behind every hire for a full six months. If the fit breaks in that window, we re-run the search and place a replacement at no additional fee.
It changes how we source. We say no to candidates a contingency recruiter would happily place, because we are the ones who have to make it work in month four.
B2B companies in roughly the 5 million to 50 million revenue range, where the next revenue hire is a make-or-break decision and there is no internal recruiting bench to lean on. That is the stage where diagnosing the right role matters most.
That is exactly what the diagnostic is for. A good number of engagements start with a company convinced they need one role and finishing the diagnostic pointed at a different one. We would rather get the role right up front than place the wrong title perfectly.
Engagements are structured around the role and the model that fits your situation. We walk through the options on the first call once we understand the gap. The diagnostic comes first either way, because pricing a search before defining the role is how the wrong hire gets made.
The diagnostic is fast, usually within the first week. From there a typical revenue leadership search runs several weeks to a vetted shortlist, with the exact timeline depending on seniority and how specific the role is. We optimize for the right hire, not the fast one.
If a placement does not work out within six months, we re-run the search and place a replacement at no additional fee. It is not a footnote. It is the reason we are deliberate about who we put in front of you in the first place.
Start with the diagnostic. We will tell you the role to hire, and bring you the person to fill it.
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