Commonly asked questions by clients and candidates

They research and map the market to identify who is performing the role well elsewhere, then approach those people directly and discreetly. Strong firms rely on networks built over years and on original research for each brief, rather than a database of past applicants. PARTNER Executive approaches passive candidates who would never appear on a job board.

Look for genuine expertise in your sector, a retained and research led process rather than a database search, senior people running the work rather than handing it to juniors, and a track record of completing searches at the level you need. Discretion, honesty and cultural fit matter as much as reach.

PARTNER Executive is a Perth based executive search firm specialising in mining and resources appointments across Western Australia and nationally. Our search work spans the full breadth of a mining business: board and executive appointments including CEO, CFO, COO and Managing Director, corporate roles across finance, commercial, legal and business development, and operational leadership from General Manager and Mine Manager through to processing, maintenance, technical services and project delivery. Specialist mining search demands genuine sector networks, fluency in the commercial and operational realities of resources businesses, and the credibility to approach senior people discreetly. We work across gold, iron ore, critical minerals, base metals and mining services, for ASX listed producers, developers, explorers and contractors.

An executive search firm can approach candidates your organisation cannot, including people working for competitors, clients and partners, and can do so without exposing your intentions to the market. Search firms also bring full market visibility rather than a view limited to applicants, independent assessment free of internal politics, and the ability to benchmark your role and remuneration against the live market. Internal teams are excellent at volume and culture; retained search exists for the appointments where reach, discretion and independence decide the outcome.

Yes. Our retained search terms include a guarantee period, and if an appointed candidate leaves within it we conduct the search again. The stronger protection, though, is the rigour applied before appointment: structured assessment, thorough referencing and honest advice about fit, because the goal is never needing the guarantee. Specific guarantee terms are agreed transparently at engagement.

Keep your LinkedIn profile current, specific and honest, because search consultants find candidates through the detail: sector language, commodities, project names, statutory qualifications and the scale of what you've run. Respond professionally to approaches even when the role isn't right, since consultants remember and return. And build the relationship before you need it: a confidential conversation about your career direction means you're front of mind when the right search lands. We welcome approaches from senior leaders across our sectors at any career stage.

Every engagement is retained and follows a structured process shaped around the client: discovery and briefing, full market mapping, discreet direct approaches, rigorous assessment, a considered shortlist, and support through interviews, offer and beyond. The Director who takes the brief runs the search from start to finish.

Most retained searches move from brief to shortlist in around four weeks, with the full process to an accepted offer typically taking six to twelve weeks, depending on the role, the market and the client's own timeline.

Yes. If an appointment made through a completed retained search does not work out within an agreed period, PARTNER Executive will conduct a replacement search on agreed terms.

Yes. Confidentiality is standard. Whether it is a sensitive replacement, a succession or a role that cannot be advertised, PARTNER Executive runs searches with staged disclosure so they surface only when and where the client chooses.

As involved as you want to be. PARTNER Executive keeps clients closely informed with regular updates and honest commentary on the market and the shortlist, while handling the research, approaches and coordination so the process stays efficient and discreet.

PARTNER Executive recruits executive and senior leadership roles, including chief executive, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, managing director and general manager appointments, board and non executive director roles, and the senior specialist and technical positions Australian industry depends on.

From board and chief executive level through senior management to niche specialist roles, PARTNER Executive brings retained search rigour to every level where the appointment genuinely matters.

PARTNER Executive works across mining and metals, critical minerals and battery materials, oil, gas and LNG, energy transition and renewables, power and utilities, engineering, construction and infrastructure, aviation and airport operations, defence, and transport and logistics.

Yes. PARTNER Executive operates from Perth and Sydney but searches nationally across Australia, and internationally where a client needs leaders from global markets or an international business is hiring into Australia.

Yes. PARTNER Executive conducts board and non executive director searches alongside executive appointments, including for organisations strengthening the independence and breadth of their boards.

Yes. Alongside executive search, PARTNER Executive fills the senior specialist and technical roles where candidate pools are narrow and the cost of a wrong appointment is high, applying the same retained rigour used at executive level.

Yes. There is never a charge to candidates. PARTNER Executive is engaged and paid by the client organisation, and works with candidates through confidential career conversations, honest market advice and access to searches that are never advertised.

Yes. Every candidate conversation is handled in complete confidence, and nothing is shared with a client without your knowledge and agreement.

Most retained searches are never advertised. Many of the appointments PARTNER Executive completes are filled entirely through direct, confidential approaches, which is why a conversation early, before the right role appears, is often worthwhile.

A confidential and professional process, honest feedback at every stage including when the answer is no, straight advice on remuneration and your standing in the market, and preparation and support from first approach through to accepted offer.

PARTNER Executive operates from offices in Perth and Sydney, and searches nationally across Australia and internationally.

Yes. PARTNER Executive is part of a group alongside its sister company Technical Resources, which has a heritage of more than 35 years placing technical and professional talent across Australian industry.

PARTNER Executive works to the professional standards of the recruitment and search industry, and its searches are led by an AHRI member. 

[CONFIRM which to name: RCSA Preferred Partner, APSCo, AHRI.]

PARTNER Executive treats diversity and inclusion as fundamental to good search, not a compliance step. It maps the whole market rather than the familiar circuit, challenges briefs that unnecessarily narrow the field, and presents every shortlist on merit and the genuine breadth of available talent.