Executive Search in Seattle

The Seattle Executive Talent Market

Seattle's executive talent market is disproportionately shaped by Amazon and Microsoft alumni — a talent pool of experienced operators who have built and scaled technology functions at two of the world's most operationally disciplined technology companies. For growth-stage companies, this creates both an opportunity (access to highly capable executives with engineering, product, and commercial experience at scale) and a challenge (calibrating which Amazon or Microsoft executives can adapt to the ambiguity and resource constraints of a 100-person startup).

Majhi Group conducts retained executive search for growth-stage technology companies in the Seattle–Bellevue market — placing VP and C-suite leaders across Engineering, Product, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and People functions. Our search model reaches passive candidates through the specific networks that matter in the Seattle market: the local VC and investor community, peer executive networks, and sector-specific communities.

Roles We Place in Seattle

The Seattle Search Approach

The Seattle market search for growth-stage VP roles requires specific calibration on the Amazon/Microsoft-to-startup transition. Candidates who have spent their entire careers in large-company environments sometimes struggle with the pace, the lack of process infrastructure, and the need to build rather than manage. The reference check and stage-fit assessment is particularly important for Seattle candidates with exclusively large-company backgrounds — not to rule them out, but to distinguish the ones who will thrive in the startup context from those who will find it frustrating.

Every Majhi Group search — in Seattle and nationally — follows the same four-phase retained process: profile alignment before sourcing, passive candidate mapping and outreach, structured assessment with independent references, and managed offer process with equity narrative preparation. The average close is 41 days. The offer acceptance rate is 90%+. The guarantee is 90-day replacement at no additional fee.

The Retained Search Model

Majhi Group operates exclusively on a retained basis — one-third at engagement, one-third at candidate submission, one-third at placement. This structure aligns our incentive with search quality, not search speed: we are not paid to present the first available candidate, we are paid to place the right one. In competitive markets like Seattle, where the strongest candidates are not actively seeking, this alignment matters.

The fee is 20–25% of total first-year compensation, consistent with the retained search market. The 90-day replacement guarantee means that if the placed executive departs within 90 days, Majhi Group re-conducts the search at no additional fee. In our placement history, the guarantee has been invoked at a rate significantly below the industry baseline — because the pre-search assessment and reference process reduces the probability of a hire that fails early.