Executive Search Platform

Built a unified platform that brought executive search tools and data into one place for 1,000+ users.
It became one of Findem's leading solutions.

Building a centralized hub for executive search

Executive Search Platform (ESP) brings AI insights, real-time candidate data, and market mapping into one place. By unifying data and workflows, it helps users find and evaluate candidates faster.

Leading Design from Concept to Ongoing Impact

I led design from concept through launch and continue driving improvements. Working with Product, Engineering, and Consultants, we maintained close relationships with co-innovation partners to explore new opportunities for continuous enhancement.

From Co-Innovation
to Leading Solution

In 2023, Findem began co-innovating with a leading global executive search firm.

By 2024 and 2025, following the successful launch of the Executive Search Platform, the project expanded and became one of Findem's top solutions, reaching 1,000+ users.

Learn more:
🔗 Reimagine the next generation of executive search
🔗 How Findem is elevating executive search

Why We Started

Executive search teams face slow, fragmented workflows.
Without a central hub for candidate and market data, delivering qualified talent quickly is difficult.

User Challenge

Researchers and consultants rely on multiple tools and disconnected data sources to find candidates and track market trends, making the process inefficient and time-consuming.

Business Challenge

Speed is crucial for executive search agencies. Without unified tools and data, teams struggle to deliver results quickly, impacting client satisfaction and competitive advantage.

Goal

Build an AI-powered centralized hub that streamlines the executive search process and helps teams deliver faster.

Design Goal

Create a centralized platform that integrates trusted data and unifies workflows across previously separate tools, so users can find candidates and market insights without constantly switching between systems.

Business Goal

Enable users to focus more on consulting and accelerate candidate delivery, improving client satisfaction and outcomes.

Who We’re Solving For

We stayed close to users from discovery to launch. Early research and conversations helped us identify two key personas and understand where their workflows break down.

Key Personas

  • 🕵️‍♀️📊 Researchers: Focus on sourcing and assessing candidates

  • 💼🤝 Consultants: Advise clients and present candidates.

What We Heard

  • Sourcing Process:
    “I'm constantly jumping between platforms to find candidates and gather market data.”

  • Manual Effort:
    “I use spreadsheets to build candidate lists. It's very manual, and sometimes the data is outdated.”

  • Visibility & Efficiency:
    Consultants: "I need better visibility into what progress researchers have made."
    Researchers: "I want a better way to show my work. How can I prove I've reviewed profiles across all target companies before sharing only the most qualified candidates?"

Design Approach

Information Architecture: Organizing Around Projects

We designed ESP so everything happens within projects. Each project is a workspace for a specific client engagement where users conduct searches, save candidates, view profiles, and track progress. All the data and tools they need — search filters, candidate profiles, market insights — live inside the project.

Users can extend their workflow by adding apps from the App Catalog based on what they need. These apps work within the project context, so users never have to leave or switch to another tool. Everything stays in one place.

My Apps & App Catalog

My Apps is the starting point where users access the tools they use most. From the App Catalog, users can browse and add apps to personalize their workspace.

Unified Search with Integrated Data

Data from sources like BoardEx, PitchBook, LinkedIn, and Crunchbase is built into the platform. Users can filter, explore rich candidate profiles, and access market context without switching tools.

AI-Powered Insights

Candidate profiles combine data from multiple trusted sources (E.g., BoardEx, LinkedIn), giving users a complete view of someone's background. Users can ask AI questions about a candidate's experience or generate a summary pitch for consultants, making it easier to assess fit and communicate findings quickly.

Save and Track Candidates

Viewed or saved candidates remain in the same project. When ready, users can export profiles directly to their ATS (Applicant Tracking System).

Project Visibility

Activity Overview summarizes how many candidates have been viewed, saved, shared, and exported.

Mappings list candidates who currently or previously worked at target companies. Project & Client Details allow users to link job descriptions, add collaborators, and access key client data.

Track and Manage Candidates

Users can view all candidates they've seen, saved, or exported in an interactive table that feels like a spreadsheet. Features include filtering, reordering columns, and exporting as CSV.

We shared a test version with 25 users, giving them two weeks to try it out and share feedback.

What We Learned

Our solution effectively addressed users' core pain points. They appreciated having data from trusted sources integrated in one place, and they liked being able to save, share, and explore candidates within a single platform.

That said, we discovered an opportunity to improve the first-time user experience. While users were enthusiastic once they understood how the platform worked, early guidance and in-app education could have helped reduce the initial learning curve.

In-app education:
Guiding First-Time Users

Based on user testing insights, we introduced in-app education to help first-time users onboard smoothly.

First-time users see a greeting and a step-by-step guide upon logging in. A help desk with product documentation is available, and we continue to expand its resources.

Results & Impact

We successfully launched our executive search solution to over 1,000 users across the US, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Australia, and beyond, making a meaningful impact.

Reduced time to source executive roles by 59%

Here's what we heard from users:

“I'm just starting to play around with Findem, but you can really see how it will be a game changer. It is a one stop shop. You are able to search by parameters from various databases, quickly go to links, and even see board service or if a person is in custody on a search.”

– Research Director

“I think the Findem platform is great and has the potential to transform our research workflows. The enriched data that it also provides (e.g., company descriptions, CapIQ) data also take it beyond just a simple tool that aggregates information into one spot.”

– Research Consultant

Learnings & What’s Next

This was Findem's first co-innovation project, and it's since become one of our flagship solutions. It was a meaningful growth experience for both the company and me. Working closely with users, I gained a deeper appreciation for building with empathy, staying grounded in feedback, and moving quickly with purpose.

Since launch, we've maintained momentum through ongoing improvements shaped by real-world use. Moving forward, we'll continue refining ESP and exploring new opportunities to support more executive search teams.