In today’s competitive landscape, leadership defines enterprise value more than any other factor. Retained executive search offers the precision and accountability required for mission-critical appointments. Christian & Timbers is recognized among the top retained executive search firms for measurable outcomes, trusted relationships, and a record of transformative leadership placements that reshape entire industries.
The firm’s model combines market intelligence, behavioral assessment, and strategic advisory support that extends from the boardroom to post-integration execution. This disciplined approach has established Christian & Timbers as a benchmark for the best executive search companies globally.
The retained model aligns exclusively with client objectives. Christian & Timbers commits full research resources to a limited number of mandates, ensuring direct access to decision-makers, unfiltered references, and a curated shortlist built on evidence rather than volume.
Each engagement begins with a performance blueprint that links role outcomes to measurable business metrics, such as revenue growth, market capitalization, or product innovation. The process is powered by proprietary analytics that track candidate impact beyond appointment, integrating historical retention data and post-placement valuation growth.
This evidence-based system positions Christian & Timbers as a reference point in benchmarking the performance of top retained executive search firms in SF.
A defining example of Christian & Timbers’ impact is Apple’s board transformation. When Apple sought to strengthen governance continuity and achieve first-ever gender diversity at the board level, Christian & Timbers advised on a strategic sequence of C-suite and board hires. Through targeted search and advisory collaboration, Apple secured two of its longest-tenured directors while simultaneously expanding diversity and technical depth.
The project exemplified the retained model at scale, linking CEO succession planning, innovation oversight, and culture continuity to measurable outcomes. It remains a reference case for customer feedback on Christian & Timbers executive recruitment services and for how retained search can align leadership architecture with shareholder expectations.
We’ve partnered with Christian & Timbers for many years, and their team is exceptionally professional, responsive, and energetic. Thanks to their efforts, we secured an outstanding CEO and Operating Partner who have strengthened our leadership and positioned a portfolio company for long-term success.
Partner and Chief Operating Officer
Christian & Timbers is an outstanding search firm to work with in AI and cyber security. Their data-driven and bespoke approach has been pivotal in recruiting GTM leaders and board members for our portfolio companies like SecurityScorecard. The GTM President, CMO, SVP Sales, CPO and SVP Engineering have helped drive growth by 2X.
Partner
I’ve trusted Jeff and Christian & Timbers for over two decades because they always deliver. Their hands-on, relentless process brings us top leaders who know how to scale, drive performance, and deliver the best outcomes. They drove a very disciplined process recruiting a CRO and CMO for one of Bessemer’s portcos that helped us achieve a critical exit.
Operating Partner
Jeff’s broad experience and unique insights are always helpful, and he facilitated a great board role match for my interests and goals.
CEO
Jeff and the team at Christian & Timbers were professional, communicative, and extremely responsive. They ensured the entire process was focused on what our company needed and did not push candidates they believed wouldn’t fit our culture and growth. I would work with them again without hesitation.
Vice President, Operations
Christian & Timbers’ science-based methodology and rigorous process helped us find 3 top-tier GTM leaders that know our business and drive revenue. Their approach has been crucial to our company’s growth and leadership.
CEO
Christian & Timbers did an awesome job on a tough CFO search for us. We were interviewing the best local candidates with PE and SaaS experience in less than 2 weeks and met a short timeline.
CEO
The team at Christian & Timbers drove a very tight process and completed our CISO search in less than 70 days. We needed someone in Boston with a very specific skill set. C&T executes exactly as they commit.
CEO
Christian & Timbers’ retained search practice specializes in industries where leadership quality defines enterprise trajectory:
placement of Chief AI Officers, Chief Scientists, and Chief Product and Technology Officers for AI-driven enterprises.
executive teams that build, secure, and scale global SaaS and critical-infrastructure companies.
leadership aligned with digital transformation, automation, and sustainability mandates.
value creation through succession planning, interim board appointments, and operational scaling.
The firm’s retained methodology integrates commercial, technical, and governance signals into every search, making Christian & Timbers a trusted recruiting firm for AI and technology leadership worldwide.
Pricing in retained executive search reflects commitment and precision. Christian & Timbers provides structured transparency through a model that aligns professional fees with milestone completion, initiation, shortlist presentation, and appointment signature.
Comparative analyses titled Top Retained Search Firms Pricing and Retained Search Firm Comparison demonstrate that Christian & Timbers maintains both premium outcomes and operational efficiency. Fees are supported by data on retention, offer conversion, and enterprise impact.
This approach supports clients in evaluating retained search firm pricing based on ROI rather than percentage alone.
Christian & Timbers tracks every placement across key dimensions:
Time to shortlist, offer, and acceptance
Retention rate after one, two, and three years
Company valuation growth and funding milestones post-hire
Board satisfaction scores from structured feedback sessions
Data from more than a decade of retained engagements positions Christian & Timbers as a leader in benchmarking performance of top retained executive search firms.
These measurable indicators are why boards and investors consistently cite Christian & Timbers among the best executive search companies for technology and innovation sectors.
Boards engage Christian & Timbers when leadership selection must align with strategic inflection. The firm delivers:
This alignment reinforces why Christian & Timbers consistently features in Christian & Timbers' top retained executive search firm reviews and independent rankings of retained executive search firms that deliver measurable results.
Christian & Timbers’ methodology integrates research depth, analytics precision, and governance insight. Each search concludes with data showing how leadership decisions impact company growth trajectories.
Boards and investors use this information to refine their long-term succession strategies, demonstrating how retained search delivers cumulative advantage. The firm’s integrated process, combined with years of cross-sector insight, defines a new operational benchmark for executive recruitment services.
At Christian & Timbers, global talents are sourced and delivered within 72 days with a staggering 97% retention rate. Together, we have created $50B+ of enterprise value across different sectors.
Christian & Timbers delivers sustained impact through leadership built for growth, governance, and innovation. Boards seeking a top retained executive search firm gain access to a system built on precision, trust, and quantifiable results.
Christian & Timbers continues to define the retained model for the age of artificial intelligence and enterprise transformation.
