Position: Junior Consultant (Retained Execution Role)
Location: London
Company: Arkesden Partners Ltd
About Us:
Arkesden Partners is a specialist executive search firm with over 16 years of experience in the Alternative Investment market. We operate across four key sectors, Private Equity, Real Estate, Credit, Infrastructure and Renewables. Our clients are mostly mid-to-large cap institutional funds that are well known and respected globally. Whilst we have larger core clients we also work with sector specialist stand-alone clients too across the verticals we cover. Many of the relationships we hold are well over a decade old and we have placed over a thousand investment and operating professionals so far.
Our team is highly collaborative, intellectually curious, and known for its sector-specific expertise, which makes us a trusted partner for leading investment funds worldwide. We hire directly from SHREK firms, leading competitors but also grow talent from within. Nearly all of the management team at Arkesden joined us as graduates and have either built their way up through the firm over many years or left and rejoined us later in their careers.
We are a fully retained firm and have a ninety three percent success rate on mandates that we place in any given year and therefore we have extremely strong relationships with our clients. Both in executing searches and in being an advisor through published white papers, HR best practice advice and retention delivery best practice.
On top of this, Arkesden is fully dedicated to finding not only the best people but from the broadest backgrounds for our clients. For example we are one of the official partners to Level20, the leading European team aiming at getting more women in to the Alternative Investment space. Arkesden are proud to help organise and run events with Level20 to help increase gender diversity as one of our core focuses in a selection process
Role Overview:
We are seeking a motivated Junior Consultant to join our team in London. This role is ideal for someone with at least 1 to 3 years of experience in a contingent or executive search firm. The candidate will directly support our Senior Consultants and Partners by conducting in-depth market research, candidate identification, and search process management. As part of our team, you will play a core role in delivering high-quality, bespoke search solutions to our clients in the alternative investment space. However, the role is specifically designed to also train and develop individuals to step up to building their own business within an adjacent vertical, owning and working with clients in a retained firm within a short period of time. Arkesden has successfully achieved this numerous times having over thirty in-house bespoke training courses as well as clear career planning and Partner level support to step up to client work for yourself.
Key Responsibilities:
* Conduct detailed research and market mapping in sectors such as Private Equity, Real Estate, Credit, and Infrastructure.
* Support the end-to-end search process, including candidate outreach, interview coordination, and preparing client presentations. You will be a point person for an entire search and responsible for its running
* Collaborate closely with Senior Consultants and Partners in the execution of search mandates.
* Build and maintain relationships with top talent and ensure strong candidate engagement throughout the process.
* Build your own network of mid and senior level contacts and candidates within the vertical space you wish to build your career within – to be agreed with Arkesden soon after you join us.
* Provide insights on market trends and competitor analysis to the wider team.
* Manage your own time - mandate execution with high autonomy alongside ongoing training.
Requirements:
* At least 1-2 years of experience in a contingent recruitment or executive search firm.
* Strong research, analytical, and communication skills, with a demonstrated interest in alternative investments.
* Ability to handle multiple projects and deadlines in a details orientated, extremely high-performance environment.
* A proactive approach to building relationships with both clients and candidates.
* Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a highly communicative and cross-functional team
What We Offer:
* A culture of maturity, success and autonomy – We are a team that is focused on culture first and last, open culture with cross selling as a key component. We get on extremely well as a team on a personal level
* Unlimited holiday and flexible working policies (including remote working from anywhere in the world during August). This is an adult environment where you are measured on your excellence of delivery
* Competitive compensation: High annual bonus linked to personal P&L performance and top quartile fixed compensation
* Medium Term Incentive Plan (MTIP): Annual profit share for all employees
* High retention rate: Average employee tenure is 7 years, demonstrating a strong, supportive culture
* Training & Development: Tailored in-house training programs designed to align with individual strengths and professional goals.
* Partner level career development support – You will work directly with numerous Partners to train and hone your client skills before moving up to a billing Senior Consultant
If you are passionate about a client facing career with a leading Alternative Investment search firm, we would love to sit down for a no obligation coffee and discuss your career plans and build the relationship with you for the medium term.