Most construction businesses use recruitment agencies the same way for every role, from a site engineer to a managing director. For senior and board appointments, that is usually a mistake. The two common models, contingency recruitment and retained executive search, are built for different jobs. Understanding the difference protects you from a poor hire in the one area where a poor hire costs the most.

What contingency recruitment is good at

In a contingency model, the agency is paid only if its candidate is hired. That makes it fast and low-commitment, and it works well for roles with an active, available talent pool: site managers, quantity surveyors, project managers earlier in their careers. Several agencies often work the same vacancy at once, each forwarding candidates already on their books or actively looking. For volume and speed at mid level, it is an efficient model.

Its limits show at senior level. Because the agency is only paid on a placement, it is rational for it to prioritise candidates who are easy to place, available now, and likely to accept. It has little incentive to spend weeks mapping a market or pursuing a leader who is in post, performing well, and not looking. For a divisional director or commercial lead on a major programme, those are exactly the people you want.

What retained executive search is built for

In a retained search, the client engages one firm exclusively and pays in defined stages rather than only on success. That commitment funds a different process: a proper brief, a full market map, a discreet approach to passive leaders, structured assessment, and a managed shortlist. The firm is accountable for the whole search, not for forwarding whoever is available.

For senior construction and infrastructure roles, this matters for three reasons. First, the best leaders are rarely on the open market; they have to be identified and approached, not filtered from a database. Second, confidentiality is often essential, both for the client restructuring a team and for the leader exploring a move. Third, the cost of a wrong appointment at director or board level, measured in programme delay, commercial exposure, and team disruption, dwarfs the fee difference between the two models.

How to choose

Use contingency recruitment where the role is well defined, the talent pool is active, and speed matters more than reach. Use retained executive search where the appointment is senior, the market is thin or passive, discretion is required, or the cost of getting it wrong is high. The test is not the job title. It is how much the appointment matters and how hard the right person is to reach.

Why sector experience changes the result

Method is only half of it. The person running the search needs to understand the work. A consultant who has never priced a package, managed a final account, or stood on a complex programme will struggle to assess whether a leader can actually deliver, rather than simply interview well. Sector-literate search is the difference between a credible shortlist and a plausible one.

At Lechley, every senior search is retained, research-led, and personally managed by a founder who worked in construction as a qualified Quantity Surveyor before moving into search. If you are weighing up how to fill a critical leadership role, that is the conversation worth having.

Pricing a senior appointment? Download the free UK Construction Leadership Salary Guide 2026: director and board-level pay across UK building, infrastructure and energy, benchmarked against real searches.