Senior Associate / Senior Consultant – Executive Search

Location: Bangalore

Experience: 6 – 10 years

Work Model: Office

Function: Executive Search / Technology & Product Leadership Hiring

Company: Purple Quarter

About Purple Quarter

Purple Quarter is a specialist executive search firm focused on Technology and Product leadership hiring for high-growth startups, scale-ups and venture-backed businesses .

We partner closely with Founders, CEOs, Boards, Investors and senior technology leaders to identify and attract leadership talent that can build, scale and transform organisations.

Our searches span roles such as CTO, CPTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering, CPO, VP Product, Engineering and Product leadership , across sectors including SaaS, FinTech, AI, Consumer Tech, DeepTech, HealthTech, B2B and other emerging technology businesses.

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Associate / Senior Consultant who can independently manage leadership hiring mandates from search initiation through closure.

This is not a traditional recruitment role. The person will work closely with senior stakeholders and will be expected to operate as a talent advisor and search partner , rather than simply as a candidate sourcer.

The ideal candidate will have experience working in startups, high-growth businesses or entrepreneurial environments , where priorities move quickly, requirements evolve, and recruiters are expected to demonstrate high ownership and problem-solving ability.

You will work closely with senior consultants and clients while progressively owning searches independently.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Search Management

- Own the complete search lifecycle from understanding the mandate to successful closure.
- Understand the business context, organisational structure, leadership gaps and talent requirements behind each search.
- Translate client requirements into a clear search strategy and candidate profile.
- Develop target-company lists, talent maps and sourcing strategies for each mandate.
- Identify, approach, assess and engage relevant leadership talent.
- Manage candidate pipelines and ensure strong follow-through throughout the process.
- Coordinate interviews, feedback, references, offer discussions and closure.

2. Startup & Leadership Hiring

- Work on mid to senior Technology, Product and Business leadership mandates across high-growth companies.
- Understand the nuances of hiring leaders for 0→1, scale-up and transformation environments .
- Assess candidates beyond titles and compensation by understanding their scale, complexity, team size, business impact and leadership context.
- Build an understanding of the startup ecosystem and continuously develop knowledge of emerging companies, founders and technology leaders.

3. Talent Mapping & Market Intelligence





- Conduct detailed market mapping across companies, functions and geographies.
- Build and maintain strong networks of senior technology and product professionals.
- Identify passive candidates and develop long-term relationships with leadership talent.
- Track movements of key leaders across the startup and technology ecosystem.
- Bring market intelligence and talent insights back to clients and the internal team.

4. Client & Stakeholder Management

- Work closely with internal and external stakeholders.
- Participate in mandate kick-offs and requirement discussions.
- Develop credibility with clients through strong understanding of the role, business and talent market.
- Communicate search progress, market feedback and candidate insights effectively.
- Handle ambiguity and changing requirements with maturity and agility.

5. Candidate Engagement

- Build meaningful relationships with mid to senior candidates, including candidates who may not be actively looking.
- Act as a trusted advisor throughout the hiring journey.
- Understand candidate motivations, career aspirations, compensation expectations and potential concerns.
- Manage sensitive conversations around career moves, compensation, counteroffers and offer closure.
- Deliver a high-quality candidate experience aligned with Purple Quarter’s brand.

6. Business & Team Contribution

- Contribute to building Purple Quarter’s knowledge base and talent networks.
- Support junior team members on sourcing, research and candidate assessment.
- Share market intelligence, candidate insights and best practices with the broader team.
- Contribute to thought leadership, talent insights and content relevant to the startup ecosystem.
- Over time, take ownership of larger and more complex mandates and client relationships.

What We Are Looking For Must-Have

- 6–10 years of experience in executive search, leadership hiring, or specialist recruitment.
- Experience hiring for startups, scale-ups, venture-backed companies or high-growth businesses is strongly preferred.
- Strong experience in Technology and/or Product hiring.
- Ability to independently manage multiple searches simultaneously.
- Strong candidate assessment and stakeholder management skills.
- Excellent sourcing, market-mapping, and research capabilities.
- Ability to engage and influence passive candidates.
- Strong written and verbal communication.
- High ownership, resilience and execution orientation.




- Comfort working in an workplace where priorities can change quickly.

Strongly Preferred Candidates who have worked in:

- Executive Search / Leadership Hiring firms
- Specialist Technology Recruitment Firms
- Startup/Scale-up Talent Acquisition teams
- Venture-backed or PE/VC portfolio companies
- Recruitment environments with strong emphasis on passive candidate engagement and market mapping

Experience in hiring CTO, CPTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering, CPO, VP Product or other senior leadership roles will be a significant advantage. What Will Make You Successful at Purple Quarter

You will thrive here if you:

- Think beyond the JD and understand the business problem behind a hiring mandate.
- Are naturally curious about startups, founders, technology and emerging businesses.
- Can have credible conversations with senior technology leaders.
- Are comfortable picking up the phone and building relationships rather than relying only on LinkedIn.
- Enjoy research, market mapping and discovering talent that others may miss.
- Can work with limited hand-holding and take complete ownership of outcomes.
- Are comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities.
- Have a strong commercial mindset and understand that search is ultimately about delivering outcomes for clients.
- Are relationship-oriented and think beyond individual mandates to build long-term networks.
- Want to grow into a trusted advisor and executive search consultant , rather than remain purely in an execution-oriented recruitment role.

Success Measures Success in this role will be measured not only by closures, but by:

- Quality and relevance of candidates presented
- Ability to independently deliver searches
- Candidate and client experience
- Strength of talent networks and market maps created
- Speed and quality of execution
- Stakeholder confidence and relationship building
- Contribution to team knowledge and capability
- Ability to progressively take ownership of complex leadership mandates

Why Purple Quarter?

- Work directly on high-impact leadership mandates with some of the most ambitious startups and technology businesses.
- Exposure to Founders, CEOs, CTOs, CPOs, Boards and Investors.
- Build a strong network of India’s technology and product leadership ecosystem.
- Develop expertise in executive search, talent intelligence, and leadership assessment .
- Work in a high-ownership, entrepreneurial workplace.
- Opportunity to grow from search execution into consultative leadership hiring and client advisory .

If you are someone who enjoys solving complex talent problems, building relationships with exceptional leaders and working closely with high-growth companies, Purple Quarter could be the right place for you. Interested candidates, please share your resumes at [email protected]

📌 Senior Associate / Senior Consultant – Executive Search (Bengaluru)
🏢 Purple Quarter
📍 Bengaluru