Skip to main contentA logo with &quat;the muse&quat; in dark blue text.
Spencer Stuart

Associate, Professional and IT Services

Position Summary

Spencer Stuart is seeking to recruit an Associate for the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Practice that will specialize in Professional and IT Services. Ideally, this Associate will be based in Philadelphia, but Washington D.C, New York or Stamford will also be considered.

This Associate will have the opportunity to partner with several Consultants, including Gus Zangrilli, Ana Rhea, Janine Ames, and Dru Kuhn. The Associate will support clients from a variety of professional services organizations (including large and small strategy, management, technology and other consulting firms) and will help to solve Partner, Practice Leader or other executive leadership needs.

The Associate plays an important role in executing searches by identifying, attracting and developing candidates who match our clients' requirements. The Associate then validates and assesses the candidates' business experiences and professional competencies to determine how they relate to a client's specific need, and ultimately prepares them for consideration by our clients.

Want more jobs like this?

Get jobs delivered to your inbox every week.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy.


The Associate helps to manage and advise clients through regular updates, providing them with market feedback and insight into candidates' motivations, strengths and development needs. In addition, the Associate plays a key role in supporting business development efforts by conducting background research, preparing business development materials and attending new business pitches, when appropriate. Associates are expected to acquire deep and insightful candidate pool knowledge over time.

Spencer Stuart offers a unique and exciting value proposition for those pursuing a career in executive search or looking to further advance client facing skills: An Associate at Spencer Stuart has the opportunity to:
  • Provide career advice and coaching to candidates
  • Deliver insight and recommendations on critical client challenges
  • Develop an impressive network of candidates and clients through assignments, internal and external contacts
  • Develop/deepen industry and functional knowledge expertise
  • Learn through an apprenticeship culture supported by formal training opportunities
The right candidates for the Associate role will bring strong business acumen, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and excellent communication and advisory skills to the role. They must possess exemplary project management skills, a customer-service orientation and a team mentality, as well as professional presence and polish. The Associate will work internally with a variety of Consultants in the practice and externally with diverse, senior-level executives and board members.

Key Relationships

Reports to:
Director of Associates

Consultants (on an assignment basis)

Other Key Relationships:
Practice Leaders/Members

Office Manager

Associates, Senior Associates and Consultants Firm Wide

Analysts

Executive Assistants

Knowledge Managers

Corporate Research Services

Key Responsibilities
  • Contribute actively to the start-up phase of each search by participating in client kick-off meetings with the Consultant and assisting in the development of the position specification, search strategy and target list of companies.
  • Gather relevant information regarding the appropriate industries and target companies. Identify potential prospects and sources.
  • Represent the client effectively in the marketplace, discussing the opportunity with relevant executives.
  • Validate potential candidates through reference and source calls.
  • Partner with the Consultant to develop and present a slate of approximately four to six qualified candidates to each client. Anticipate what needs to drive the search to closure and be prepared to supply additional information, such as related industry trends, market findings, reaction to the opportunity, compensation data, etc., gained during a search.
  • Contribute to the preparation of position specifications, candidate presentations and reference reports, adhering to the firm's assessment methodology.
  • Communicate effectively with the Consultant and Executive Assistant and remain fully abreast of search developments in order to communicate accurately and credibly regarding the assignment.
  • Prepare organized information for the client progress reports/meetings by teaming with the Consultant and the Executive Assistant. Provide an informed perspective on prospects/candidates and how they match against the key selection criteria.
  • Be aware of activities and management changes in the general business environment and in corporate communications specifically; keep team members apprised of relevant developments in the marketplace.
  • Add to the firm's candidate pool expertise by continually identifying and introducing new talent to the firm. Ensure that up-to-date assignment, company and candidate information during the course of an assignment is always available for colleagues, by leveraging technology and information from the firm's state-of-the-art, proprietary database.
  • Contribute to responses to inquiries for new business, as well as business development initiatives.
  • Be willing and proactive about contributing to local, practice or firm-wide initiatives. Coordinate and share practice-related information with colleagues for potentially broader distribution.
Ideal Experience

4+ years of business experience
At least four years of business experience in strategy consulting or executive search.

Industry knowledge/interest
Must have strong interest in the business and professional services industry.

Experience working in a high-performance environment
Experience working in a high-performance environment where multiple projects and competing demands are the norm.

Strong academic credentials
A graduate degree in a relevant field is a plus, but not required.

Critical Capabilities for Success

Project Management
Plans, manages and drives own efforts to identify and develop a slate of quality candidates as measured by consultant, client and candidate feedback. The successful Associate will do this while handling multiple projects with competing deadlines, working with individuals who have differing styles, and managing challenging expectations:

  • Takes an end-to-end view of each project & the required resources; works at pace and with attention to detail while managing competing deadlines and priorities; has a sense of urgency.
  • Understands the search process (from internal kick-off to referencing); asks questions to understand; and is proactive.
  • Works on multiple projects; meets deadlines and is resilient under pressure; delivers on commitments on time or notifies as early as possible if deadlines will slip.
  • Demonstrates enthusiasm, tenacity and intellectual curiosity; action-oriented; deals with problems immediately.
  • Is results focused and flexible; demonstrates a strong work ethic.
Candidate Development
Develops qualified and interested candidates for portfolio of searches. A successful Associate will develop excellence in search strategy to build strong contact management lists:
  • Observes and asks questions to fully understand the issue; synthesizes information from a variety of internal/external sources, despite possibly having ambiguous or incomplete information.
  • Gathers relevant data from a variety of sources, including views gathered through Third Party Sourcing (TPS), to help determine broad capabilities, gaps, qualifications/fit; articulates reasons for fit to spec in a succinct manner.
  • Determines priority of which potential candidates to approach.
  • Adds meaningful notes on Quest, diligently uses the initial assessment feature.
Credibility and Influence
Communicates effectively both in writing and verbally; has "gravitas" (executive presence) and is able to build relationships. Able to hook candidates and convince consultants to meet them, building a strong internal brand:
  • Interacts with a range of internal and external stakeholders and candidates with differing styles and egos, understanding and appreciating what is important to each.
  • Becomes a credible and authentic professional by observing colleagues and emulating role models.
  • Adapts verbal and written communications according to expectations for role and audience, specifically how to be confident, succinct, concise, prepared and professional.
Market and Candidate Knowledge
Obtains and incorporates knowledge to enhance client work in a meaningful way. Knows how to get information, effectively uses the available firm resources, developing and sharing candidate pool knowledge:
  • Identifies executive movements in the market and updates Quest (ideally in real time) and colleagues; asks questions and shows interest in networking.
  • Has a genuine interest in/curiosity about people and businesses; and has an understanding of businesses and their interrelationships.
  • Understands how to identify and navigate the various relevant sources available (Quest, Passport, Global Information Services, Hoovers, LinkedIn, etc.).
Developing Self and Others
Develops self and others; seeks and provides feedback, modifies own performance or behavior based on feedback. A successful Associate is constantly growing, learning and enhancing his/her skills and capabilities:
  • Seeks and is open to feedback from colleagues, placing value on self development efforts; seeks opportunities for growth.
  • Is self-aware and open to changing one's own behavior.
Firm Values
Champions the Firm's values, culture and Code of Conduct; engages, participates and collaborates with others. A successful Associate, who people like working with and who may over time also have a leadership role:
  • Accepts others' opinions and encourages teamwork.
  • Brings cultural awareness and sensitivity to each interaction with colleagues.
  • Participates actively and contributes to internal activities; engages with office and practice.
  • Represents Spencer Stuart well by speaking positively about the Firm and aligning behavior to Firm values.
  • Conducts themselves in a way that is consistent with the Firm's values.

Spencer Stuart is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer F/M/Disability/Vet/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Job ID: SpencerStuart-R1643
Employment Type: Other

This job is no longer available.

Search all jobs