A service of the Opera Executive firm

Headhunting, minus the rest.

We go after the managers who never answer job adverts. We qualify them. We present them to you. You keep the interviews, the decision, the negotiation. That split is what lets us hold this price.

Submit a job descriptionInstant analysis, free of charge, with no obligation to go further.

Two people in conversation in a Paris drawing room

€500excluding VAT on launch, payable on order

€4,500excluding VAT on hire. Nothing if you do not recruit

€45k to €60kthe salary band we search in

How it works

You submit the job descriptionIt runs through our matrix of 295 competencies. From it we draw the competencies that actually decide the hire, the interview framework and the list of companies to search in.

You approve the search briefYou adjust the competencies and the expected levels, you keep or drop targets. You list the companies we will not approach.

We searchDirect approach to people currently in post, then remote qualification against the grid you approved. No adverts, no CVs pulled from a database.

You receive the profilesFor each one: the CV, the completed framework with the evidence behind every level, a reading of how the person works, mobility and salary expectations both verified. See an example.

A consultant reviewing profiles at her desk — You decide what we look for. We go and find it.
Nothing goes to search before you have approved the brief.

What we do

Turn your job description into observable competencies with expected levels
Identify the companies where these profiles sit, then submit the list to you before approaching anyone
Approach people directly while they are in post and not looking
Qualify every candidate remotely against your grid, then write down what we actually heard
Verify real mobility, salary expectations and notice period before presenting anyone to you
Hand you the interview framework, so your own interviews dig where it matters

What we do not do

Face-to-face interviews. They are yours. That is deliberate.
Final selection and salary negotiation. You decide, you negotiate.
Advertising roles. We search, which is a different trade.
Onboarding support and the probation period.
The replacement guarantee. There is none. The price reflects that.

For a leadership position, a confidential mandate or a search calling for full support, the Opera Executive firm takes it on, with the same standards under a different arrangement.

What you receive for every candidate

This is the heart of the service. It is also where you save time: you are not opening a CV and wondering what to make of it, you are opening a file that already says where the person is solid, where they are not, what to make them talk about when you meet them.

1The CVThe candidate's own document, exactly as they sent it to us, with no editing and no house formatting.
2The completed frameworkEvery competency you approved, with the level observed and the sentence that supports it. What we write comes from what the candidate described, not from what they claim to be able to do.
3A reading of how they workHow the person works, what puts them in motion, what makes them disengage, the way of managing them that will get the best out of them.
4The practical factsReal mobility, salary expectations, notice period, availability. Plus our candid view on the odds of it working out.

What it looks like

Here is an extract from a file. The candidate is invented for the example, the form is the one you will receive.

Extract from a candidate fileExample, fictional candidate

Candidate 2

Maintenance technician turned team leader, nine years of experience, currently with a food group thirty kilometres from the site. Qualified on 12 March, 55-minute interview.

The completed framework

Run a production unit expected: independent observed: independent

The evidence. Sets out his three availability indicators without hesitating, knows who reviews them with him and how often. Describes an eleven-hour line stoppage where he held to the decision not to restart, against the shift manager's view. He owns the production shortfall that followed.

Run a complex engineering project expected: independent observed: with support

The evidence. Has followed capital works, but always with a project manager above him. Cannot state the size of the budgets he carried, or who made the calls. This is the weakest point in the file. It is also the one that closes fastest with the right support.

Interpersonal skill expected: reference point observed: reference point

The evidence. Talks about production and methods without ever setting them against his own department. Describes a disagreement he settled by going to see the line manager himself, then says what that relationship has become since.

The full file covers all eight competencies from your grid, in this order and in this form.

A reading of how he works

Runs on order and on work done properly. He needs to know what is expected of him, to have it in writing, to be able to measure it. He gives his best once the frame is set. He tenses up when priorities shift without anyone telling him why.

In a team he is direct without being hard. He takes sloppiness in others badly. Under pressure he retreats into doing rather than talking. You then have to go and get him to find out where he stands.

What will work with him: a short, regular weekly check-in, written objectives, decisions explained rather than announced. What will make him leave: a promise of autonomy that is not kept.

The practical facts

Mobility: Accepts the commute, rules out relocating. Partner employed in the area.
Salary expectations: Between €52k and €55k gross a year, currently on €47k plus on-call allowance.
Notice period: Three months, negotiable down to two according to him.
Motivation: Looking for a scope where he gets to decide, not for a raise. Second application in two years, so not someone who moves for the sake of moving.

Our reading

Worth meeting. He holds seven competencies out of eight and he is solid where you cannot afford to be weak. The engineering gap is real: if you see him, make him talk about his capital works and ask for figures and names. His expectation sits above your band, by three to five thousand euros. Salary is not his real subject.

Example built for illustration. It matches no real person. On a live assignment every file is named and visible only to you, in your own workspace.

The price, in full

€500 excluding VAT

On launchPayable on order, once you have approved the search brief. It covers the scoping, the mapping of target companies and the opening of the search.

€4,500 excluding VAT

On hireDue only if you hire a candidate we presented to you. If you hire nobody, all you will have paid is the launch fee.

That is €5,000 excluding VAT on a €50,000 gross annual salary, around 10 per cent of salary. A full recruitment service usually sits between 15 and 25 per cent. The gap comes from our doing only the search and the qualification, and from the absence of a replacement guarantee.

Questions we get asked

Why no replacement guarantee?

Because we play no part in your interviews, in your decision or in the onboarding. A guarantee on ground we do not hold would have to be priced in. We prefer a low price and a clear position. If the person does not stay, we talk it through and open a new search.

Which roles do you work on?

Mid-level managers, usually between €45,000 and €60,000 gross a year: workshop and production managers, project managers, senior engineers, methods, maintenance, quality, site works, key accounts, first-line supervisors. We are at home in industry, energy, defence, nuclear, construction and technical sectors. Outside that, we tell you so as early as the search brief.

How long before the first profiles?

Usually three to five weeks between launch and the first qualified candidates. How tight the market is on that role moves this a great deal. We give you our reading of it in the search brief, before you order anything.

How are candidates qualified?

A remote interview, run against the competency grid you approved. For each competency we record the level observed and what we are basing that on. We also verify real mobility, salary expectations and notice period. You receive the CV, the assessment sheet and a reading of how the person works within a team.

What if I do not want you approaching certain companies?

You list them when you approve the search brief, as many as you like. We hold to it. You also see the list of companies we intend to approach. You can remove any of them before we start.

Where do the candidates come from?

From direct approach. They are people in post who are not looking and who do not answer adverts. That is the whole point of headhunting. It is also why it takes a few weeks.

Who is behind Opera Search?

Opera Executive, an executive search firm founded in 2024, based in Nantes and Paris, specialising in critical industries and a member of the international Talentor network. Opera Search is its service dedicated to search alone, on roles lighter than those of our executive search mandates.

An executive reading a candidate file — The same work as on a leadership mandate.
Only the scope changes: we stop where you take over.

Submit your job description

You receive the search brief within one working day: the competencies we will assess, the level expected for each, the companies we will search in. You approve, you adjust, you exclude. Nothing is invoiced until you have accepted the proposal.