Permanent Recruitment

Appointments made to last.

The right permanent hire compounds in value for years. The wrong one costs a reporting cycle, a team’s confidence and a year of momentum. We exist to make sure you get the first kind.

The problems we solve

Hiring problems we hear every week.

Most clients come to us after an experience that fell short. These are the problems they describe, and how we solve them.

“The last hire looked right on paper and left within a year.”

Mis-hires are rarely technical failures; they are failures of fit. We assess temperament, motivation and cultural alignment as rigorously as capability, and we tell you honestly when a candidate is wrong for your environment, even when it costs us the placement.

“Every agency sends the same CVs from the same job boards.”

Most of the professionals we place were not looking. Because we have worked these markets since 2006, we know where the strongest performers sit and, crucially, which of them would consider a move. Our shortlists come from the market, not the database.

“The role is too specialist for a generalist recruiter to understand.”

Technical accounting, regulatory reporting, treasury, tax, fund structures: we speak the language of the brief because we work these markets daily. You will never have to explain what a daily NAV or a carried interest waterfall is to us.

“Hiring is urgent, but a rushed appointment would be worse than none.”

A considered shortlist typically follows two to three weeks of dedicated work. We move with pace, but we never mistake speed for progress: every candidate presented can perform from day one and intends to stay.
How we work

A search process built for conviction.

01

The brief

We invest time in understanding your team, your culture and the specific demands of the role before any search begins. A precise brief is the difference between a shortlist and a list.

02

The search

We map the market systematically: who holds comparable roles, who is genuinely strong, and who would move. Most of our placements come from approaches, not applications.

03

The shortlist

A considered shortlist of professionals assessed for technical depth, commercial judgement and fit, typically within two to three weeks, each one interviewed by us first.

04

The appointment

We manage offer, negotiation and resignation with care on both sides, and we stay close through onboarding, because our measure of success is the anniversary, not the start date.

What we recruit

From controller to the hardest technical brief.

Where we recruit

Specialists in the markets that demand them.

Private Equity

Funds and portfolio companies across the full investment lifecycle.

Asset Management & Hedge Funds

Front, middle and back office across traditional and alternative strategies.

Hospitality

Finance leadership for investor-backed, multi-site operators.

Leadership appointments

For CFO and board-level roles, our executive search practice leads the mandate.

“Our measure of success is not the start date. It is the anniversary.”

20+

Years placing finance professionals

3 wks

Typical time to shortlist

80%

Mandates from repeat clients

4

Core sectors covered in depth

Common questions

Permanent recruitment, answered.

How long does a permanent finance search take with Carnegie?
A considered shortlist typically follows two to three weeks of dedicated work. The overall timeline from brief to accepted offer depends on the seniority of the role and candidate notice periods, and we set realistic expectations at the outset.
Both. The right model depends on the seniority, sensitivity and complexity of the appointment. We recommend the approach that best serves your interests and explain our reasoning clearly before any engagement begins.
We assess candidates for temperament and motivation as rigorously as technical capability, we interview every candidate ourselves before presenting them, and we are honest when someone is not right for your environment. The majority of our mandates come from repeat clients, which is only possible when placements last.
Finance directors and controllers, fund accountants, portfolio analysts, investment finance specialists, and hard-to-fill technical briefs across technical accounting, regulatory reporting, treasury, tax and finance systems, primarily for private equity, asset management, hedge funds and hospitality businesses.
Begin a conversation

Making an appointment that matters?

Tell us about the role, the team and what a great outcome looks like. We will tell you honestly how we would approach it.