Situation
River was engaged by the Head of Talent (Americas) to appoint Partner hires into a Property & Casualty (P&C) Strategy & Transformation practice following significant senior attrition to industry. The gap created immediate delivery and growth risk, and internal efforts were struggling to penetrate a passive, highly network-driven Partner market. Several viable candidates had already been approached and informally “ring-fenced”, reducing available whitespace and slowing momentum.
Why River
The firm required discreet, retained support to access the full Partner market and move beyond familiar or already-approached names. River was engaged to provide senior-led market coverage, objective benchmarking, and the ability to run multiple Partner searches in parallel while maintaining pace, candidate confidence, and decision discipline.
Our approach
- River ran an accelerated Partner rebuild programme focused on pace, market coverage, and quality of hire.
- Market mapping: Built a comprehensive target universe across top-tier strategy firms and adjacent professional services competitors, prioritising leaders with P&C credibility, end-to-end transformation delivery experience, and established client networks.
- Targeted engagement: Conducted senior-led, discreet outreach to engage passive candidates not responsive to conventional recruiter approaches, positioning the opportunity as a genuine platform rebuild with meaningful scope, influence, and growth runway.
- Pipeline governance: Ran search activity in parallel with internal and ring-fenced candidates to avoid duplication, protect candidate experience, and maintain momentum, supported by clear stakeholder cadence and decision checkpoints.
Outcome
The mapping and engagement strategy delivered a successful lift of three senior Partner hires, each bringing deep P&C networks and immediate market credibility. These appointments materially accelerated the rebuild, re-established leadership coverage, and strengthened the platform for continued growth.
Value delivered
- Restored Partner-level leadership in a priority growth area following significant attrition
- Re-engaged a passive, highly network-driven Partner market through senior, discreet outreach
- Delivered leaders with demonstrable transformation delivery credentials and direct client access within P&C
- Provided market intelligence to support decision-making, including talent availability, competitor movement, and compensation calibration