Cursus Partners guides senior executives along a deliberate path to their next role — a plotted course through the market others can't see, not a job board.
150+
Executives Placed
Client Satisfaction94%
78 days
Avg. Timeline
100%
Confidential
6
Sectors Served
Accepting New Engagements
Executive Tier
Sectors We Serve
Financial Services
Technology
Industrials
Life Sciences
Consumer
Energy
Financial Services
Technology
Industrials
Life Sciences
Consumer
Energy
150+
Executives Placed
78
Days Avg. Time to Offer
94%
Client Satisfaction
Every course is chosen before it's run.
How We're Different
Not a job board. A plotted course.
We guide senior leaders along a deliberate path through opportunities others can't see. Every engagement begins with positioning strategy, not a résumé blast — and ends with a role that's been mapped to you, not one you're competing for in a queue.
Request a confidential consultation. No applications, no job boards — just a direct conversation about where you're headed.
Our Process
A deliberate path, not a job board.
Most senior placements take 60 to 120 days. What matters isn't speed — it's the sequence. Here's exactly how we work, week by week, and what's expected from you at each stage.
01
Discovery & Positioning
Week 1
A structured conversation about your trajectory — not your résumé. We surface where you're actually trying to go and build the positioning story to get you there.
What you do
Share background, target roles, non-negotiables, and timing. Complete a short positioning questionnaire before our first working session.
What Cursus does
Develops your positioning strategy, target-market map, and outreach angle. Confirms fit before proceeding.
02
Market Mapping
Weeks 1–2
We identify the roles and companies that match your positioning — including the ones that haven't been posted, and the ones that don't know they need you yet.
What you do
Review the mapped opportunity set with us. Flag conflicts, competitors, and any companies to exclude.
What Cursus does
Researches decision-makers through direct network, industry mapping, and proprietary databases — never job boards.
03
Introductions & Outreach
Weeks 2–6
Vetted, role-matched introductions made directly to decision-makers, not to intermediaries or ATS systems. Every introduction is briefed and warm.
What you do
Review each introduction before it goes out. Show up prepared for the conversations that follow.
What Cursus does
Makes the introduction, briefs both sides, and manages the pipeline. Reports back with concrete progress each week.
04
Interview & Negotiation Support
Ongoing
Prep, coaching, and offer-term negotiation alongside you — not after the fact. Most clients tell us this stage is where the fee justifies itself.
What you do
Interview. Debrief with us after each round. Bring the offer terms to the table before responding.
What Cursus does
Runs interview prep, coaches on positioning gaps, and negotiates terms directly with the hiring side.
05
Placement & Follow-Through
Post-offer
Signing is not the end of the engagement. We stay reachable through onboarding and the first 90 days — because the transition is where fit is confirmed or contested.
What you do
Onboard. Flag anything that surprises you in the first 90 days.
What Cursus does
Confirms fit, supports transition conversations, and stays available for follow-up strategy.
Client Results
The proof is in the placements.
Anonymized where required, specific in every case. Every outcome below reflects a real client engagement.
Financial Services
VP Finance → CFO, mid-market industrials
"Cursus mapped a path I couldn't see from where I was standing. The seat I ended up in wasn't posted anywhere."
Client had been passively looking for 18 months. We reframed positioning around a CFO trajectory and mapped mid-market industrials — not the fintech roles she was chasing.
71Days to offer
3Final rounds
Technology
Head of Engineering → VP Product, SaaS scale-up
"It was the first time a search firm treated my next move as a strategy, not a listing."
Client wanted to cross from engineering into product leadership — a move most recruiters flat-out declined to pitch. We built the positioning bridge and ran outreach to Series C and D SaaS companies actively restructuring product.
54Days to offer
+32%On base
Life Sciences
Director → Chief Regulatory Officer, biotech
"The negotiation coaching alone changed the shape of the offer."
Two competing offers reached the table in the same week. Our role: run the parallel negotiation strategy and structure the equity component alongside a specialist advisor.
89Days to offer
2Competing offers
Consumer
GM → President, DTC brand portfolio
"They knew which conversations mattered — and, more importantly, which didn't."
Discreet search while still in seat. We handled 100% of outreach to portfolio operators and PE-backed platforms. Client's current employer never surfaced the search.
102Days to offer
FullyConfidential
Industrials
COO → CEO, family-owned manufacturer
"By week three, I was in rooms I'd been trying to get into for two years."
The rooms that mattered here weren't job openings — they were succession conversations at private companies. Our network-first approach put the client into direct dialogue with three ownership groups.
118Days to offer
3Ownership talks
Energy
SVP Operations → COO, renewables platform
"They stayed reachable after the ink was dry. That mattered more than I expected."
Sector transition from oil and gas to renewables. Positioning had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Post-placement, we supported first-90-days navigation with a new board.
96Days to offer
SectorTransition
Cursus Partners exists because senior careers deserve more than a job board.
The firm was built on one observation: the executives with the most to offer are the ones with the least time to conduct their own search.
[Founder narrative — placeholder pending real bio content.]
Cursus Partners was founded on the conviction that senior careers deserve strategy, not scattershot. After decades in executive search and advisory work, our founding partners saw the same pattern repeat: talented leaders wasting months in résumé cycles, chasing postings that were closed before they went live, and hiring "career coaches" who couldn't open the door to a single decision-maker.
We built Cursus to close that gap. Every engagement begins with positioning strategy and ends with a placement — and the client never touches a job board along the way.
Today the firm works with a small, deliberate roster of senior executives across financial services, technology, life sciences, industrials, consumer, and energy. We take fewer engagements than we could, on purpose.
Leadership
The people who lead your search.
Every engagement is led by a named partner — not passed to a junior researcher. Real names, real photography, and real credentials pending final content sign-off.
+
CEO & Founder
Matthew Dawson
+
Talent Acquisition Partner | Headhunter
Deborah Wenning
+
Talent Acquisition Specialist
Michael Cruz
+
Executive Recruiter
Richard Verdoni
+
Talent Acquisition Partner
Olaleye Emmanuel Tomiwa
+
Search Consultant | Sourcing Specialist
John Kenny
+
Search Consultant | Sourcing Specialist
Steve Lucas
Deborah Wenning
Director of Client Strategy
Manages the client experience end-to-end. Prior C-suite roles in consumer brands and DTC platforms bring an operator's perspective to the search-side conversation.
Our Philosophy
Three principles behind every engagement.
01
Strategy First
We start with where you're going, not where you've been. A résumé documents a past. Positioning defines a future — and that's the work we do before a single introduction is made.
02
Positioning Before Placement
The introduction only works if the story behind it is right. Our clients arrive to their interviews with a positioning that's already been briefed, tested, and refined — not one they're improvising on the call.
03
Outcomes, Not Activity
We measure success by your offer, not our outreach volume. A firm that reports "500 emails sent" is telling you it can't tell the difference between motion and progress. We can.
Insights
What we know about the hidden job market — and how to use it.
Field notes from senior placements: what actually works, what quietly doesn't, and how to move well when the roles that matter aren't posted anywhere.
Negotiation
Negotiating a C-suite offer without leaving money on the table
The three levers most executives never pull — and the one clause you should refuse in writing.
7 min read · Nov 2026
Market
How to read the hidden job market before it's posted anywhere
Most senior roles are filled through networks that never touch a public listing. Here's how to be in those conversations early.
9 min read · Oct 2026
Positioning
Executive résumé positioning: what actually gets a callback
The gap between a well-written résumé and a well-positioned one — and why senior hiring managers can spot the difference in ten seconds.
6 min read · Oct 2026
Strategy
The difference between a recruiter and a career strategist
One works for the employer. One works for you. The distinction matters more than the industry lets on.
5 min read · Sep 2026
Due Diligence
What to ask before signing with any search firm
Seven questions that separate the firms who'll do the work from the ones running a résumé blast on your behalf.
8 min read · Sep 2026
Timing
Timing a senior move without burning your current role
Discretion isn't secrecy — it's sequencing. What to signal, when, and to whom.
6 min read · Aug 2026
The Course Notes
A monthly note on senior careers, market moves, and what we're seeing.
Short, direct, and delivered once a month. No cross-promotion, no sales pitches.
Guarantee & Terms
What we guarantee — in plain terms.
Every commitment in writing, every scope boundary defined. If we can't say it clearly here, we don't say it in a sales conversation either.
Cursus Partners will deliver 12 vetted, role-matched introductions within 60 days of engagement start. If we don't meet that threshold, the engagement extends at no additional cost until we do — or your engagement fee is credited in full toward a future search.
Frequently Asked
Scope, definitions, and edge cases.
What counts as a "vetted, role-matched introduction"?
A direct introduction to a named decision-maker at a company that matches your positioning brief — not a job posting, not a recruiter contact, not a networking connection. Every introduction is briefed on both sides before it's made.
What if I decline an introduction Cursus proposes?
Declined introductions don't count toward the 12-introduction threshold — we replace them at no additional cost. That said, if a pattern of declines emerges, we'll flag it and revisit the positioning brief with you before continuing outreach.
When does the engagement clock start?
The 60-day window begins on the date the signed engagement agreement is countersigned and the positioning session is complete — not on the date of the initial inquiry.
What happens if I accept an offer before Cursus delivers all 12 introductions?
The engagement is considered complete on placement, and no further introductions are owed. Your engagement fee is honored in full.
Is there a refund if I decide not to move forward mid-engagement?
Partial refund terms depend on stage. Before market mapping is complete, 75% of the fee is recoverable. Once introductions begin, the fee shifts to a credit toward a future engagement. Full terms are set out in the engagement agreement.
Get Started
Request a confidential consultation.
Four questions, one short conversation. No applications, no CV upload — just a direct discussion about where you're headed.
Confidential from the first message.
No applications, no job boards — just a conversation. Every consultation is protected under NDA from the moment you send this form.
Directcontact@cursuspartners.com
LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cursus-partners
Response time: We reply within 24 hours, Monday–Friday. Weekend requests get a first reply Monday morning.
