Finance director recruitment goes wrong quietly. The shortlist looks reasonable, the interviews go well enough, and eighteen months later you are running the search again.
Pineapple Recruitment places finance directors into permanent and fixed-term roles for businesses across the UK. Our Finance & HR division is based in Worcester, and we are a corporate member of the REC.
We do not send CVs in volume. We interview and verify every candidate on your shortlist, and we include each one for a reason we can explain.
Why Finance Director Hires Go Wrong
Four things account for most failed FD appointments.
The shortlist is full of near-misses. Technically qualified, correctly ticketed, and nobody who has run a finance function at your size or in your sector.
The hire reports rather than influences. You wanted a director who challenges the leadership team. You got a very financial accountant with a bigger title.
The offer gets declined. Strong finance directors are usually in work, weighing your role against a counter-offer and a settled family situation. A process that drifts loses them.
The appointment does not last. Culture fit gets treated as a nice-to-have at senior level, and the mismatch surfaces inside the first year.
The common cause is where the candidates came from. An agency working from a database and a job advert reaches whoever is actively looking and registered. The finance directors you most want are in post, performing, and on nobody’s list.
How We Run a Finance Director Search
Discovery call
We start with the story behind the hire. Why the seat is open, what the last person did well, what the board wished they did differently, and who the new director has to win over in the first quarter. That conversation shapes the search more than the job description does.
Mapping the market
We build a picture of who is doing the equivalent job in comparable businesses, then approach them directly. Advertising has its place, and we use it, but it is not the whole search.
Personal interview and verification
A consultant interviews every candidate and qualification-checks them before you see them. We do not forward a CV we are not prepared to stand behind. If someone has a gap, a difficult reason for leaving or a limit to their experience, you hear it from us rather than discovering it at the second interview.
Shortlist and briefing
You receive a short list with a written rationale for each name, including where each person is strong and where they are not. We would rather send you three candidates you take seriously than nine you have to sift.
Offer and aftercare
We manage the offer stage, including counter-offers, which at director level are close to inevitable. After the start date, we check in with you and with your new director. We work on permanent placements, so the appointment lasting matters to us as much as it does to you.
Finance Leadership Roles We Fill
Our finance director recruitment work sits alongside the rest of the senior finance function:
Finance Director, including group and divisional appointments
Chief Financial Officer
Head of Finance
Financial Controller
Finance Business Partner and FP&A Manager
Financial controller recruitment and head of finance appointments often run alongside a director search, particularly where a business is building a layer beneath a new FD. We also recruit across the wider team, from management accountants to credit control and payroll, so we can build a function rather than fill a single seat.
Sectors We Work In
We recruit across hospitality, FMCG, manufacturing and engineering, professional services, technology, education and the non-profit sector.
Sector shapes the brief. A manufacturer needs a director comfortable with stock valuation and input cost exposure. A multi-site hospitality operator needs someone who can read a site-level P&L and manage capital expenditure across a property estate. A charity needs restricted fund reporting and a trustee board. We will not send you a candidate whose experience does not translate.
Salary Benchmarking
Getting the salary wrong is the most common reason a finance director search stalls before it properly starts.
We provide clients with complimentary salary benchmarking, based on what comparable businesses are currently paying rather than a published national average. It covers base salary, bonus structure and the package elements finance directors actually weigh when comparing two offers.
Ask for it at the discovery call. Our finance and HR salary trends article gives a broader view of how pay has moved across both functions.
Looking for a Finance Director Role?
If you are a finance professional rather than a hiring business, our finance director jobs page covers the roles we recruit for and how our process works.
Finance Director Recruitment: Common Questions
How much do recruitment agencies charge to place a finance director?
Most agencies charge a percentage of the successful candidate’s first-year salary, with the rate depending on the role’s seniority and whether the search is contingent or retained.
We set out our terms in writing at the discovery call, before you commit to anything. You will know what a successful appointment costs you and what happens if it doesn’t work out.
What is the difference between contingency and retained search?
On a contingency search, you pay only when you hire. On a retained search, you pay in instalments through the process, and the agency works exclusively on the role.
Retained searches suit confidential or hard-to-fill appointments where you need dedicated time on the brief. Contingency suits roles with a wider candidate pool.
How long does it take to recruit a finance director?
A finance director search usually runs longer than other finance hires, because notice periods are typically six months and interview processes involve the board.
We will give you a realistic timeline once we understand your process. The part you control is decision speed. Searches that stall between interview stages lose the strongest candidates first.
Do you recruit interim or fractional finance directors?
Our focus is permanent and fixed-term contract recruitment, so interim and fractional appointments sit outside our usual scope.
If you have an interim need, contact us anyway. We will tell you what we can do, or point you toward a specialist who can help.
How do you assess whether a finance director fits our business?
We interview for behaviour and values alongside technical capability, and we brief ourselves on your business first so we know what fit actually means in your context.
The discovery call covers your culture, your leadership team and how decisions get made. Because we work on permanent placements, retention matters to us as much as the placement does.
Do you provide salary benchmarking?
Yes. We provide complimentary salary benchmarking to clients, using current market data on what comparable businesses are paying.
Ask at the discovery call, and we will put one together before you finalise the brief.
Book a Discovery Call
Tell us about the role, the team it will lead and the story behind the hire. We will tell you what the market looks like and whether we are the right people to run it.
Call 0333 070 5981, email info@pineapple-recruitment.co.
The Painting House,
Severn Street,
Worcester
WR1 2NE