Search · Leadership search
Leadership search for data center and AI platform teams
Leadership search is Kernavique’s dedicated, committed search for permanent leaders in AI infrastructure: directors, practice leads, heads of mission-critical and heads of AI platform. We run it from the written brief to the leader’s start, approaching people who are not looking and presenting each one with our notes. It is for consultancies, contractors and operators hiring someone who will shape a practice, a program or a platform team.
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Leadership search
What you get
A written brief
What the leader must deliver, who they report to and what would rule someone out, agreed before the search starts.
A mapped field
Who holds comparable roles at operators, contractors and consultancies, so the search reaches people who are not on the market.
A named shortlist
Real people, each with our notes on their record, their reasons to move and the questions we would ask them.
A process we run
Interviews, references and the offer conversation. You make the decision.
How it runs
- BriefWe write the specification back to you and agree the plan and timeline for the search.
- SearchWe map the field and approach the people who fit, in confidence.
- Shortlist and interviewsNamed people with our notes, then a process we run and you decide.
- StartWe stay involved through the first 90 days, checking in with you and the new leader so problems surface early.
When it fits
- You are appointing a head of mission-critical or a commissioning director for a growing data center book.
- A consultancy is standing up an AI platform practice and needs the practice lead first.
- The role is confidential because it replaces someone or signals a new strategy.
- The people you need are not answering your job ads.
Who it is for
- Engineering and commissioning consultancies
- MEP and general contractors
- Colocation and hyperscale operators
- Consultancies building an AI platform practice
Questions buyers ask
- Why is leadership search always committed?
- A leadership hire needs a dedicated search run to a plan, reaching people who are not on the market and handled in confidence. A contingent search suits roles where the market is active and you are also hiring directly, which a leadership role rarely is.
- Can you run the search confidentially?
- Yes. We approach people without naming you until there is a reason to, and agree with you at the brief what can be said and when.
- Which leadership roles do you search for?
- Directors and heads of mission-critical, commissioning and construction for data center programs, practice leads at engineering and AI platform consultancies, and heads of AI platform and forward deployed engineering. Each is a committed search, run from brief to start.
- How quickly will we see people?
- We agree the shortlist timing with you at the brief call, based on the role and the market. The shortlist names real people, with our notes on each.
Terms on this page
- MEP
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing: the building-services trades and engineering in a data center.
Related services
- SearchMarket mappingWho holds the role you need, where they are and what would move them, mapped before a search starts.
- SearchTeam buildsSeveral permanent roles hired against one plan, in sequence, so the first hires shape the later ones. It starts with a Capability Blueprint.
- AdvisoryCapability BlueprintA written org design for an AI platform practice, data center delivery team or expert program: roles, hiring sequence, contract and permanent mix.