Head of Strategy Recruitment

Head of Strategy Recruitment

Exec Capital provides senior Head of Strategy recruitment for UK firms across listed companies, private mid-market, PE-backed and family-controlled businesses. The Head of Strategy role typically reports to the CEO, Chief Strategy Officer (where one exists), or COO depending on firm structure, and carries substantive accountability for corporate strategy development, M&A pipeline support, capital allocation analysis, and (often) transformation programme leadership. UK Head of Strategy senior hiring is shaped by the substantive variation in what firms actually mean by the role — strategic planning, corporate development, M&A and capital allocation, business transformation, or some combination — and the candidate market reflects this with substantial specialisation by version of the role.

Our practice covers UK senior Head of Strategy appointments across listed and private firms, with the brief work calibrated to the specific version of the role each firm needs. Every mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA. For Chief Strategy Officer recruitment (C-suite level), see our Chief Strategy Officer recruitment service.

The four versions of the Head of Strategy role

Strategic planning Head of Strategy. The classic version — strategic planning processes, board-level strategy work, competitive analysis, market research and (often) strategy execution monitoring. Common at established mid-market and listed firms.

Corporate development and M&A Head of Strategy. Heavy weighting on M&A pipeline development, target identification, transaction support, and post-merger integration leadership. Common at acquisitive firms and PE-backed buy-and-build platforms.

Business transformation Head of Strategy. The transformation-led version — working closely with the CEO and COO on substantive operational change, often with a Chief Transformation Officer relationship. Common in firms going through material strategic shift.

Analyst-CEO-support Head of Strategy. A more advisory version, typically reporting directly to the CEO with substantive analytical support across major decisions, board paper preparation, and ad-hoc strategic projects. Common in CEO-led firms with limited strategic staff.

The candidate pool

Five pools recur with version variation. Sitting Heads of Strategy at peer firms. Most direct pool. Step-up candidates from Senior Strategy Manager or Strategy Director roles at larger firms. Natural growth pool. Senior strategy consulting partners and principals transitioning. McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Big Four strategy practices — common for firms in the strategic-planning and transformation versions of the role. Senior corporate development professionals. Particularly relevant for the M&A version. Senior investment banking advisors transitioning to in-house strategy roles. Common for the corporate-development version.

Further reading

For Chief Strategy Officer recruitment (C-suite level), see our Chief Strategy Officer recruitment service. For Head of M&A specifically (where corporate development is the dominant role dimension), see our Head of M&A recruitment service.

For role-specific senior hiring guides, see our CEO hiring guide, COO hiring guide, and the rest in our Knowledge Centre. For pre-exit and M&A senior hiring specifically, see our Pre-Exit and M&A Hiring Guide.