Nomination Committee Chair Recruitment

Nomination Committee Chair Recruitment

Exec Capital provides senior Nomination Committee Chair recruitment for UK listed companies, larger private firms, PE-backed businesses approaching IPO, and FCA-regulated firms. The Nomination Committee Chair leads the committee responsible for board composition and effectiveness, the substantive search and selection process for non-executive directors and (in many firms) senior executive directors including the CEO, board diversity strategy, and the substantial governance work around board evaluation and succession planning. Under the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Nomination Committee Chair role is most often held by the Board Chair (acting also as Nomination Committee Chair), but is increasingly held by an independent NED at firms with substantial executive succession agendas or where the Chair’s other commitments warrant delegation. UK senior Nomination Committee Chair hiring is shaped by the substantive credentials expected — typically a sitting or recently retired Chair or experienced senior NED with prior nomination committee experience.

Our practice covers UK senior Nomination Committee Chair appointments at listed companies (where the role carries substantial governance accountability), PE-backed firms approaching IPO (where pre-IPO board composition strategy is central), and larger private and family-controlled firms operating under Wates Principles or similar governance frameworks. Every mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA.

What the Nomination Committee Chair role covers

The substantive role typically covers four dimensions.

Board composition strategy and skills matrix. The substantive design of the board over multi-year horizons — what skills the firm needs at the table, what the realistic refresh cadence looks like, and how diversity dimensions integrate with capability requirements.

NED search and selection. Leading the committee through senior NED appointments — establishing the brief, briefing search firms, leading shortlist assessment, managing the formal selection process, and recommending candidates to the full board.

CEO and senior executive succession planning. Where the Nomination Committee carries CEO succession accountability (variable by firm), the substantive work of CEO succession planning over multi-year horizons — internal succession candidates, external benchmarking, and the substantive judgement on timing.

Board evaluation and effectiveness. The annual board evaluation process (externally facilitated every three years for FTSE 350 firms), individual NED effectiveness reviews, and the substantive judgement on board composition refresh based on evaluation outcomes.

The candidate pool

Five pools recur. Sitting Nomination Committee Chairs at peer firms. Most direct pool. Senior Board Chairs at peer firms. Common pool, particularly where the firm wants substantive Chair-level governance experience but the Nomination Committee Chair is held separately from the Board Chair. Recently retired senior CEOs transitioning to portfolio NED careers. Strong pool with substantive operational succession experience. Senior NEDs with substantive prior nomination committee experience. Natural step-up pool. Senior partners from board advisory practices. Less common but meaningful for some specific firm contexts.

Further reading

For role-specific senior hiring guides, see our Chairman hiring guide, NED hiring guide, Audit and Risk Committee Chairs guide, Board Construction guide, and the rest in our Knowledge Centre. For specialist NED recruitment, see our sister firm NED Capital.

For UK governance frameworks underpinning Nomination Committee Chair appointments, see Section 3 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Wates Principles, and (for FCA-regulated firms specifically) the FCA Senior Managers and Certification Regime.