Executive Search Intelligence

One researcher.
Ten searches.

Mandate replaces 26 hours of manual research per search with AI-powered tools — and manages your entire retained search business from first prospect conversation to placed candidate. Now with cultural fit profiling and autonomous background agents powered by Claude Fable 5. Built by Thompson Recruiting Solutions from real searches, for retained search firms.

Built and used daily by Thompson Recruiting Solutions · "Empowering Organizations Through the Strength of Human Capital"

mandate · abc corp cdo search · pipeline
Screened candidates
EM
Elena Morse
Chief Data Officer · West Monroe Partners
T&M transition ✓ Board-ready PE environment
91
JD
John Doe
SVP Services & Delivery · Avanade
1,400 FTE ✓ Outcome model
88
AI Debrief ready · John Doe ICP score updated · Screening probes generated · Outreach drafted

"We built Mandate for ourselves. Every search Thompson RS runs goes through it. You're not our test case — we are."

26.5
researcher hours saved
per search
38
average days to first slate
vs 70-day industry benchmark
90 sec
profile summarised & ICP-scored
against your criteria
13
features in one
integrated platform
The problem we solved for ourselves

Retained search is won in the research phase.
Most firms are still doing it manually.

Every hour a researcher spends on manual tasks is an hour not spent building relationships, qualifying candidates, or advising clients. Mandate changes that equation.

5 hrs
Building a sourcing brief
Title universe, target companies, boolean strings — rebuilt from scratch every search.
✦ Mandate: 30 seconds with AI Discovery
20 min
Reading each profile
Mapping LinkedIn experience to ICP criteria manually. Repeated 30–40 times per search.
✦ Mandate: 90 seconds with AI Summariser
3 hrs
Writing outreach messages
Every message drafted from scratch. Inconsistent quality. No institutional memory.
✦ Mandate: 3-touch sequence in seconds
2 hrs
Structuring debrief notes
Rough call notes sitting in a document. ICP scores not updated. Insights lost.
✦ Mandate: Raw notes → structured record
How a search runs

From position profile to placed candidate — in one platform.

Every step of a retained mandate connected. AI handles the research. You handle the relationships and the judgement.

Upload brief
PDF or DOCX → ICP extracted automatically
AI
AI Discovery
Company tiers, title universe, boolean strings
AI
3
Build pipeline
Kanban across 8 stages, full team visibility
Summarise profiles
Paste any LinkedIn profile → ICP brief in 90 sec
AI
Build outreach
Personalised 3-touch sequences per candidate
AI
Convert debrief
Rough notes → structured screening record
AI
7
ICP scoring
Weighted comparison across slate candidates
Slate + deliver
AI narratives · Client portal · Feedback
AI
Features

Every tool your research team needs.
Purpose-built for retained search.

13 features across 5 groups: AI Research · Delivery · Business Development · Workflow · Intelligence

✦ AI Research

Candidate Discovery Engine

From your ICP criteria, generate a complete sourcing brief in 30 seconds. Tiered target companies, 12+ title variants, boolean search strings ready to paste into LinkedIn Recruiter, and non-obvious sourcing angles.

  • Tier 1, 2, and 3 target companies ranked by talent concentration
  • Boolean strings formatted for LinkedIn Recruiter — copy and search immediately
  • Non-obvious sourcing angles: adjacent industries, step-up profiles, conference lists
  • Off-limits companies automatically flagged before you start sourcing
↑ Saves ~5 hours per search
AI Discovery · ABC Corp CDO · North America
Tier 1 target companies
West Monroe PartnersSlalomAvanade
Tier 2
3CloudInsight DirectDeloitte Digital
LinkedIn boolean string
("Chief Delivery Officer" OR "CDO"
OR "SVP Services" OR "Head of Delivery")
AND (Snowflake OR Databricks OR AWS)
AND "PE" -"seeking" -"available"
✦ AI Research

Profile Summariser

Paste any LinkedIn profile. Receive a structured ICP-mapped assessment in 90 seconds — career arc, criterion-by-criterion scoring with evidence, green flags, red flags, and personalised outreach hooks.

  • Every ICP criterion scored 0–5 with specific evidence from the profile
  • Must-have criteria failures flagged — automatic alert before advancing
  • 3 tailored outreach hooks based on the candidate's actual background
  • Recommendation: long_list, short_list, or pass with primary reason
↑ Saves ~15 min per candidate
Profile Summary · John Doe · ABC Corp CDO ICP
Delivery org scale 1,000+ FTE
Led 1,400-person Avanade US and India delivery practice
T&M → outcome model
8pt margin improvement over 3 years — specific numbers cited
Nearshore management
Chicago + Bangalore managed — no LatAm exposure evidenced
→ Short list · Probe: LatAm capacity plan
✦ AI Research

Outreach Sequence Builder

Generate a personalised 3-touch sequence for every candidate — opening, a day-6 follow-up with a different angle, and a day-14 soft close. LinkedIn or email. Written in your firm's voice, stored against the candidate record.

  • Every message references specific details from the candidate's actual background
  • Never uses "exciting opportunity," "perfect fit," or "came across your profile"
  • Tone options: conversational, formal, peer-to-peer
  • Sequences logged — no duplicate outreach across searches
↑ Saves ~10 min per candidate
Outreach · John Doe · LinkedIn · Conversational
1
Opening message Day 0
John — the T&M to outcome transition you ran at Avanade is exactly what ABC Corp needs to build. They're at $150M with a clear path to $300M+ and a PE board asking hard questions about delivery margin. Worth a 15-min conversation?
2
Follow-up — different angle Day 6
The CDO role is new to the org — you'd be building it, not inheriting it. Reports directly to CEO. If the timing's right, I can send the full spec.
✦ AI Research

Screening Debrief Converter

Type rough post-call notes in any format — stream of consciousness is fine. Mandate converts them into a structured screening record, updates ICP scores with evidence, captures compensation data, and surfaces follow-up actions.

  • Works from any rough notes format — no template required
  • ICP scores updated automatically with call evidence
  • Compensation and availability captured and stored securely
  • Flags raised and follow-up actions with suggested owner assigned
↑ Saves ~30 min per candidate
Debrief Converter · John Doe
"Strong on delivery scale - mentioned 1400 people across US and India. Really good on the outcome model story, 8 points of margin improvement. Weak on LatAm, said he has a plan but could not be specific when pushed. Comp is 400-450K, available 60 days..."
Delivery1,400 FTE — US + India · High confidence
Outcome modelStrong · 8pt margin, specific numbers cited
LatAm gap⚠ Flag · Vague under probing — probe in next call
Comp / avail$400–450K base · 60-day notice
RatingStrong yes — advance to ICP scoring
Workflow

Weighted ICP Scoring Grid

Side-by-side comparison of your slate candidates across every ICP criterion. Weighted scores, must-have flags, evidence notes per criterion, and automatic overall score calculation — the objective foundation for every client conversation.

  • Up to 10 criteria, each weighted and scored 0–5
  • Must-have criteria flagged — automatic disqualification alert if unmet
  • Evidence notes per criterion updated from debrief records automatically
  • Side-by-side comparison for up to 6 candidates
ICP Scoring · ABC Corp CDO · 3 candidates
Criterion
E. Morse
J. Doe
L. Park
Delivery scale 1K+ FTEmust
5/5
4/5
5/5
T&M → outcome modelmust
4/5
5/5
4/5
PE environment
4/5
4/5
2/5
Overall ICP score
91 88 85
✦ AI Research

AI Slate Narratives + Client Portal

Differentiated candidate narratives generated from screening records and ICP scores. Delivered through a branded client portal with magic-link access — no email attachments, no manual formatting, structured feedback collected automatically.

  • Every candidate receives a genuinely differentiated narrative — not a template
  • Executive summary, career highlights, assessment, and considerations included
  • Client portal with magic-link — no login required for clients
  • Structured advance / hold / decline feedback logged with reason automatically
↑ Saves ~4 hrs per slate delivery
Client Slate · ABC Corp CDO · 3 candidates
Elena Morse
Chief Data Officer · West Monroe Partners
Morse's differentiating credential is her experience owning a T&M to outcome transition at scale. At West Monroe she restructured the firm's data practice pricing model across 140 consultants, achieving an 11-point margin improvement over 18 months — directly analogous to ABC Corp's current mandate.
91 Lead candidate Board-ready
Client feedback pending · Magic link sent 2 hours ago
Workflow

Off-Limits Tracking

Automatically create off-limits restrictions when a search closes — protecting placed candidates and active clients from inadvertent sourcing. Warnings surface throughout the platform wherever a restricted company appears.

  • Auto-created on engagement close — no manual entry needed
  • Warnings on candidate profiles, sourcing agent results, and discovery briefs
  • Settings page for manual entries, bulk import from past placements
  • Expiry management with 30-day advance notifications
Off-Limits · Active restrictions
🚫
ABC-M Group is currently off-limitsActive client · Director Finance placed · Expires May 2027
ABC (Alpha Beta Corp)
Active client
Until Jun 2027
ABC-M Group
Active client
Until May 2027
ABC Logistics Corp
Placed candidate
Indefinite
Intelligence

Market Mapping Report

Client-ready market maps powered by live LinkedIn data — real employee headcounts, actual active job postings, and compensation benchmarks from current listings. Generated in minutes, delivered alongside your retainer.

  • Real employee headcounts — not estimates from web search
  • Active job posting counts signal hiring velocity and backfill opportunities
  • Compensation benchmarks extracted from live current postings
  • Supply/demand ratio helps clients understand the market before searching
Market Map · CDO · Data/Analytics Consulting · NA
847
qualifying profiles
34
active openings
25:1
supply/demand
1
West Monroe Partners
42 profiles
● Hiring
1
Slalom Consulting
38 profiles
○ Stable
2
Avanade
31 profiles
● Hiring
Workflow

Position Profile Document Loader

Upload any position profile — from any search firm's template, in PDF or Word format — and Mandate extracts role details, ICP criteria, performance expectations, and reporting structure automatically. Every major industry format tested.

  • Handles Thompson RS, GEB, KornFerry, and client-direct document formats
  • Detects and blocks engagement letters — protects confidential fee data
  • Routes candidate cover letters to the Profile Summariser instead
  • Individual contributor detection suppresses irrelevant management criteria
Document Loader · File classification
📄
Director_Finance_Position_Profile.pdf
ABC-M Group · Thompson RS · 5 pages
✓ Parsed
RoleDirector Finance
Reports toChief Financial Officer
LocationElmira, Ontario
ICP criteriaCPA · FP&A · ERP · Treasury · Team leadership
🚫
Engagement_Letter_Director_Engineering.pdf
Fee agreement detected · Not a position profile
Blocked
Business Development

BD Pipeline + AI Proposal Draft

Track every opportunity from first conversation to signed engagement letter — in the same platform where you run the search. When a mandate is won, convert it directly to an active engagement with one click. No re-entry, no switching tools.

  • Kanban across 6 BD stages — Prospect through Negotiation and Won
  • AI generates a tailored retained search proposal in 30 seconds
  • Activity log with notes, calls, emails, and LinkedIn touchpoints per opportunity
  • Weighted pipeline value and stale opportunity alerts live in the dashboard
↑ Saves ~3 hrs per proposal drafted
BD Pipeline · Thompson RS · 5 active opportunities
Proposal
1
$90K
Negotiation
1
$85K
Won Q3
3
$255K
✦ AI Proposal Draft · Loblaw Companies
UNDERSTANDING YOUR NEEDS
Loblaw's supply chain analytics function is at an inflection point — the firm has invested significantly in data infrastructure and now needs a VP-level leader who can translate that investment into commercial advantage across the store network...
Business Development

Revenue Forecast

The only revenue forecast built on the retained search rule-of-thirds billing model — three separate cash events per mandate, not one lump sum at close. See your confirmed pipeline from active searches alongside your weighted BD pipeline in a single 30/60/90-day view.

  • Billing milestones auto-created at engagement activation — 33% at signing, 33% at shortlist, 34% at placement
  • Confirmed vs weighted pipeline split shows what's locked in vs what's still speculative
  • Upcoming billing schedule with one-click "Mark invoiced" actions
  • 12-week trend chart · YTD billed vs annual target · CSV export for your accountant
Revenue Forecast · Thompson RS · June 2026
30 days
$99K
confirmed
60 days
$182K
conf + pipeline
90 days
$276K
conf + pipeline
Upcoming billing — next 30 days
Due Northern Trust — Offer accepted $32,300
Jun 15 ABC Corp CDO — Shortlist delivered $28,050
✦ Intelligence · New

Cultural Fit Profiler

Define the cultural requirements of every search across 8 dimensions — decision speed, authority style, risk orientation, communication style, work mode, change appetite, stakeholder load, and pace. Mandate extracts a candidate's cultural profile automatically from their debrief and reference notes, then AI generates a scored fit narrative, specific flags, and targeted interview questions — without any additional step for the researcher.

  • 8-dimension client cultural intake — captured in 8 minutes during the search brief
  • Candidate profile extracted automatically from existing debrief and reference notes
  • AI generates overall fit score, cultural strengths, flags, and 3 targeted interview questions per candidate
  • Fit score badge on every pipeline card · full dimension radar on candidate record
  • Cultural fit paragraph added to every client slate automatically
  • Brief refinement memo after client feedback — surfaces implicit preferences from advance/decline patterns
No competitor has structured cultural fit scoring built into the search workflow
Cultural Fit · Marcus Webb · Onex Corporation
Marcus Webb — Operating Partner
Cultural fit assessment · phData CDO search
94
/100
Dimension comparison — client vs candidate
Change Appetite
7 → 9 ✓
Decision Speed
6 → 8 ✓
Work Mode
4 → 5 ✓
Client requirement Candidate profile
Exceptional alignment. Transformation orientation and autonomous operating style closely match what this role requires. No material cultural flags.
◎ Background Agents · Beta

Background Agents

Three autonomous agents powered by Claude Fable 5 and Anthropic Managed Agents run continuously in the background — no researcher involvement required. The Candidate News Monitor runs every night. The Autonomous Sourcing Agent fires the moment a search is activated. The BD Intelligence Agent generates pre-call briefing notes for every active opportunity every Monday morning. When LinkedIn RSC is approved, the sourcing agent swaps web search for One-Click Export — no rearchitecting required.

  • Candidate News Monitor — nightly · promotions, role changes, company events surfaced each morning
  • Autonomous Sourcing Agent — triggered on activation · 15–20 ICP-scored candidates loaded to pipeline autonomously
  • BD Intelligence Agent — weekly · pre-call briefing notes in every BD opportunity side panel
  • Morning intelligence feed on dashboard · live streaming log per agent run
  • RSC-ready architecture — sourcing swaps to LinkedIn One-Click Export on approval
↑ Saves 4–6 hrs per search on sourcing · 3 hrs/week on BD research · runs while you sleep
Background Agents · Thompson RS · this morning
Agent 1 · Candidate News Monitor 02:04am
✓ 24 candidates checked · 2 signals found
Agent 2 · Autonomous Sourcing on activation
✓ 17 candidates pre-scored · TD Bank search · 9.5 min
Agent 3 · BD Intelligence Mon 6am
✓ 3 briefings generated · TD Bank · Brookfield · Loblaw
This morning's signals
📰 Onex completes acquisition of Stericycle Canada
Marcus Webb · Candidate News · 2h ago
💼 TD announces digital banking transformation initiative
BD Intelligence · TD Bank Group · this morning
How we compare

The only platform covering the complete retained search lifecycle.

Every platform below serves retained search firms. Only Mandate was built by one — and only Mandate covers every phase from BD through financial management.

Capability
Mandate
Invenias
Ezekia
Clockwork
Loxo
AI discovery brief
Profile summariser vs ICP
Summaries only
Personalised outreach sequences
Basic email
Debrief converter (AI)
Weighted ICP scoring grid
Basic
AI slate narratives
Client portal + feedback
Partial
Market mapping (live data)
Off-limits tracking
Position profile document loader
BD pipeline + AI proposal draft
Basic
Cultural fit profiling (structured)
Background agents (autonomous)
Brief refinement (AI, post-feedback)
Revenue forecasting
Reporting only
Reporting only
Why Thompson Recruiting Solutions built Mandate

Built by practitioners.
Not software vendors.

We are an active retained executive search firm. We built Mandate because the tools available to boutique firms were built by people who studied executive search from the outside. We built it from the inside — on real searches, with real clients, solving the exact problems our research team faces every week. We run every search through Mandate. You're not our test case — we are.

Founded by Anjalee Thompson, a proven executive search professional with 15+ years of North American retained search experience.

Thompson Recruiting Solutions thompsonrs.com Active retained search firm Canada + US
Searches run through Mandate
ABC (Alpha Beta Corp)
Manager Compensation · Manager Revenue Operations
ABC-M Group
Director Finance · Senior Financial Analyst · Director Engineering
ABC Logistics Corp
Vice President Corporate Development
ABC Corp
Chief Delivery Officer
Get started

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Mandate is built and operated by Thompson Recruiting Solutions · thompsonrs.com · 1.888.245.5025