Director Research @Topline

Topline Advisory is the AI-First Executive Search & GTM Advisory firm for Private Equity and their portfolio companies in Europe. Founded by ex-CXOs from leading unicorns and ex-McKinsey consultants, with headquarters in Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin. As Director Research, you are the engine of our search delivery: you find the candidates others miss - through deep market knowledge, creative sourcing, and the smart use of modern AI tools. Aufgaben Candidate Sourcing & Identification: Build longlists for C-level and Senior Sales/GTM mandates via LinkedIn Recruiter, Apollo, AI sourcing tools, and your own research methodology Market Mapping: Systematically screen target industries, competitors, and career paths - who is relevant, who is moving, who is ready for the next step AI-Driven Research: Use and further develop our AI sourcing workflows (ChatGPT, Claude, Custom Agents) to scale and elevate the quality of our research Candidate Profiling: Create structured candidate profiles, conduct background research, and provide first assessments against the scorecard Knowledge Building: Build and maintain our internal talent database and industry insights for recurring mandates (PE portfolio, DACH B2B) Qualifikation Research Experience in a Top-Tier Executive Search Firm: Several years in a Senior Researcher role at a leading global search firm or comparable boutique Research Excellence & Speed: You have an ability to understand new industries and profile requrements fast and dig deeper than others when it comes to finding the right candidate Tool Mastery: Technical literacy with opennes leverage accuracy and speed of emerging AI tools (e.g. Juicebox, Apollo, etc.) as well as expereince in using traditional search tools (e.g. LinkedIn Recruiter, etc.) Structured Analytical Mindset: You think in markets, patterns, and target groups -no blind list-processing, but hypothesis-driven research Language: Fluent english is required, German is a plus

Benefits

AI-First Environment: You don't work against modern tools - you work with them, and actively shape how we redefine research Senior Exposure: Direct collaboration with the founders (ex-McKinsey, ex-CxO Unicorns) and insight into C-level searches for top PE clients Remote-First, Outcome-Driven: Work from wherever you are most productive - outcome beats presence