The successor who lets you step back.
Confidential search for the CEO, MD, COO or CFO who takes over the day-to-day. Run end to end by a senior consultant, and built around the handover rather than the job title.
Succession · Exit readiness · Technical leadershipWhen the owner steps back,
When the owner steps back,
someone has to step up.
Mastella Search is a succession search firm for owner-led technical businesses. We find the leaders who take over the running of a company — so its founder can transition out, sell, or finally stop being the only person who can make the call.
What we do
One specialism, two ways in.
Almost every engagement starts in the same place: an owner who wants to step back, and a business that cannot yet let them.
Make the business sellable without you in it.
Exit-readiness hiring for family businesses: the appointments that answer a buyer's first question — who runs this the day after completion — and remove the discount that comes with founder dependency.
The appointments
Four hires that take an owner out of the day-to-day.
Which one comes first depends entirely on what the owner personally holds. Most transitions need two of them over two to three years.
- Managing Director / CEO
Holds the P&L, the customers and the decisions the owner used to make personally.
- Chief Operating Officer
Takes the daily running of the business off the owner — usually the fastest route to a real step back.
- CFO / Finance Director
Builds the numbers and controls a buyer, bank or board will actually accept.
- Technical / Engineering Director
Transfers the technical authority that, in engineering businesses, usually still sits with the founder.
92%
Placements retained at 24 months
21d
Median time to shortlist
25
Years in technical recruitment
1:1
Senior consultant on every search
“They genuinely understood the engineering brief — the shortlist was sharp and the hire is performing well a year in.”
“Discreet, fast, and senior enough to challenge our spec where it needed challenging. A different category of search firm.”
Engineering & technical recruitment
The bench underneath the succession plan.
A successor is only as good as the team they inherit. We also run everyday engineering and technical recruitment — field service engineers and graduates through to engineering directors — for the same businesses, in the same sectors.
Tight briefs, sharp shortlists.
One senior consultant on every search — early-career or executive — and a shortlist short enough to actually interview.
Conversations worth having about your next move.
We only approach you about roles that fit. Confidential, considered, and rooted in a real understanding of the businesses we represent.
Sectors
All sectorsTechnical and industrial businesses, where the founder is the expert too.
We work where engineering content matters: manufacturing, energy and renewables, the built environment, and the operations leadership that binds them together.
01 — Core
Engineering
The discipline at the heart of everything we do — from field service and graduate engineers through to engineering directors.
Explore
02 — Adjacent
Industrial & Manufacturing
Production, operations, quality, and continuous improvement — from shop-floor technicians to plant leadership.
Explore
03 — Adjacent
Energy & Renewables
Technical and operational roles for renewables developers, EPCs, and energy infrastructure — across all levels.
Explore
Insights
All insightsNotes from the field.
Short, opinionated reads on succession, engineering recruitment, and the realities of building technical teams.
Sept 2026 · 6 min
Hiring a managing director so you can step back
What to decide before recruiting an MD for an owner-led business: the scope of the handover, internal versus external, equity, and timing against an exit.
Read
Sept 2026 · 5 min
Owner dependency: why buyers pay less and how to fix it
How buyers price key-person risk in founder-led businesses, what they test in diligence, and the senior hires that reduce the discount before a sale.
Read
Sept 2026 · 6 min
Succession planning before an employee ownership trust sale
In an EOT sale the founder is paid from future profits, so the leadership team left behind matters. The hires, governance and timing to plan for.
Read
Apr 2026 · 4 min
Why precision matters more than volume in engineering search
Sending ten close-enough CVs is not a shortlist. A short, well-calibrated brief is the most important deliverable of any search.
Read
Mar 2026 · 6 min
Hiring senior engineers: the questions that actually matter
Most senior engineering interviews test the wrong thing. Here is the small set of questions that consistently separate strong leaders from polished talkers.
Read
Jan 2026 · 5 min
When retained search is worth it — and when it isn't
Retained is the right model for some roles and the wrong model for others. A clear-eyed look at when each engagement model earns its keep.
Read
Get in touch
A short conversation usually saves a long search.
Tell us where you are — planning an exit, thinking about stepping back, or hiring the team underneath. We'll come back quickly with something useful.