
We hire your key leaders
With over a decade of expertise in attracting and hiring top talent for some of the most successful companies in technology, we have gained unique insights into the challenges companies face when experiencing times of rapid growth and transformational change.
About Us
Key Search is a boutique Executive Search firm with a unique track record in hiring top executives for well-known brands and start-ups in the digital space. We are passionate about bringing together exceptional leadership talent and great companies.
We enable our clients to consistently hire the very best leaders and help them successfully scale and transform their businesses. Backed by our unique research methodology and assessment tools, we match professional skillset, human qualities and company culture to deliver the highest level of predictability when hiring top performers.
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Typical experience of our consultants
Time to shortlist
Leadership placements
per year
Clients served
Our key strengths
What makes us unique
Proven track record
We have built leadership teams for some of the world’s most exciting start-ups and fast growth companies, venture- and private equity-backed and across various technology sectors. Thanks to our long-standing experience, we have established an extensive network of trusted candidates that enjoy working with us. Both clients and candidates appreciate our innovative and effective approach, and happily continue to work with us. Here some of our past hires:








Transparency
We follow a defined process for every phase, while maintaining maximum agility to handle any unforeseen surprises.
With our tools, we are able to maximize transparency and efficiency. We combine data and insights to help clients make the best hiring decisions. While emphasizing thoroughness and structure, we simultaneously focus on agility and collaboration. We advocate meeting calibration candidates early in the process and being open about potential trade-offs. To ensure that you always get the best-possible fit, we provide a highly responsive and accessible service.

Our promise to you
Hiring the right leadership talent has never been more important. Every failed search costs not only time but also money. That is why every search we conduct is protected by a replacement guarantee when needed, giving you the assurance of shared responsibility for success.
What our clients say
We are on a mission to give you the best executive search experience hiring consistently the very best leaders to scale and transform your business. Both clients and candidates consistently compliment us for our approach and happily continue working with us.
Mara is hands down one of the best headhunters in Europe! She brought in the best candidates within weeks. I’m looking forward to working on more projects together!
Franziska was a fantastic partner for us. I love her direct approach, her candor and willingness to share her perspective in addition to how she organizes herself. She asks great questions and really understood our business, our challenges and the type of leader for which we were looking. I would partner with her again in a heartbeat.
I can highly recommend Delano. He was an incredibly supportive and valuable partner throughout the whole recruiting process. Delano always provided immediate and transparent feedback in every step of the process, he was always available and deeply involved and even giving independent advice. What I valued most though, was his highly empathic style.
It’s been great experience working with Mara! She understood the requirements of the roles we were looking for very quickly and added her valuable perspective. She provided a regular flow of strong, suitable candidates with diverse experience. As a result, the interviews themselves helped us finetune the ideal candidate profiles. Finally, Mara was very helpful to bring the hiring processes over the finish line once we decided on our preferred candidates. Many thanks for the superb collaboration, Mara! I highly recommend your support to anybody looking for high-quality candidates and recruiting process!
It was a pleasure to work with Franziska on VP Marketing search. Franziska was very focused on Preply needs thinking broadly about the right C-level setup. She was very honest and extremely result oriented. During the search, I met with some of the best marketing leaders in Europe.
I’m planning to launch new executive searches with Franziska in the upcoming year/s and would highly recommend others to work with this brilliant professional.
Franziska is one of the best networked digital exec search specialists out there. I have been lucky enough to see her work from both sides of the pitch, candidate and client, and she is a thorough headhunter that truly takes her time to partner with the business and learn everything she can about it. As a candidate you will be briefed extensively on company strategy, role goals, company culture and team vibes. As a client, you can expect to be properly grilled about those as well, which is a clear sign of thoroughness and professionalism.
Both as a client and as a candidate, I strongly recommend Franziska if you’re searching for / looking to fill your next leadership role.
Franziska is a top class search executive, fast, reliable and pleasant to work with. Clear in managing expectations and effective in achieving the agreed goal to find the right senior talent. Also a pleasure to work with personally.
Mara is a supportive and invaluable partner when it comes to Executive Search. She is a skilled headhunter that was always available, fast, and very reliable. At the same time, she is a very kind and super pleasant person to work with; I highly recommend her!
Delano was an invaluable support for a Marketing Leadership search in the German market.Delano took the time to thoroughly understand the requirements of the role (which were many and most of them non- negotiable) and was able to provide strong profiles guaranteeing the progress of the search which had gotten to a stall before Delano took over. Throughout the whole search Delano provided consistent and professional communications. The feedback on how Delano managed communication came very positive also from the candidates’ perspective which was key to ensure continuity int the candidate experience which could sometimes be challenging when a Leadership search is outsourced.I will definitely recommend Delano as an impactful business partner for any Executive and Leadership searches.
Trusted by leading brands and startups
Clients
We have built leadership teams for some of the world’s most exciting startups and fast growth companies, venture- and private equity-backed, in the consumer digital and enterprise technology sectors.

Aifinyo is a bank independent financial service company that focuses on small and medium-sized companies.
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Aktiia – Bringing blood pressure monitoring to daily life
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Bnext is a fintech platform headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
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Booking.com is one of the world’s leading digital travel companies.
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Careship is a German marketplace for in-home senior care.
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COMATCH is the leading online marketplace for independent management consultants and industry experts in Europe.
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CommScope is redefining tomorrow by shaping the future of wired and wireless communications.
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Comtravo is a travel and tourism company that specializes in travel management, business travel, and online booking.
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Daedalean is a Zürich-based startup with a mission to build a certified airworthy autopilot that can also pass the exams for human pilots.
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Dataiku is the centralized data platform that moves businesses along their data journey from analytics at scale to enterprise AI.
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Doctolib has become the #1 online and mobile booking platform and management software provider for doctors in Europe.
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FairMoney is a mobile banking platform for private and business borrowers for the emerging markets.
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Finiata is a fast-growing FinTech from Berlin, offering an automated credit solution to small businesses in Europe.
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Forto stands for groundbreaking, scalable, digital logistics technology and services that go beyond transportation from point A to point B.
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Hotjar is a powerful product that reveals the online behavior and voice of a website’s users.
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Aktiia – Bringing blood pressure monitoring to daily life
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Bnext is a fintech platform headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
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Booking.com is one of the world’s leading digital travel companies.
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I-surance is a next-generation B2B2C digital insurance platform.
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Indeed is the leading employment-related metasearch engine for job listings.
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Inkitt is the world’s first reader-powered book publisher.
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Just Eat Takeaway.com is a leading global online food delivery marketplace.
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N26 is a hyper growth unicorn building a global mobile bank.
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OpenClassrooms is Europe’s leading online education platform.
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Otto is the leading retail e-commerce company in Germany.
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Preply is a global language learning marketplace
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Taxfix is on a mission to help people get their maximum tax refund effortlessly,
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Tipico is the leading market provider of online and retail sports betting in Germany.
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Hotjar is a powerful product that reveals the online behavior and voice of a website’s users.
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NewStore is the essential omnichannel store solution for enterprise retailers.
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Otto is the leading retail e-commerce company in Germany.
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Shopify is a cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses.
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Zageno is a first-of-its-kind e-commerce platform, making online shopping for any research material convenient, efficient and reliable.
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Zalando is Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle.
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COMATCH is the leading online marketplace for independent management consultants and industry experts in Europe.
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CommScope is redefining tomorrow by shaping the future of wired and wireless communications.
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Daedalean is a Zürich-based startup with a mission to build a certified airworthy autopilot that can also pass the exams for human pilots.
See more
Dataiku is the centralized data platform that moves businesses along their data journey from analytics at scale to enterprise AI.
see more
Forto stands for groundbreaking, scalable, digital logistics technology and services that go beyond transportation from point A to point B.
see more
Malt connects businesses with freelancers, finding the perfect match for every project.
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Zenjob is an online job portal that showcases temporary workers and a wide range of part-time jobs of hotels, supermarket chains, offices, and restaurants.
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Aifinyo is a bank independent financial service company that focuses on small and medium-sized companies.
See more
Bnext is a fintech platform headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
See more
FairMoney is a mobile banking platform for private and business borrowers for the emerging markets.
see more
Finiata is a fast-growing FinTech from Berlin, offering an automated credit solution to small businesses in Europe.
See more
N26 is a hyper growth unicorn building a global mobile bank.
See more
Taxfix is on a mission to help people get their maximum tax refund effortlessly,
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TransferWise is a money transfer service allowing private individuals and businesses to send money abroad without hidden charges.
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Aktiia – Bringing blood pressure monitoring to daily life
see more
Careship is a German marketplace for in-home senior care.
See more
Doctolib has become the #1 online and mobile booking platform and management software provider for doctors in Europe.
See more
Zageno is a first-of-its-kind e-commerce platform, making online shopping for any research material convenient, efficient and reliable.
see more
Booking.com is one of the world’s leading digital travel companies.
See more
Comtravo is a travel and tourism company that specializes in travel management, business travel, and online booking.
see more
Orderbird is Europe’s leading payment-led, cloud POS system for restaurants.
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Quandoo is one of the fastest growing restaurant reservation platform globally.
See moreDon’t miss your chance
Opportunities
We are currently retained by a household-name digital player in the food delivery industry t …
- Consumer
- HR & TA
- Head
One of our fastest growing Munich based clients is looking to hire an experienced Head of Sa …
- Enterprise
- Sales
- Director
Experts in hiring your key leaders
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