About Key Search
We know what greatleadership looks like
We go deep - in our research, with our proprietary technology, and in how we build trusted partnerships. We bring clarity, pace, and persistence to every search. We always close our projects. And we don't just promise results - we stand by them, with one of the longest placement guarantees and highest success rates on the market.
Why us
Everything we do is designed to enable our clients to consistently hire the very best people and help them successfully scale and transform their businesses.
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 have many years of experience in Marketplaces and eCommerce. We are passionate about attracting and hiring exceptional leadership talent and matching it with great companies.
Quality
We are on a mission to give you the best executive search experience - hiring consistently the very best people to scale and transform your business.
Transparency
With full visibility into every stage of the search, you stay informed, empowered, and always one step ahead. No surprises, always certainty.
Guarantee
Our guarantee gives you peace of mind: the right leader, the right fit, and complete confidence that your investment is protected. We don't just promise results - we stand by them.
Our Partners
Global reach
A global team, built for your market.
The only Boutique Executive Search firm with a global footprint.
20+ specialists across North America, Europe, and beyond.
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Successful leadership placements in 16 industries
Positions We Hire
Leaders We've Placed
Leadership across every level, every function, every market.
Our Story
Built to last. Proven to place.
Women Founded
It began with an idea...
Franziska Palumbo-Seidel
Founding Partner, Key Search
Franziska Palumbo-Seidel is the founder of Key Search, bringing over 15 years of experience shaping leadership teams for ambitious, high-growth companies. Early in her career, she helped build the initial executive teams for major European unicorns, including Klarna, TransferWise, SoundCloud, and N26.
She founded Key Search with a clear vision: to replace outdated recruitment models with a specialized, tech-native approach to executive headhunting. Recognizing that standard recruitment was too transactional, she built a boutique firm centered on total transparency, elite candidate experience, and deep, trust-based partnerships.
Today, Key Search operates on the mission of enabling companies to consistently hire the very best leaders to scale and transform their businesses. By combining proprietary technology and scoring systems with a relationship-first approach, the firm offers clients absolute clarity and peace of mind—backed by some of the longest placement guarantees in the market.
Advising founders, investors, and boards across the digital, FinTech, and enterprise software spaces, Franziska handles C-suite, Board, and critical functional leadership roles. Her personal dedication to female founders and board diversity is also woven into the fabric of Key Search, driving the firm's overarching commitment to inclusive hiring and dismantling systemic barriers in executive leadership.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Commitment to People, Planet & Purpose.
One Placement, One Tree
Planet & Sustainability
We invest in reforestation across East Africa and SE Asia. Every placement plants a tree, connecting commercial success to ecological restoration.
People & DEI
We dismantle systemic barriers in leadership hiring, committing to diverse long lists and inclusive assessment practices across every search.
20+
Trees Planted
2026 YTD
3,840
kg CO₂ Seq.
438k
L Water Ret.
1+
Households
Impacted