When I started in executive search, I was thrown into the deep end. No formal training. No roadmap. Just a phone and a mandate: go find top talent.

Over time, I figured it out. I built relationships. I learned what mattered to clients and candidates. And I discovered that doing great search work — the kind that actually moves the needle for a company — wasn’t just about hustle. It was about trust, process, and pattern recognition.

Eventually, I left executive recruiting to build Clockwork, a software platform exclusively for executive search firms. We’ve now supported over 100,000 search projects across all industries, functions, and stages of growth. Hundreds of firms and thousands of executive recruiters use our product. 

That’s given me a rare perspective: I’ve seen how searches succeed, how they stall, and how easily things go off-track when the wrong recruiter is matched to the wrong project.

That’s why I started the Clockwork Executive Search Exchange — or Clockwork ESE.

Clockwork ESE exists to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

Clockwork ESE is a data-driven network that introduces companies to the right search firms — based on real performance, not word-of-mouth. We look at what role you're hiring for, your industry, your growth stage — and we match you with firms that have successfully placed similar roles in similar contexts. Not once, but consistently.

Because let’s be honest: the cost of hiring the wrong recruiter is huge. You don’t just lose the fee — you lose time, momentum, and often internal credibility. And the best candidates? They’ve moved on.

With Clockwork ESE, you don’t need to ask LinkedIn for referrals. You don’t need to wade through anecdotes and gut feelings. You tell us what you need, and we’ll connect you with two or three firms that have been there, done that, and done it well. The final choice is still yours — we’re just here to make sure the right options are on the table.

Clockwork ESE is the product of two decades in the executive recruiting industry, and it’s built for one simple reason: to raise the bar in executive search.

Let’s get to work.

—Christian Spletzer
CEO & Founder, Clockwork & Executive Search Exchange (ESE)