Run a disciplined leadership search from the start.
Before outreach, we define what the person must accomplish. Then we contact leaders who are not actively applying, use one scorecard throughout the interviews, and remain involved through the first year.
- 200+ Leadership matches
- 3 to 14 Weeks per search
- Construction only
- 9 American West states
- $10M to $250M Companies
- 1 Founder, every search
Give the role clear responsibility.
Define the work this person will own, the decisions they can make, and what success should look like.
Search with discipline
Intensive Search
A retained search run by TJ and our specialized US-based team.
- The person's decisions will affect the company for years
- Qualified candidates are scarce or not actively looking
- Your team has not agreed on what success looks like
- The first 90 days need a written plan
Start the next search without starting over.
Start when a role opens
When your BD team wins work and you need leaders, we already know your company, your team, and your standards.
Pause between searches
Between searches your account stays active. No fees, and no rebuilding context when the next role opens.
Build on what we learned
Every search deepens how well we understand who thrives on your team and what predicts retention.
Client types.
Commercial
High-end residential
Specialty trades
Owners' reps & developers
How a search runs: Find, Fit, Finish.
Find
- Agree on the role.In 1 to 3 working sessions, your stakeholders define the work and approve a written hiring strategy.
- Reach qualified leaders.We approach people doing comparable work, including those who are not looking, and screen against the agreed requirements.
Fit
- Give interviews a clear purpose.Each interviewer tests specific requirements and records their assessment before the team compares notes.
- Investigate open questions.PXT Select, Kolbe, references and background checks add context to the interview evidence.
- Make the decision.We help your team and the candidate work through disagreements and decide whether to proceed.
Finish
- Agree on the offer.We help both sides work through terms and expectations.
- Prepare for the work ahead.A 90-day landing plan arrives with the offer. We hold integration check-ins at one, two, three and six months and at one year.
- Commitment: Day 30money-back
- Commitment: Offer3 to 14 weeks
- Month 1check-in
- Month 2check-in
- Month 390-day plan
- Commitment: Month 6prorated credit
- Commitment: Year 1integration coaching
Scale: weeks to the offer, months after it.
Deliverables.
Updated Job Description
Rewritten in plain language against the scorecard. Mission, outcomes, competencies, dealbreakers, signed off before outreach begins.
Job Ads
Sales-grade narrative for the role. Candidates see the same brief leadership signed.
Weekly Updates
Where the search is, what we're hearing, what's next. Always in writing.
Structured Interview Strategy
Per-candidate question set, evaluation rubric, and reflection sheet for each interviewer at each interview.
References Dossier
We summarize recurring themes and flag gaps or contradictions for the hiring team to investigate.
Post-Interview Evidence Review
We compare interviewer notes with the role scorecard, then flag disagreement, missing evidence, and questions the client and candidate still need to answer. AI helps organize the evidence; TJ and the team guide the conversation.
Bilateral Fit Assessment
The leader and candidate use PXT Select together to discuss how they would work together and what the role will demand.
90-Day Landing Plan
A joint plan delivered with the offer that names first priorities, working agreements, and check-in dates.
One-Year Retention & Integration Check-ins
Integration check-ins on the schedule in Finish above, so the client and new hire can address problems early.
Example deliverables.
Mission
Stand up a precon function that wins work the firm should win and walks away from work it shouldn't.
Outcomes (12 months)
- Pursuit hit-rate ≥ 35% on targeted segment
- Estimating turnaround ≤ 3 weeks on standard scope
- Two senior estimators recruited and retained
Competencies
Strategic precon · estimator development · client-facing pursuit narrative · margin discipline.
Senior Project Manager
[Candidate] is a high-end residential project manager with 14 years running custom builds in the $5M to $25M range across the region. They are exploring a move because their current employer has shifted toward production multi-family and they want to return to design-led custom work. We recommend an interview, with one caveat: their last two years leaned commercial, so we should test how recent their hands-on custom residential experience is.
Show full report
Executive summary
- Sector: Custom residential, with a recent stretch into mixed-use multi-family
- Current: [Current Employer], Sr. PM (4 years)
- Signature work: ~$18M custom estate (3-year build, marquee architect)
- Motivation: Wants back into craft-first, design-led residential
- Timing: Current project closes in ~2 months
- Location: [Region]; open to nearby markets
Motivations (make-or-break)
- Returning to design-driven custom work; cited a 5-year stretch with two top-tier residential architecture firms as the most rewarding of their career
- Wants ownership of the full build cycle, not segmented PM scope
- Values a disciplined operations culture over entrepreneurial chaos
Compensation target
- ~$185K base + bonus (~$210K all-in target)
- Vehicle allowance expected (~$750/mo)
Where we've matched people.
Preconstruction Managers · Estimators · Bid Coordinators
Directors of Construction · Project Directors · Regional Principals · COOs · VPs · Project Executives · General Managers · Project Managers · Superintendents · Safety Managers · Business Development
Architects · Architectural PMs · Designers · CAD/Drafters · Safety · QC · Electrical & Plumbing Division Managers · Millwork Managers · Cabinet Makers
Controllers · Accounting Managers
See how two searches ran.
Two searches in full: one where the process stopped a polished front-runner before they were hired, and one where it re-scoped a role before a single candidate was contacted. Plus a long-form conversation with a client leadership team about the searches we ran together.
See two searches in fullFrequently asked.
Do you do contingency?
No. Contingency creates the wrong incentives at exactly the moment judgment matters most. When we know a strong candidate who is available outside a retained search, we will tell you.
What's your replacement policy?
Six months, pro-rated, when the search runs on our full Find, Fit, Finish process. The full terms are in the guarantees below.
Where do you find your candidates?
Mostly among leaders who are not applying anywhere. Once the scorecard is agreed, we research the firms where people already do comparable work and contact those leaders directly. We also draw on the construction leaders we have come to know since 2017, and we post the role. Anyone who applies is held to the same scorecard as everyone else.
Do you work outside construction?
No. Our network and our judgment are construction. If a role outside construction reaches us, we refer it.
Who runs my search?
TJ Kastning and our specialized US-based team, with no off-shore recruiting. Every interview, every scorecard, every reference call is one of us. It's why we cap the number of searches we take. AI organizes the evidence; a person makes every call and every judgment.
One retainer. Four guarantees. A hire that lasts.
- Process · A disciplined search, every time
- The human business can be unpredictable. We guarantee a disciplined process: an agreed scorecard before outreach, the same scorecard in every interview, weekly updates, a written evidence review before you decide, and a 90-day landing plan with the offer.
- Day 30 · Satisfaction, or your money back
- Not satisfied with how we're running the search in the first 30 days? We refund the search fees you've paid to date.
- Month 6 · Pro-rated credit toward a future match
- If the matched leader leaves, or is let go for cause, within 180 days of their start date, we credit a prorated share of the match fee toward a future match.
- Year 1 · Retention & integration coaching
- Integration check-ins on the schedule in Finish above, through the months when a hire settles or does not, so misalignment surfaces while it's still fixable.
The Day 30, Month 6 and Year 1 terms hold when both sides run the full Find, Fit, Finish process. Shortcuts on either side break them.
Hire in 4K.
A guide for the leaders doing the hiring.
Use the scorecards, interview questions and planning worksheets with your own hiring team.
Tell us about the role.
Tell us what the person needs to accomplish and what your team needs help deciding.