Construction Recruiters and Headhunters: 11 Firms Compared

Hornberger publishes a sampling of the executive appointments it has made, each listed by title, type of client and city. They include a divisional president for a design-build firm in Chicago, a CFO for a general contractor in Wilmington, Delaware, and a CEO and president for a mechanical HVAC contractor in Baltimore. The page names no clients or candidates and does not date individual appointments, so ask for recent examples.

The firm describes itself as a retainer-based construction executive search firm that recruits board members, chairs, presidents, CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other C-level officers, and also places contract executives for interim assignments. Its clients include general contractors, specialty contractors, construction managers, design-build and EPC firms, developers and facility owners. Its Why HMC page (opens in a new tab) says the firm limits itself to "a maximum of two to three searches at any one time".

Kimmel's homepage reports 650+ executive placements a year. The figure covers the whole firm, which also recruits in engineering, supply chain and renewables, and the homepage does not say how many placements are in construction.

The firm says each of its recruiters concentrates on one segment of an industry and one geographic region. Its construction specialties include general construction (opens in a new tab), heavy civil, electrical and mechanical contracting, steel, roofing, residential and owners and developers, and it has a separate C-level recruiting page (opens in a new tab). The general construction page also lists project managers, estimators, superintendents and preconstruction managers among the positions it fills. The firm was formed in 1981.

Its 43-step placement process (opens in a new tab) starts with a full job order, in which the client and recruiter agree the hiring process and timeline. The pages read name no construction client, placement or case, so ask for references from construction searches at your level.

CLT publishes testimonials from hiring companies as well as candidates. Cathy M., in human resources at a construction company, writes that the company "recently started on an executive search" with CLT and that the firm found "the perfect candidate". Tom P., a president and founder, writes that the company counts on CLT's co-founder, Lisa Timmoneri, to find the professionals it needs next.

The firm says it was founded in 2014 and that the largest part of its client base is general contractors and developers working on high-end residential renovation and design-build projects. Its employer services page (opens in a new tab) names four core roles: assistant project manager, project manager, site supervisor and estimator. Contingency is its most common agreement. A retained search starts with a partial payment, gives the client candidate exclusivity and is described as guaranteed, without a stated term.

CRN is an association of independent construction recruiting firms, active since 1990, with members admitted by invitation. Its member directory (opens in a new tab) listed six member firms in October 2026, including Sobba Group in California, Honour Consulting in North Carolina and Ardith Rademacher & Associates in Texas, each with its own specialties and regions. The network describes its members as construction executive search firms, and the openings on its homepage run from chief estimator to vice president of preconstruction.

The About page (opens in a new tab) says a client who engages one member gains access to the resources of every firm in the network through a resource-sharing agreement. The pages read publish no placement, client or fee, so the terms and the evidence come from the member firm you engage.

The firm's site, which describes it as "thriving since 1980", offers employers permanent, part-time and contract construction candidates in the United States, and lists a Chicago office on its contact page. The site consists of a homepage and a contact page. It names no roles in detail, no client, placement or case, and no terms, so ask for all of these on the first call.

DAVRON's client letters page includes one from M. Leeds, who says a DAVRON recruiter found "the perfect fit for our company needs, in the very competitive construction industry", and shows logos of clients such as Johnson Engineering.

DAVRON is the only firm in this guide that publishes fee percentages on the pages read. Its fee schedule (opens in a new tab) listed five plans in October 2026, each a share of the hire's annual salary. A one-time payment of 21% is due within 10 days of the start date, with a pro-rated credit toward the next search if the hire leaves in the first 90 days. Weekly payment plans cost 23%, 26% or 30%, spread over 13, 26 or 52 weeks, and invoicing stops if the hire leaves during the plan. A retained priority search costs 20%: a $5,000 initial retainer counts toward the fee, the balance is invoiced over 13 weekly payments, and invoicing stops if the hire leaves during that period. The homepage advertises a one-year guarantee on direct-hire candidates, but the protection on the fee page depends on the plan you choose.

The firm recruits for engineering, architecture, construction and manufacturing employers nationwide, through contingency and retained search. Most testimonials on its testimonials page (opens in a new tab) come from candidates; one, from Carlos A., says a recruiter made a placement "in a prestigious construction company".

Alpha Apex Group's construction page shows a strip of client logos that includes Skanska and JD Steel Co. The same strip appears on its homepage, and the page does not identify these as construction searches or name a construction placement or case.

The page describes executive and leadership search for construction leaders, skilled trades and technical staffing, project-based workforce solutions across locations, and screening against safety, regulatory and performance requirements. It says the firm works with project managers and HR teams to plan hiring against build schedules and workforce forecasts, and offers support after placement, including retention strategies and leadership development. Agree the search model and fee directly.

In a July 2026 case study (opens in a new tab), AllSearch reports twelve hires over a five-year partnership with a private-equity-backed home-services company focused on HVAC, plumbing and electrical work: two regional sales directors, a general manager, and nine sales managers and representatives. The client is a home-services company; the case names no construction employer. On its testimonials page, Hugo, a construction manager, writes that the candidates presented "were a perfect fit for the organization".

Firm-wide, its FAQ reports 6,000 placements and 1,000 clients (opens in a new tab). AllSearch describes its construction division as a practice covering commercial and residential construction and building products and materials, with an emphasis on sales, sales management, estimating and project management. Its employer page (opens in a new tab) offers contingency search, paid only on a successful placement, and an engaged search that adds a small upfront deposit to a mostly end-loaded fee.

Goodwin's construction overview reports firm-wide figures: thousands of jobs filled each year, including 300+ executive-level placements, and 2,400+ clients. Its testimonials are attributed by job title, such as a director of operations and a talent acquisition director, and are not identified as construction clients, so ask for construction references.

The construction page says Goodwin has supported construction companies for more than 25 years, from executive and senior construction leadership to construction management, mid-level operations roles and skilled trade and technical professionals. The overview lists roles from chief construction officer and construction manager to estimating manager, estimator and civil engineer, and offers contingency and retained search.

Hays's construction page quotes two named people at construction and development companies, and reports 500+ placements a year without saying whether that figure covers construction alone. It does not say whether either person hired through Hays or was placed by it. Oz Cetin, design and development executive director at Marx Development Group, says of a Hays recruiter, "He understands the business, the industry, and your needs". Annie Lau, construction manager at Property Resources Corporation, describes a Hays recruiter as "someone I'd always go to with hiring needs".

The page names project managers, superintendents, estimators and site engineers as its usual placements, and says the service suits mid-sized firms with 50 to 200 employees, general contractors and companies without internal recruiters. Hays's construction page said in October 2026 that it typically presents qualified candidates within 5 to 10 business days, depending on the role and location; that timeline ends at candidates presented, not at a hire. It also offers executive search, permanent and temporary recruitment.

Michael Page reports 1,400 placements a year across superintendents, project managers and estimators, and says it delivers four qualified candidates per vacancy on average. It also reports more than 8,400 pre-qualified construction candidates in its database.

The firm describes its US construction team as having more than 200 specialized recruiters across eight offices, working for general contractors, civil infrastructure firms, real estate developers and construction consulting firms. Roles run from estimator to chief estimator, project coordinator to director or vice president of construction, and superintendents. The firm also offers executive search; the construction page publishes no fee.