People & Talent
Executive Search Vietnam
Confidential search for Country Heads, plant leadership and functional directors
Discreet, research-led search for C-suite and senior leadership across Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and the industrial provinces, including returning overseas Vietnamese candidates and expatriate appointments. Licensed in Vietnam under Recruitment Licence No. 6208/2024.
8–14 weeks
Typical brief-to-offer timeline
Licensed
Recruitment Licence 6208/2024/20/SLĐTBXH-VLATLĐ
24+ years
regional HR experience
5 markets
VN · SG · MY · TH · ID
How it works
1
Brief
Scope the role, the reporting line, and where the decision actually sits.
2
Map the market
Map named targets across HCMC, Hanoi and the provinces, including returnees.
3
Engage candidates
Approach by name and under non-disclosure, qualify, then present a shortlist.
4
Place and follow up
Interview support, offer and Tet-timing handling, six-month follow-up.
Executive search in Vietnam, built on 24+ years
Vietnam's senior talent market is young relative to the businesses hiring into it. Much of the foreign-invested manufacturing base and the fast-growing domestic groups are looking for leaders with fifteen or twenty years of experience in industries that have only existed here at that scale for about as long, which means the genuinely qualified field for a Country Head or plant director role is small and well known to its competitors. The other constant is language and reporting line, since a large share of senior appointments answer to a Korean or Japanese parent. Our practice runs through People Profilers Services Vietnam Company Limited under Recruitment Licence 6208/2024/20/SLĐTBXH-VLATLĐ, with researchers who have followed these careers across more than one cycle.
Two engagement models for executive search
Scoping comes first, and the choice between the two models turns on discretion. Because the qualified field for a senior Vietnamese role is small and its members talk to each other, a search run while the incumbent is still in post needs the exclusivity and researcher control that retained gives. Where the market already holds several credible candidates and the priority is pace, a success fee is the leaner option.
Retained Search Model
- ✓Fee paid in three staged instalments (typically 30% at engagement, 30% at shortlist, 40% on commencement)
- ✓Exclusive mandate with dedicated researcher capacity
- ✓Confidential market mapping; passive candidates approached by name
- ✓Best fit for confidential replacements, C-suite, Country Head, and Board appointments
- ✓Three-month replacement guarantee from the candidate’s start date. Staged fees are non-refundable once each milestone is met
Success Fee Model
- ✓Fee payable only on candidate commencement, calculated as a percentage of Total Annual Remuneration
- ✓Lower upfront commitment, faster initial activity
- ✓Best fit for senior roles where multiple credible candidates are likely and speed matters more than confidentiality
- ✓Same partner-led process, shortlist standards, three-month replacement guarantee, and 6-month follow-up as retained
- ✓Minimum Fee applies regardless of placement TAR
Both models reference Total Annual Remuneration as narrowly defined in our engagement letter. For a Vietnamese package we agree up front what counts, since a thirteenth-month salary is standard here. Equity, LTIPs not paid in the first twelve months and discretionary bonuses are excluded.
What decides a Vietnamese executive search
Three things separate a senior search that closes from one that circles, and two of them need settling before we approach anyone.
Honesty about the experience that actually exists
A brief asking for twenty years of sector leadership in a Vietnamese-market context will sometimes describe a person who does not exist in this country yet. The productive conversation at week one is which parts of the profile are genuinely required, which can be met by a returning overseas Vietnamese candidate, and which would mean an expatriate hire with a work permit. We would rather have that argument before the search than after it.
A decision structure that can move
Where the appointment reports to a Korean or Japanese parent, the real decision often sits offshore and runs on a slower cycle than the Vietnamese market will wait through. Senior candidates here hold more than one conversation at a time. Agreeing interview cadence and who signs off, in the first fortnight, is what stops a strong candidate going elsewhere in month three.
Tet planned into the timeline
Almost nobody resigns before the thirteenth-month salary is paid, and the weeks around the holiday are effectively closed. A search that intends to have someone in the seat by a given quarter has to work backwards through that, and we will say at briefing what it costs you.
EXECUTIVE SEARCH
Confidential search for leadership roles in the Vietnamese market
Mapped against the local candidate pool, not a CV database · Recruitment Licence No. 6208/2024 · Replacement guarantee written into the engagement
Industries & Functions We Cover
Senior appointments across every major sector here have come through this practice. Some of our search consultants are built around an industry and know who runs what inside it. Others are built around a role family, finance directors or country heads, and know how those seats differ from one sector to the next. Most mandates draw on both.
Aerospace & Aviation
Aircraft maintenance technicians, avionics and component specialists, ground operations and aviation supply chain roles around Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai and Long Thanh.
Automotive
Production and quality engineers, supplier development, sales and aftersales management for assemblers and the growing EV and component base.
Banking & Financial Services
Relationship managers, credit and risk analysts, compliance and AML officers and operations specialists across Vietnamese commercial banks, insurers and securities firms.
Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical
Regulatory affairs, QA and validation, medical representatives and market access roles for manufacturers, importers and distributors.
Chemical
Process and production engineers, plant supervisors, HSE officers and technical sales across the southern and central industrial zones.
Construction & Civil Engineering
Project and site managers, civil, structural and M&E engineers, quantity surveyors and safety officers on Vietnamese infrastructure and property projects.
FMCG & Retail
Brand and trade marketing managers, key account and modern trade specialists, and retail operations across a fast-growing national footprint.
Healthcare
Clinical operations, nursing leadership, medical representatives and regulatory specialists for private hospital groups and device companies.
IT & Telecommunication
Software engineers, DevOps, product managers and data specialists across the Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang development centres and outsourcing firms.
Logistics & Transportation
Freight forwarding, customs and import-export specialists, warehouse and distribution managers around Cat Lai, Hai Phong and the border crossings.
Marine & Offshore Engineering
Marine and subsea engineers, yard and vessel operations, project managers and HSE specialists across shipbuilding and offshore support.
Media & Publishing
Account management, content and performance marketing, creative and production roles across agencies, platforms and publishers.
Oil & Gas
Process, drilling and project engineers, HSE coordinators and commercial analysts for upstream operators, service companies and refineries.
Real Estate & Property
Development and project managers, leasing and property managers, facilities leads and investment roles for Vietnamese developers and funds.
Semiconductor
Process, test and packaging engineers, equipment and production specialists across the assembly and testing plants in the northern and southern parks.
Executive headhunters in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and across Vietnam
If you found us by searching for executive headhunters in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, you are in the right place. Headhunting and executive search are the same discipline. Both mean discreet, research-led approaches to senior leaders who are not answering advertisements.
Our headhunters work from Ho Chi Minh City under Vietnam Recruitment Licence 6208/2024/20/SLĐTBXH-VLATLĐ, covering searches nationwide and mapping candidates in the Vietnamese market rather than working a CV database, with locally-incorporated entities in five Southeast Asian markets when a search crosses borders. Whether you brief us as a headhunter agency or an executive search firm, the engagement runs the same way: a defined mandate, a mapped market, and a shortlist you can interview.
Frequently asked questions
Who is People Profilers Services Vietnam Company Limited?
People Profilers Services Vietnam Company Limited is the executive search arm of People Profilers, a Southeast Asia HR group founded in 2002 with Vietnam operations established 2018. We hold Vietnam Recruitment Licence 6208/2024/20/SLĐTBXH-VLATLĐ and run executive search engagements for C-suite, Country Head, and senior leadership mandates across Vietnam and the wider region.
What seniority levels do you cover?
Director through to C-suite. Country heads, general directors, finance directors, HR directors, operations and technology leads, heads of sales, plant and site directors, and board appointments.
Manager and senior manager mandates are better served by our general recruitment team on a tiered placement fee, and we will say so rather than accept a search brief that does not require one.
Is executive search retained or contingent?
Both, and the recommendation follows how senior the role is, how fast it has to be filled, and how quietly.
Retained is the right instrument when the appointment is sensitive: a replacement the incumbent does not know about, a country head, a board seat. The fee is staged across three points, typically thirty per cent at engagement, thirty at shortlist and forty when the person starts, each instalment non-refundable once its milestone is met. What that buys is exclusivity and dedicated researcher time, which is what makes confidential mapping possible at all.
A success fee suits roles where several credible candidates plausibly exist and speed matters more than discretion. Nothing is payable until someone starts, calculated against total annual remuneration, with a minimum fee applying regardless. Lower commitment, faster initial activity.
Partner involvement, shortlist standards, the three-month replacement guarantee and the six-month follow-up are identical under either. Every engagement opens with a scoping conversation, and the model comes out of that rather than being decided before it.
How long does an executive search take?
Plan on eight to fourteen weeks between kickoff and a signed offer. Two things stretch that in Vietnam: Tet, ahead of which almost no candidate will resign, and approval chains that run through a parent company offshore. Both are visible at scoping and we will name whichever applies to you.
An expatriate hire, or a returning overseas Vietnamese candidate, needs a work permit issued before the start date, so add that after the notice period rather than assuming it runs alongside.
Do you handle confidential replacement searches?
Yes, and it is a large part of the work here. The qualified field for a senior role in Ho Chi Minh City or the northern industrial provinces is small enough that an open search reaches the incumbent and the competitors within days. We approach under non-disclosure, brief researchers on exactly what may be said, and do not reveal client identity in the market until you authorise it.
References, candidate dossiers, and longlist materials are shared only with the named stakeholders agreed at kickoff.
What is the difference between a headhunter and an executive search firm?
Nothing, in practice. Headhunter is the everyday word and executive search firm is what appears on the engagement letter, and both describe the same work: identifying senior people who are not looking, approaching them privately, and persuading the right one to take a conversation. Our consultants run those mandates from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and across five Southeast Asian markets when a search crosses borders. Brief us under either name and the engagement runs identically.
Do you offer a replacement guarantee?
Yes. Every placement carries a three-month replacement guarantee running from the candidate's start date, on retained and success fee engagements alike. If the person leaves inside that window we run the replacement search at no further fee. The precise terms sit in your engagement letter.
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