Go (expand)
Predefined thresholds met and executive sponsor approves lane rollout.
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Pilot governance
Pilot charter requirements before kickoff.
All search-firm pilots require a complete charter before any candidate activation. This page covers the six required sections and the day-30 decision structure.
One mandate. Named sponsor. Day-30 go, revise, or stop.
Section H
Six named owners required before kickoff
No pilot begins without all six roles assigned. Unnamed ownership is the most common reason for mid-search governance failures.
Executive sponsor
Names the day-30 decision owner and approves scope.
Practice lead
Owns mandate selection and kickoff quality commitment.
Delivery lead
Owns consultant workflow adoption and weekly scorecard.
Candidate-success owner
Owns readiness tracking and first-round signal.
Scorecard owner
Owns baseline capture, metric review, and day-30 memo.
Legal reviewer
Confirms confidentiality terms and DPA path before kickoff.
Section D
Day-0 baseline metrics
All five baseline fields must be captured and sourced before day-30 scorecard decisions are valid. Retrospective narratives cannot substitute for captured baselines.
- +Prep hours per mandate (current baseline)
- +First-slate acceptance rate (current baseline)
- +Mid-search reset frequency (current baseline)
- +Candidate first-round advancement rate (current baseline)
- +Handoff completion within SLA (current baseline)
Section E
Day-30 decision structure
Three possible outcomes. Decision must use pre-defined thresholds and baseline deltas, not retrospective narratives or relationship factors.
Revise and extend
Partial threshold progress with sponsor agreement to extend with adjusted scope.
Stop
Thresholds not met and no sponsor commitment to extension conditions.
Section J
Required pilot artifacts
+
Weekly pilot scorecard
Every week throughout the pilot window
+
Midpoint status memo
Day 14–16: progress, risks, and open issues
+
Final decision memo
Day 30: go, revise, or stop with baseline delta
Section K
Charter approval checklist
All six items must be checked before charter is considered approved and pilot kickoff is authorized.
- +Scope confirmed: one mandate, named sponsor, explicit exclusions
- +Baselines captured: all five Day-0 fields completed and sourced
- +Legal section complete: contract path, DPA status, reviewer named
- +Procurement section complete: package, billing terms, order path
- +Management owners confirmed: all six named roles assigned
- +Risk register completed: legal, procurement, sponsor, data, adoption
Next step
Complete the charter, then apply.
If all six charter sections are complete and approved internally, submit your search-firm pilot application. An incomplete charter delays kickoff — legal and procurement reviews cannot begin without it.