Executive Search & Leadership Advisory
Where Transformation Reveals Leadership and Talent.
Kintsugi-EN
Understanding people, revealing talent, creating meaningful connections, transforming leadership through experience.
Kokoro – Kenshō – Kintsugi – En
Executive Search
K-EN supports industrial and technology-driven organizations in identifying and securing key talent, while ensuring that each hire is structurally aligned with the company’s long-term objectives.
Our work goes beyond traditional executive search. Each assignment is approached with a deep understanding of organizational dynamics, decision-making processes and the operational realities that shape leadership effectiveness.
Talent, from the Inside
What defines K-EN is a direct, hands-on understanding of how companies operate. Our consultants come from corporate and industrial backgrounds, with experience inside organizations rather than solely in advisory roles.
This allows us to fully grasp the day-to-day complexities of industrial environments, including production constraints, internal dynamics, and the practical challenges of scaling teams and processes.
As a result, we assess candidates not only on their experience and track record, but on their ability to integrate, contribute and create value within real operating contexts.
Employment Advisory for HR Functions
K-EN complements executive search with tailored employment and contractual advisory, supporting companies in structuring clear, effective and sustainable employment relationships.
We work alongside HR functions and leadership teams to define contractual frameworks aligned with the role, seniority and organizational context, ensuring consistency between expectations, responsibilities and governance.
This integrated approach reduces risk, improves alignment from the outset and strengthens the long-term success of each hire.
Structural Understanding of Roles
Before identifying candidates, we work with our clients to clarify the role within the broader organizational context.
Leadership responsibilities, reporting structures and governance relationships must be clearly defined before the search begins. This includes not only formal lines of reporting, but also decision-making authority, stakeholder interactions and the position of the role within the company’s strategic priorities.
We analyse how the role connects with existing functions, where it creates value and how it contributes to the organization’s evolution over time. Particular attention is given to potential overlaps, gaps in accountability and areas where responsibilities may be unclear or misaligned.
This structural clarity allows us to identify candidates whose skills align with the organization’s long-term leadership architecture, ensuring not only a strong initial fit, but also effectiveness and sustainability over time.
Industrial Leadership Expertise
K-EN focuses particularly on industrial and manufacturing environments where leadership requires technical credibility and operational discipline.
We regularly support the identification of:
• Plant Directors
• Production Managers
• Technical Managers
• Heads of Engineering
• Industrial CFOs
• Technical Commercial Leaders
• General Managers
Our evaluation reflects the realities of technically complex organizations where sector fluency is essential.
Curated Network
Over years of professional activity, the K-EN team has developed a curated network of engineers, managers and senior industrial professionals.
This network is a continuously cultivated ecosystem of relationships built through direct interaction, long-term dialogue and first-hand knowledge of individual career paths.
It allows us to access talent beyond traditional recruiting channels and to approach professionals who are not actively seeking new opportunities, but open to the right strategic move.
Because we maintain an ongoing understanding of profiles, motivations and career trajectories, we are able to engage candidates in a targeted and credible way, ensuring a higher level of alignment between individual aspirations and organizational needs.
Executive-Level Screening
Candidate evaluation is enriched by the perspective of former industry executives who contribute sector-specific insight to the screening process.
This additional layer of assessment goes beyond traditional evaluation methods, allowing us to examine not only technical competence, but also leadership maturity, decision-making approach and the ability to operate effectively within complex and evolving organizations.
We focus on how candidates have navigated real business challenges, managed uncertainty, interacted with stakeholders and driven outcomes in operational contexts.
By integrating this executive perspective, we are able to assess not just what candidates have done, but how they think, how they lead and how they are likely to perform within the client’s specific organizational environment.
Employment Law Coordination
Identifying the right candidate is only part of the process. Integrating a senior professional into an organization also requires clarity on the employment framework.
K-EN supports clients in coordinating the contractual and regulatory dimensions of executive hiring, including:
structuring employment or collaboration agreements aligned with Italian labour law
defining compensation packages in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements (CCNL) and market practice
addressing non-compete clauses, confidentiality obligations and intellectual property provisions
ensuring compliance with social security, tax and immigration requirements where applicable
This work is carried out in coordination with qualified legal and tax professionals, ensuring that the contractual framework supports both the organization's objectives and a smooth integration of the selected candidate.