Zavala Civitas

What Zavala Civitas does

Zavala Civitas is a privately-held retained executive search and organizational consulting firm headquartered in Madrid, Spain, operating through its legal entity NGS GLOBAL S.L. Founded in 2002 by Lorenzo Zavala after his career at Russell Reynolds, the firm positions itself as a partner-led boutique serving C-suite, board, and senior leadership mandates globally. Its service portfolio comprises four integrated lines: Executive Search, Executive Assessment & Development, CEO & Board Advisory, and Organizational Consulting, with stated use of milestone-based fee structures, weekly client progress reports, psychometric testing, and cloud-based analytics.

The firm operates across nine vertical specializations — Consumer/Luxury/Retail, Education & Non-Profit, EPC & Renewable Energies, Financial Services, Industrial, Legal & Professional Services, Life Sciences, Private Capital, and Digital & Technology — and serves functional roles spanning HR, sustainability, finance, technology, legal/risk, and board advisory. Customer engagement is exclusively direct enterprise consulting via partners and principals, with no resellers, marketplace, or self-service channels. Pricing is quote-based per engagement and not publicly disclosed.

Zavala Civitas maintains physical offices in 10 cities across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific (Madrid, Munich, Hamburg, São Paulo, Mexico City, Toronto, Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai), and operates a multilingual web presence in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and German. The firm claims a 92% closing rate on search assignments, a team of 12+ nationalities speaking 50+ languages, and heritage tracing to 1971. Revenue is generated solely from professional services fees, with no disclosed financial figures, external funding, or parent company ownership.

Name

Zavala Civitas

Legal name

NGS GLOBAL S.L.

Website

https://zavalacivitas.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zavala Civitas is a Madrid-based retained executive search and organizational consulting firm serving C-suite, board, and senior leadership mandates for enterprise clients across nine verticals and offices in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

C-Suite & Board Search (BPACAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Sector, Education & Nonprofit Leadership Search (BPACAAAI)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Leadership advisory consulting
• Board advisory services
• Talent acquisition consulting
• Organizational consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retained Executive Search: The firm operates on a milestone-based fee structure for retained executive search assignments. This is the primary revenue stream, representing the core business activity of identifying, developing, and retaining exceptional executive talent for clients globally.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Zavala Civitas is a retained executive search firm that identifies, develops, and places C-suite, board-level, and senior leadership talent for global organizations. The firm delivers four integrated service lines: Executive Search (with a claimed 92% closing rate), Executive Assessment & Development, CEO & Board Advisory, and Organizational Consulting, supported by milestone-based fee structures and weekly client progress reports. Operations span Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific with offices in Madrid, Munich, Hamburg, São Paulo, Mexico City, Toronto, Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, and Shanghai.

Product overview

Zavala Civitas is a specialized retained executive search and organizational consulting firm offering four integrated service lines: Executive Search (with a 92% success rate), Executive Assessment & Development, CEO & Board Advisory, and Organizational Consulting. Operating since 1971, the firm combines global reach with local focus across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, serving industries including Consumer/Luxury/Retail, Education/Nonprofit, Energy/Renewables, Financial Services, Industrial, Legal/Professional Services, Life Sciences, Private Capital, and Digital/Technology. The services are delivered through managing partners using data-driven decision-making and advanced cloud-based analytics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive Search Retainer-based executive search service for C-suite and senior leadership positions, with a claimed 92% closing rate. Includes weekly progress reports, milestone-based fee structure, and global reach across Europe, Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Partners and Principals personally interview candidates and present profiles during weekly client updates.
• Executive Assessment & Development

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% closing rate on executive search assignments
• +1 more outcomes

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Norman Broadbent: UK-based executive search and leadership advisory firm. Comparable boutique peer offering retained C-suite search and board advisory across multiple sectors.
• Pedersen & Partners: Privately-held international executive search firm headquartered in Zurich. Comparable boutique international peer with global footprint focused on senior executive and board placements.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership consulting firm publicly listed on NASDAQ. Comparable in retained C-suite search across sectors, though at significantly larger scale.
• DHR Global: Privately-held global executive search firm with broad sector coverage and presence in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Comparable mid-sized international peer targeting C-suite and board mandates.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search firm founded in 1969, with deep C-suite and board practice. Most direct peer given that founder Lorenzo Zavala built his career there before founding Zavala Civitas, and both target enterprise C-suite mandates across multiple sectors.
• Egon Zehnder: Privately-held global executive search and leadership advisory firm. Comparable in its C-suite/board focus, retained search model, and integrated assessment and advisory offerings.
• Signium: Privately-held international executive search firm operating across multiple continents. Comparable in boutique international structure, cross-border C-suite search, and sector-focused verticals.
• Spencer Stuart: Privately-held global executive search firm with strong board and CEO practice. Comparable in being founder-led, premium-positioned, and serving global enterprise clients with cross-border executive mandates.
• Odgers Berndtson: Privately-held international executive search firm with offices across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. Closely comparable boutique international peer serving C-suite mandates with multi-region coverage.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with large executive search business. Comparable in C-suite search practice, but operates at much larger scale with adjacent consulting, RPO, and assessment services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zavala-civitas-executive-search/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zavala Civitas