What Sharp & Carter does

Sharp & Carter is a privately held Australian specialist recruitment agency founded in 2009 and headquartered in Melbourne, operating six offices across Melbourne CBD, Melbourne East, Sydney, Western Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane. The firm employs 100+ recruitment consultants organised across 11 specialist sectors — Finance & Accounting, Legal & Compliance, Sales/Marketing/Digital, Business Support, Technology/Projects/Digital, Executive, Human Resources, Supply Chain & Operations, Engineering/Technical/Safety, Healthcare, and Management Consulting — serving both employers seeking permanent, contract, labour hire, and executive placements and candidates seeking career opportunities. Operationally, the group is structured as 14+ wholly-owned subsidiary legal entities aligned to sector and geography under unit trust arrangements, with no disclosed parent, private equity, or external institutional ownership.

The business operates as a two-sided marketplace monetised primarily through contingency recruitment fees (industry-standard 8–15% of placed candidate annual salary for permanent placements) and labour hire/contracting mark-ups on hourly and daily rates. Job distribution is concentrated through the firm's own portal, SEEK, and LinkedIn, with an explicit anti-fraud policy against advertising on Facebook groups or WhatsApp. Core technology infrastructure comprises JobAdder as the applicant tracking system, standard CRM tooling, and AI/ML applied to resume parsing, candidate classification, search and matching, draft summary generation, transcription, quality assurance, fraud detection, website personalisation, and analytics; final hiring decisions remain human-driven.

Go-to-market is sales-led and consultant-driven, with a 'people-first' methodology anchored on culture and values alignment (Care, Generosity, Trust, Humility, Excellence). The firm runs a structured Graduate Programme, publishes free Salary Guides and active thought leadership content (blogs, webinars, resource guides), and operates an in-house High Performance & Wellbeing Programme led by a Doctorate-level psychologist. Brand credibility is supported by sustained industry recognition including 2025 Agency of the Year Accounting & Finance AU, 2024 Best Agency Executive Search, 2023 Top 10 Workplaces, and a 4.9/5 rating across 1,397 Sourcr reviews.

Name

Sharp & Carter

Legal name

Sharp & Carter Pty Ltd ATF The Sharp & Carter Unit Trust ABN 60 939 579 224

Website

https://sharpandcarter.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sharp & Carter is a privately held Australian specialist recruitment agency operating six offices and 100+ consultants across 11 sectors including finance, legal, technology, healthcare, and executive search, serving employers and candidates throughout Australia via contingency placement and labour hire.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Executive & Leadership Direct Hire (BPACAFAB), Professional & Technical Direct Hire (IT, Engineering, Finance, Healthcare) (BPACAFAC), Healthcare Clinical Direct Hire (Nursing/Allied/Physicians) (BPACAFAH)

Keywords

• Specialist recruitment services
• Permanent placement
• Executive search
• Labour hire staffing
• Contract recruitment

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Contingency Recruitment Fees: Sharp & Carter charges clients (employers) placement fees upon successful candidate placement. As a contingency recruiter, fees are typically calculated as a percentage of the placed candidate's annual salary. The company operates across permanent placement, contract/temp workers, labour hire, and executive search (retained and contingency).
2. Labour Hire & Contracting Services: Sharp & Carter employs or engages temporary workers, contractors, and labour hire employees and assigns them to client organisations. Revenue is generated through mark-ups on hourly/daily contract rates, payroll administration fees, and margin on worker remuneration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sharp & Carter is an Australian specialist recruitment agency that matches candidates with employers across 11 industry sectors (Finance & Accounting, Legal & Compliance, Sales/Marketing/Digital, Business Support, Technology/Projects/Digital, Executive, Human Resources, Supply Chain & Operations, Engineering/Technical/Safety, Healthcare, and Management Consulting). The firm delivers permanent placement, contract/temporary, labour hire, and executive search services through 100+ specialist consultants across six Australian offices.

Product overview

Sharp & Carter is a specialized recruitment agency operating as a unified platform with distinct sector-focused divisions rather than a modular software product. The core offering consists of recruitment and executive search services across 11 industry sectors: Finance & Accounting, Legal & Compliance, Sales & Marketing, Business Support, Technology & Digital, Executive, Human Resources, Supply Chain & Operations, Engineering & Technical, Healthcare, and Management Consulting. Additional services include Labour Hire & Contracting for flexible staffing needs, a Graduate Program for early-career recruitment consultants, Salary Guides providing market intelligence, and a High Performance & Wellbeing Program offering internal support through Dr. Feyona Lau. The platform is complemented by candidate-facing tools including a registration portal and job alert system, with offices in Melbourne CBD, Melbourne East, Sydney, Western Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Finance & Accounting Recruitment Specialised recruitment services for finance and accounting professionals across permanent, contract, and temporary placements in Australia.
• Legal & Compliance Recruitment Recruitment services for legal professionals and compliance specialists across various organisational levels in Australia.
• Sales, Marketing & Digital Recruitment Specialised recruitment for sales, marketing, and digital professionals, including specialists in digital transformation and technology.
• Business Support Recruitment Recruitment services for business support roles including administrative, office management, and executive assistant positions.
• Technology, Projects & Digital Recruitment Specialised recruitment for technology, digital, and project management professionals including IT specialists and digital transformation experts.
• Executive Recruitment Executive search and selection services for senior leadership and C-suite positions across industries, delivered via retained and contingency models.
• Human Resources Recruitment Specialised recruitment for HR professionals across generalist, specialist, and leadership HR roles.
• Supply Chain & Operations Recruitment Recruitment services for supply chain, procurement, and operations professionals across various industries.
• Engineering, Technical & Safety Recruitment Specialised recruitment for engineering, technical, and workplace safety professionals across multiple sectors.
• Healthcare Recruitment Recruitment services for healthcare professionals including clinical, administrative, and support staff across the healthcare sector.
• Management Consulting & Corporate Strategy Recruitment Recruitment services for management consultants and corporate strategy professionals with expertise in advisory and transformation roles.
• Labour Hire & Contracting Services Temporary, contract, and labour hire workforce solutions providing flexible staffing arrangements for organisations, with Sharp & Carter acting as employer of record and earning margin on worker remuneration and hourly/daily rate mark-ups.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.9/5 candidate and client satisfaction rating from 1,397 reviews on Sourcr
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Kate Connors (Elemental Coaching & Psychology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKate Connors, Psychologist and Chief Mental Health Advisor, co-hosted Sharp & Carter's 'Rethinking Leadership, Risk and Resilience in the Workplace' webinar alongside Feyona Lau (Sharp & Carter's High Performance & Wellbeing Director). Kate contributed research on leadership wellbeing and psychosocial risks in the workplace, and co-developed the webinar content and framework. Her research (R Our Leaders Ok? R Our Leadership Systems Ok?) was cited as the intellectual foundation for the session.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hays (Australia): Hays' Australian division is one of the largest specialist recruitment firms in the country, operating across multiple white-collar disciplines (Accounting, Legal, Technology, Healthcare) with multi-city offices — directly mirroring Sharp & Carter's sector-specialist, multi-office model and sharing the same employer and candidate customer base.
• Robert Half (Australia): Robert Half is a global specialist recruiter with deep Australian presence concentrated in finance, accounting, legal, and technology — the same core disciplines Sharp & Carter lists as award-winning verticals — serving the same employer and candidate pools in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.
• Michael Page (Australia): Michael Page is a global multi-discipline professional recruiter with extensive Australian operations covering finance, legal, technology, healthcare, and executive search — the same sector and city footprint Sharp & Carter competes in, with near-identical permanent-placement, contract, and executive search service lines.
• Hudson (Australia): Hudson is a longstanding Australian recruitment firm operating across multiple professional disciplines in major Australian cities, providing permanent, contract, and talent-management services comparable to Sharp & Carter's offerings to similarly-segmented employers and candidates.
• Robert Walters (Australia): Robert Walters is an international specialist recruiter whose Australian business focuses on professional services, technology, legal, and accounting placements — overlapping meaningfully with Sharp & Carter's specialist-disciplines model and serving the same end clients and candidate base in Melbourne and Sydney.
• Talent International: Talent International is an Australian-headquartered specialist IT and digital recruitment firm with multi-city presence and government/private-sector client base — directly comparable to Sharp & Carter's Technology, Projects & Digital division and operating across overlapping geographies and disciplines.
• Chandler Macleod: Chandler Macleod is one of Australia's largest recruitment firms (part of RGF Staffing) operating across multiple sectors and cities with permanent, contract, and workforce-management offerings — comparable in scale, multi-discipline breadth, and Australian geographic scope to Sharp & Carter.
• Peoplebank: Peoplebank is an Australian IT and digital specialist recruiter serving enterprise clients across multiple cities — a direct comparable for Sharp & Carter's Technology, Projects & Digital division, competing for the same candidate pools and enterprise/government technology contracts.
• Randstad (Australia): Randstad is one of the world's largest staffing firms with deep Australian operations across professional and commercial disciplines, providing permanent and contract staffing — competing head-on with Sharp & Carter for the same Australia-based employer clients and candidate base.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global executive search and organisational consulting leader with established Australian operations and broader advisory services — comparable to Sharp & Carter's Executive Recruitment arm, but operating at significantly larger scale with adjacent talent-management and RPO services as part of a much broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sharp-carter
• Xx.com/sharpandcarter
• Facebookfacebook.com/SandC.PropCon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries14 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 Sharp & Carter