Chefspoolen

What Chefspoolen does

Chefspoolen is a Swedish executive search and specialist recruitment firm founded in 2002, focused on placing senior managers, specialists, and experts for the Swedish public sector — including municipalities, regions, state agencies, and municipal-owned companies — alongside private-sector clients. The firm operates from four Swedish offices (Stockholm/Sundbyberg, Göteborg, Halmstad, Malmö) with a team of senior consultants who are described as having prior executive management experience, and uses Teamtailor as its applicant tracking system. Its core business is fee-based executive and specialist search, typically sourced through framework agreements with public-sector procurement bodies such as Kammarkollegiet and ADDA, supplemented by interim and consulting services, leadership coaching, and team development delivered through sister entities.

Since 2022, Chefspoolen has operated as part of Calviks AB, a Swedish conglomerate of approximately 30 companies, alongside sister firms A-Talent Search, A-Talent Interim, Taplow, Succedo, and Job Solution, with a shared CEO (Emma Tilson) overseeing the group's Recruitment and Interim business area. Service breadth has expanded via interim consulting (A-Talent Interim), international reach through Taplow Group membership, and background-check partnerships with 2Secure and Verifiera. No proprietary technology or AI capability is disclosed; the firm's competitive position rests on its 23-year reputation, ramavtal access, and the credibility of experienced consultants.

Name

Chefspoolen

Legal name

Chefspoolen i Sverige AB

Website

https://chefspoolen.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Chefspoolen is a Swedish executive search and specialist recruitment firm founded in 2002, placing senior managers and specialists primarily for municipalities, regions, state agencies, and private-sector clients across Sweden, and operating within the Calviks AB group since 2022.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Malmö

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Executive Search & Specialist Recruitment: Core professional services revenue stream from retained and non-retained executive search mandates and specialist recruitment assignments for public sector clients. Revenue is generated through consulting fees, success fees, and/or retainers tied to completed placements. Additional services including assessment, testing, and background verification are bundled into recruitment mandates.
2. Interim & Consulting Solutions: Interim staffing solutions placing experienced managers and specialists into temporary roles at public sector organizations. Provided through collaboration with sister company A-Talent Interim. Revenue is generated through markup on contractor rates or project-based fees.
3. Coaching, Leadership & Team Development: Leadership coaching, team development, and management support services provided as standalone offerings or as add-ons to recruitment mandates. Revenue is generated on a per-engagement or program basis.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Chefspoolen is a Swedish executive and specialist recruitment firm that supplies qualified leaders and specialists to municipalities, regions, state agencies, and municipal-owned companies. Its service portfolio spans executive recruitment, specialist recruitment, executive search, interim staffing, psychological testing, background verification, assessment, coaching, leadership development, and team development, delivered by senior consultants with personal executive management experience.

Product overview

Chefspoolen is a recruitment and leadership development firm operating as a unified service portfolio rather than a modular platform. Their offering is organized around three core pillars: (1) Recruitment services including Executive Recruitment (Chefsrekrytering), Specialist Recruitment (Specialistrekrytering), Interim & Consultant solutions, and Executive Search (Exekutive sök) for public sector clients; (2) Quality assurance tools including Second Opinion assessments, Psychological Testing (Tester), Background Checks (Bakgrundskontroll), and Assessment services for validated candidate evaluation; and (3) Development services including Coaching & Executive Support (Coaching & Chefsstöd), Leadership Development (Ledarutveckling), and Team Development (Teamutveckling). All services are integrated under one organization with shared methodology, consultant teams, and a unified candidate database, positioning Chefspoolen as a comprehensive partner for public sector competency supply rather than a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chefsrekrytering (Executive Recruitment) Core executive recruitment service matching qualified leaders with public sector organizations, leveraging over 20 years of experience in Swedish public sector leadership hiring.
• Specialistrekrytering (Specialist Recruitment)
• Interim och konsult (Interim and Consultant)
• Exekutive search (Executive Search)
• Second opinion
• Tester (Testing Services)
• Bakgrundskontroll (Background Checks)
• Assessment
• Coaching & Chefsstöd (Coaching & Executive Support)
• Ledarutveckling (Leadership Development)
• Teamutveckling (Team Development)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 20 years of operation since 2002 with stable growth
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core sibling, minor sibling and supporting partner.

• A-Talent Searchcore siblingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSibling company under the same CEO (Emma Tilson). A-Talent Search is an executive search firm operating as one unified organization with shared senior recruitment consultants and researchers. Both companies share management and collaborate on client mandates, cross-referring candidates and leveraging a common professional network.
• A-Talent Interimcore siblingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSibling company under the same CEO (Emma Tilson). A-Talent Interim provides interim staffing solutions. Chefspoolen collaborates with this sister company to deliver interim management solutions to clients who need temporary executive or specialist placements.
• Taplowcore siblingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish branch of international executive search group Taplow (taplowgroup.com/countries/sweden). Shares same CEO (Emma Tilson) and operates as one unified organization with shared senior recruitment consultants and researchers. Access to international network of executive search professionals.
• Succedominor siblingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSibling company within the Calviks AB group, operating within the recruitment and interim space. Part of the group ecosystem.
• Job Solutionminor siblingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSibling company within the Calviks AB group. Operates within staffing and recruitment. Part of the group ecosystem for broader talent solutions.
• 2Securesupporting partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProfessional partner for conducting background checks (bakgrundskontroll) as part of quality-assured recruitment processes. 2Secure ensures that background verification follows industry guidelines and is conducted responsibly and legally (GDPR compliant). Used by Chefspoolen and A-Talent Search.
• Verifierasupporting partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProfessional partner for conducting background checks (bakgrundskontroll) as part of quality-assured recruitment processes. Works alongside 2Secure to ensure comprehensive and legally compliant background verification for executive and specialist placements.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Poolia: Swedish recruitment and executive search firm with a similar mix of public- and private-sector mandates and a comparable permanent-placement model. Closest domestic peer by business model and segment exposure.
• Academic Work: Swedish-headquartered recruitment firm operating across the Nordics with both specialist and management placement. Comparable domestic scale, though skewed younger in candidate profile.
• TNG Group: Swedish recruitment firm with strong public-sector and government-adjacent clients, focusing on unbiased and competency-based selection. Directly comparable on geography, methodology, and target buyer.
• Meritmind: Swedish executive search and interim firm placing senior finance, HR, and specialist leaders. Comparable in executive-search focus and Nordic geographic footprint.

Broad incumbents

• ManpowerGroup Sweden: Swedish arm of global staffing and talent firm with public-sector framework presence. Comparable buyer base and recruitment services, but with a much broader staffing and RPO portfolio.
• Korn Ferry: Global executive search and organizational consulting giant. Comparable at the methodology and senior-recruitment level, but with much broader geographic and segment coverage than Chefspoolen.
• Egon Zehnder: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm. Comparable in senior-executive search and assessment capability, with broader geographic and private-sector reach.
• Michael Page International: Global professional recruitment firm with executive search and specialist divisions. Comparable offering at the senior-recruitment level, but with broader international and private-sector coverage.
• Hays: Global recruitment group operating in Sweden with white-collar and executive placement. Comparable at the professional recruitment craft level, but at much greater scale and broader sector coverage.
• Heidrick & Struggles: International executive search firm focused on board and C-suite mandates. Comparable in senior-level search craft, but operates globally and serves a different segment mix than Chefspoolen's Swedish public-sector focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/chefspoolen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Chefspoolen