What JOSS SEARCH & SELECTION LTD does

Joss Search & Selection Ltd is a London-headquartered specialist recruitment agency that places business support professionals — executive assistants, personal assistants, office managers, chiefs of staff, HR associates, operations and front-of-house staff — into private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, wealth and asset management, and management consultancy firms. The firm operates across the UK, continental Europe (Frankfurt), and North America (New York), with a separately branded temporary/contract arm, Joss Workforce, operating a London-based community in which 92% of temps work exclusively with the firm. Since incorporation in 2010 the company claims to have placed over 20,000 business support professionals, of which more than 10,000 were Executive Support roles, giving it a large cumulative candidate dataset relative to its headcount of 11–50 employees.

The underlying technology stack is largely off-the-shelf: Bullhorn serves as the recruitment CRM, while AI-enabled tools record and transcribe video and telephone interviews to draft candidate profiles that human recruiters then review. There is no proprietary AI model or disclosed training pipeline; AI is used as a productivity assist within a consultative, consultant-led workflow. Sub-brands such as Jossie Talks (webinar series), Joss Learning & Development, Jossie Jolly (annual awards), The PA Bible, and the Championing Hidden Heroes podcast form a content and community layer around the core service.

The business model is fee-based and contingent: permanent placements are typically priced as a percentage of the placed candidate's annual salary, while the temporary/contract division generates transaction fees on contract staffing. Go-to-market is direct and relationship-driven across the three offices, with no self-serve or marketplace channel. The firm is privately held, employee-owned, and led by co-Managing Directors alongside a recently built C-suite (COO, CCO) that came together between 2023 and 2025.

Name

JOSS SEARCH & SELECTION LTD

Legal name

Joss Search and Selection Limited

Website

https://josssearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Joss Search is a London-based specialist recruitment agency placing executive assistants, personal assistants, office managers, and chiefs of staff in private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, wealth management, and management consultancy firms across the UK, Europe, and the US.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialist Recruitment Services

NAICS

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 industry

Financial Services Leadership Search (Banking/Insurance/PE/Asset Mgmt) (BPACAAAF)

Keywords

• Executive recruitment services
• Private equity staffing
• Business support hiring
• Alternative investments recruitment
• Temporary staffing services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Permanent Placement Services: Contingency-based recruitment fees for placing permanent business support professionals in private equity and alternative investments firms. Fees are typically a percentage of the placed candidate's annual salary.
2. Temporary/Contract Recruitment: Temporary staffing services placing contract workers in administrative and business support roles. The company mentions 92% of their temps work with them exclusively.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Joss Search is a specialist recruitment agency that places business support professionals — including Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, Office Managers, HR professionals, Chiefs of Staff, Operations Managers, Front of House, and Marketing & Investor Relations staff — into private equity, hedge fund, alternative investments, venture capital, wealth & asset management, and management consultancy firms. The company offers both permanent placement services (contingency-based fees) and temporary/contract staffing services, delivering placements through offices in London, New York, and Frankfurt.

Product overview

Joss Search is a specialist recruitment services company focused on placing business support professionals (PAs, EAs, Executive Assistants, Office Managers, HR roles, and Chief of Staff) within private equity, hedge funds, alternative investments, venture capital, wealth & asset management, and management consultancy sectors. The company operates across the UK, Europe (Germany/Frankfurt), and US (New York) markets. Services include permanent placement recruitment, temporary/contingent staffing, and candidate sourcing and vetting. The company does not offer a software-as-a-product; its offering is purely professional recruitment services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Jossie Talks: Webinar series covering professional development topics for business support professionals
• Joss Learning & Development
• Joss Workforce
• Jossie Jolly
• The PA Bible

Products and services

• Permanent Placement Recruitment Services
• Temporary/Contract Staffing Services (Joss Workforce)

Quantifiable outcome

• 23% increase of revenue for client thanks to PA freeing up Founder's time

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Smart WorkscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partnership supporting women back to work. Joss Search volunteers at Smart Works and organizes fundraising events including Cycle for Smart Works for International Women's Day. The partnership helps women develop confidence and skills for job interviews.
• BeamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Beam, a charity organization. Details of the partnership scope are limited in available sources.
• British Private Equity Venture Capital Association (BPEVCA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerEvent partner assisting with organizing events and marketing. BPEVCA is the trade association for the private equity and venture capital industry in the UK.
• BullhornTechnology or IntegrationBullhorn is the recruitment CRM software provider used by Joss Search for candidate and client management. Standard contract clauses are in place for data protection.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Michael Page: Global recruitment firm with dedicated banking, financial services, and office support verticals — competes with JOSS on PE/finance business support mandates in London, Frankfurt, and New York, but at significantly larger scale and broader sector coverage.
• Page Personnel: PageGroup's mid-volume staffing arm for office support, secretarial, and administrative roles — directly comparable to JOSS's PA/EA/front-of-house placement business but operating across all industries rather than specializing in PE/alt investments.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with a dedicated Financial Services practice serving PE, hedge funds, and asset managers — overlaps with JOSS on the financial services client base but focuses on C-suite and senior leadership rather than business support roles.
• Robert Half: Global staffing and recruitment firm with a strong office/administrative support vertical — overlapping with JOSS's PA/EA/Office Manager placement focus but operating at much larger scale across many industries beyond financial services.
• Hays: Global recruitment group with established banking, financial services, and office support practices — overlaps with JOSS on temporary and permanent business support placements in financial services across London and continental Europe.

Direct peers

• Frazer Jones: Specialist PE, investment management, and professional services recruiter (part of the PageGroup), with deep UK coverage in the same PE/alt investments client base that JOSS targets — closest direct competitor in PE/VC support hiring.
• Goodman Masson: London-based specialist recruiter serving private equity, investment management, and financial services clients — a direct competitor to JOSS in the UK PE/finance business support and finance vertical, with overlapping client base and similar contingency-fee model.
• Carter Murray: Specialist finance, accounting, and business support recruiter with strong London coverage and a focus on financial services clients — directly comparable to JOSS in target customers, vertical focus, and consultative placement model.
• Morgan McKinley: Global financial services recruitment firm with strong London presence covering banking, investment management, and professional services — broader in scope than JOSS but operating in the same PE/finance client segment with similar placement fees.

Emerging players

• The Omerta Group: Specialist financial services recruiter with focus on alternative investments, asset management, and PE — narrower than JOSS in some respects but operating in the same London PE/alt investments client base with similar niche positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/joss-search-%26-selection
• Xx.com/JossSearch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 JOSS SEARCH & SELECTION LTD