Send a brief

Hires that carry a number.

Commercial and technical hires for growth companies. One recruiter runs every search, start to finish.

Tell us about the role
  • Recruiting since 2007
  • 1,000+ placements
  • One person runs your search

Every search narrows to one person

It starts with the whole market. Research tools, including AI, map it fast. The judgement and the calls are Alex’s.

  1. 214 Mapped people at comparable companies
  2. 61 Matched on deal size, buyer and stage
  3. 27 Approached by Alex, most not looking
  4. 12 Spoken to against the brief
  5. 4 Shortlisted each with a full briefing
  6. 1 Hired the person the plan rests on

How a search runs

  1. Brief

    Thirty minutes on what the first year must deliver.

  2. Map

    Everyone who has done the work, filtered on what predicts success.

  3. Approach

    Alex makes every call, mostly to people not looking.

  4. Shortlist

    A few people, each with a full briefing.

  5. Close

    Offer, notice, start date, then a check-in.

A briefing on every name

You never get a CV and a phone call. Each name comes with a full briefing and a straight answer on who Alex would hire. Here is what one looks like.

Founding AE, UK shortlist

The briefFounding Account Executive, UK. Year one: the first ten UK customers and a repeatable mid-market motion. Reports to the VP Sales in the US.

Candidate B

Enterprise AE, Series C data platform

Four years selling six-figure deals to UK financial services, mostly without a sales engineer. The closest match to the brief on this list.

At a glance
Now
Enterprise AE, Series C data platform, London
Notice
One month
Package now
£95k base, £190k OTE
Looking for
£105k base, meaningful equity
Interviews
Free Tuesdays and Thursdays

Against your brief
  • Sold a technical product to UK buyers Data platform into banks and insurers since 2022
  • Alone, first call to contract Ran her own technical demos on 9 of last year’s 12 deals
  • Mid-market deal sizes Average deal £140k, smallest £45k
  • Reporting into the US Current manager is in New York, with a weekly call at 4pm UK

Track record
  • 118% of quota in 2025, 104% in 2024
  • Opened 7 new logos last year, 5 of them outbound
  • Promoted from mid-market AE after 18 months

Why they would move

Wants to be the first seller in a market. Has turned down two scale-up offers this year because neither was a first hire.

Risks, and how to test them
  • Has not built a teamAsk how she would hire AE number two. Her former manager’s reference covers how she brings people on.
  • Used to a known brand opening doorsWalk through the 5 outbound wins: first touch to first meeting

References

Former manager spoken to. Current peer to follow after first interview, with her consent.

Alex’s view

Meet first. She has done the job you are hiring for, in a harder market, and she is moving for the scope of the role.

Candidate A

Mid-market AE, payments scale-up

Sells a payments API to UK mid-market retailers and has carried a quota alone since the company had nine people.

At a glance
Now
Mid-market AE, payments scale-up, Manchester
Notice
Three months
Package now
£80k base, £160k OTE
Looking for
£90k base, equity, remote-first
Interviews
Evenings, or a planned day off

Against your brief
  • Sold a technical product to UK buyers API product to heads of engineering and finance
  • Alone, first call to contract First sales hire at a nine-person company in 2023
  • Mid-market deal sizes Average deal £60k, some smaller
  • Reporting into the US Has only worked for UK leadership

Track record
  • Took the company from 3 to 41 UK customers
  • 96% of a rising quota in 2025
  • Wrote the first sales playbook

Why they would move

The company now hires enterprise sellers above her. She wants to do the zero-to-one stage again with a bigger product.

Risks, and how to test them
  • Deal sizes are smaller than yoursAsk for her two largest deals and who signed them
  • Three months’ noticeCheck the start date against your year-one plan before a second interview

References

To be taken after first interview.

Alex’s view

Strong on the founding part of the role, lighter on deal size. Worth meeting if speed of first wins matters more than contract value.

Candidate C

Founding AE, seed-stage analytics company

Already a founding AE, at a seed-stage company that has slowed hiring. Sells to product and data teams across the UK and the Nordics.

At a glance
Now
Founding AE, seed-stage analytics company, remote UK
Notice
One month
Package now
£85k base, £150k OTE
Looking for
£95k base, a funded runway
Interviews
Flexible

Against your brief
  • Sold a technical product to UK buyers Analytics tooling to product and data leaders
  • Alone, first call to contract Sole seller for 20 months
  • Mid-market deal sizes Average deal £35k, growing
  • Reporting into the US Reports to a London founder

Track record
  • Closed the company’s first 14 customers
  • Built the CRM and pipeline reviews from scratch
  • Ran two Nordic deals end to end

Why they would move

Her company’s runway is short and growth hiring has paused. She wants the same job with more backing.

Risks, and how to test them
  • Smaller deals than yoursLook at her pipeline for any deal over £75k and how far it got
  • May be leaving for safetyAsk what would make her stay. If the answer is the product, the move is real.

References

Investor reference offered by the candidate, to be taken after the first interview.

Alex’s view

Has done the job already. Meet if you want someone who will not need the founding-seller role explained.

Candidate D

Account executive, US software firm, London office

Sells for a US software company from its London office, so already lives the time-zone gap. Less experience starting a market from nothing.

At a glance
Now
Account executive, US software firm, London office
Notice
One month
Package now
£90k base, £180k OTE
Looking for
£100k base
Interviews
Mornings

Against your brief
  • Sold a technical product to UK buyers Security software to UK mid-market
  • Alone, first call to contract Supported by an SDR team and a solutions engineer
  • Mid-market deal sizes Average deal £110k
  • Reporting into the US Has reported to Boston for three years

Track record
  • On target three years running
  • Top UK seller in 2024
  • Mentors two newer AEs

Why they would move

Wants equity and a bigger say in how the UK is built.

Risks, and how to test them
  • Has always had SDRs and an SEAsk how he would fill his own pipeline in month one with neither

References

Not yet taken.

Alex’s view

The safest on the US side, the least proven on starting alone. A second look if the others fall away on timing.

Track record

1,000+
Placements across Alex’s career.
2007
Started recruiting. Bolt Search followed in 2016.
1
person runs your search.
Example appointments
  • Fractional Chief Revenue Officer Growth-stage group, around 50 staff 2026
  • Fractional CRO and business development lead Multi-site group 2026
  • Standards consultant, interim Industry standards body 2026
  • Interim leadership appointment National organisation 2025
  • Head of Delivery and Performance Large national group 2024
  • Head of Compliance and Funding Mid-sized provider 2024
  • Three board members Founder-led company, from eleven introductions 2021

In their words

He worked out the skills our board needed and introduced eleven strong people. We appointed three of them.

Founder, hiring client

I wasn’t looking to move. He took my concerns to the employer, and the offer beat what I expected.

Head of delivery and performance, placed candidate

Before going to market he got to grips with the role, the organisation and where the job was heading.

Founder and board adviser, hiring client
Alex Lockey

Alex Lockey

“No stack of CVs. A few people, a full briefing on each, and a straight answer on who I would hire.”

Recruiting since 2007, founder since 2016, trained as an engineer.

More about Alex

Tell us about the role

Fill in the sentence. Alex replies personally.

New briefTo Alex Lockey

We’re hiring a in who can .

alex@bolt-search.com