A HEADS UP FROM A HEADHUNTER


Neon River’s Peter Franks explains what makes a headhunter different from other recruiters, why you’d want to talk to one, and how you can get on their radar


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Peter Franks is the founder of leading games executive search firm Neon River. He has spent the last 20 years headhunting leaders into games companies around the world.


he best jobs are rarely advertised. In fact, from the hirer’s perspective, job adverts are a pretty blunt tool when you need deep


expertise. Many of the most exciting roles—whether it’s a VP of Product at a fast-scaling indie studio or a CTO for a AAA developer—are filled discreetly via headhunters. I’ve spent the last twenty years working as a


headhunter on behalf of games companies. I’d never expected to be a headhunter as a child. I was a pretty normal, nerdy kid who had an interest in both technology and people. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s with two older brothers I was exposed to computer games from a young age, initially on the ZX Spectrum and Atari ST, and later on the SNES, PlayStation 1 and 2 and PC. Having spent thousands of pounds on computer


games over the years, I didn’t know that my interest in the sector would in time pay for itself. After leaving university I started working as a headhunter and started to specialize in working with games companies across Europe to build out their leadership teams.


HOW HEADHUNTERS WORK What makes a headhunter different from other kinds of recruiter are two main things; they tend to work on the most senior roles (typically at “C” and “VP” levels) and they target passive candidates who aren’t necessarily looking for something new, and need to be persuaded that there’s a better, more attractive opportunity out there. Headhunting isn’t a volume business – it’s a sniper


rifle rather than machine gun. It’s about working on a small quantity of senior assignments that are hard to execute. Clients typically want highly specialized skills from both a functional and industry perspective and there’s often a very limited supply


34 | MCV/DEVELOP April/May 2025


of candidates who fit the brief. The more senior the role – with CEO roles being the most senior of all – the more scrutiny there is around finding the right person. Headhunters tend to specialize by sector – either


within firms that only operate in certain industries, or as sector specialists within a more generalist headhunting firm. The five largest headhunting firms – often called the “SHREK” firms – operate in every industry. In every industry there’s also a plethora of smaller, sector specialist firms. My firm, Neon River, very much fits into


that category. We work with games and broader technology companies, and hire “C” and “VP” level leaders across all key functions. For games companies, typical client requests include CEO, CFO, CTO / VP Engineering, Chief Product Officer and Creative / Design VP searches. Headhunters work from client to candidate – they


don’t normally act as agents to proactively find a candidate a new job, but rather focus on closing their live roster of client assignments. This means that as a candidate, networking with


headhunters won’t necessarily mean you are a fit for a live project – that is a question of timing – but it will increase your chances of being thought of when relevant projects come up.


BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP Of course the headhunters who will be most interested in building a relationship with you are the ones that see the most potential future value in you as a placed candidate (or indeed future client). Try to identify the headhunters in your sector and function who are most likely to be a good fit for you. Ask friends of yours in the industry which firms and headhunters are active and approaching them about interesting roles.


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