Specialties
Digital, marketing and creative search specialties
KYO searches three disciplines and only three: digital, marketing and creative. That is a deliberate limit rather than a starting point. Depth in a small number of markets is what lets a search partner know who is genuinely good, who is realistically movable and what a role actually pays, instead of starting from nothing on every brief. Every placement across all three is permanent and direct-hire.
Why only three disciplines?
Because a search is only as good as the recruiter's map of the market, and a map takes years to build. A firm that covers everything covers it at roughly the depth of a job board. Staying inside digital, marketing and creative means the names, the companies, the reporting lines and the compensation bands are largely known before a brief arrives, so the first conversation about a role starts further along than it otherwise would.
What roles sit in each discipline?
| Discipline | Roles typically searched | Usually reports to |
|---|---|---|
| Digital | Growth and performance, product and UX, digital strategy, web and development, social and community | A CMO, a VP of Marketing, or a product leader |
| Marketing | Brand and communications, demand generation, content and lifecycle, product marketing, CMO and VP search | A founder, a CEO or a CMO |
| Creative | Art and creative direction, brand and product design, copy and content, video and motion, studio and production | A CMO, a Head of Brand or an in-house Creative Director |
Where do the three overlap?
Constantly, which is the practical reason to search all three from one place. A brand designer reports to a creative director who reports to a CMO. A growth hire and a product marketer argue over the same funnel. Hiring one of them without understanding what the other two actually do produces a role that reads well on paper and collides with the existing team in month two.
What level does KYO search at?
Senior individual contributor through to leadership. That is where a direct search earns its keep, because the strongest people at that level are employed rather than applying and will never see a posting. Junior and high-volume hiring is a different business with different economics, and it is not what this firm does.
Which kinds of companies?
Companies with real in-house marketing, digital and creative teams, roughly 100 to 1,000 people, across a range of sectors. The consistent factor is the shape of the team rather than the industry: there is an in-house function, there is a leader who owns it, and there is no dedicated talent partner sitting underneath them. Agencies, design studios and production companies that sell creative work to others are not the client here.
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Tell Kelly which discipline the role sits in and what it has to deliver.
kelly.yosten@kyosearchpartners.comCommon Questions
Do you search technical or engineering roles?
- Only where they sit against the digital surface, such as web and front-end roles inside a marketing or product team. Core engineering search is not what this firm does.
Can you run a search that spans two of the three disciplines?
- Yes, and it is common. What matters is that the brief is honest about which discipline the role is primarily accountable to.
Do you place agency-side roles?
- The clients here are companies that hire creative and marketing people in-house rather than agencies and studios that sell that work.
Are these roles remote, hybrid or onsite?
- All three, depending on the client. It is worth settling in the brief rather than at offer stage, because it changes who is realistically in the market for the role.