A search powered by trusted relationships with the best in executive search. NHL selectively leads HR and Talent searches and brings in specialized teams from our curated network for leadership needs across functions and industries. We build the team around your role, the business context and challenges ahead. NHL stays engaged from the first conversation through the leader’s start, helping you define what success looks like, select your search partner, recruit top talent and onboard them successfully.
Inquire about a SearchExecutive search & advisory, reimagined.
We lead CHRO, Chief People Officer and senior HR and talent searches ourselves, and bring in specialized teams from leading search firms for other leadership roles.
Our experience is built on 20+ years advising senior leaders and recruiting hundreds of executives for the world’s leading companies, developing trusted relationships with the best executive search firms, AI talent innovators and leadership advisory firms.
What we do.
Leadership that’s fit for what’s next.
Staying ahead of your company’s evolving leadership needs. We help CEOs and CHROs see who can step into the top executive roles, inside the organization and across the market. We help you understand how your team compares to the market, knowing when you should be developing new leaders or bringing in external talent. Together, we clarify which senior roles the organization needs and how they fit together, so that a transition is planned rather than improvised.
Discuss successionOptimize the organization for what’s next. AI adoption, partner strategy, organization design and coaching to help leaders build the next version of the enterprise. We work with the top AI companies up and down the Talent stack, helping you find the best partners to move your organization forward. As agents take on more of the work, we help leaders design an organization that gets the best from both people and AI, so it is ready for what comes after.
Explore an advisory questionGrounded in real-world expertise. NHL delivers curated insight on talent, leadership, AI and the future of work, powered by Findem, with market maps and talent signal on demand across more than a million leaders. When you bring us a talent question, we return a clear, evidence-based read of the market, so you can decide what to build from within and where to hire with confidence.
Explore a talent questionCreate more value for your company and advance your career. For more than 13 years, we have brought CHROs and CPOs together through invitation-only dinners and virtual cohorts. Our portal and app allow those relationships to deepen, while now allowing similarly exclusive communities for CPO Successors, Chief Talent Officers, Heads of Talent Acquisition and rising HR and Talent leaders. Share insights, work through challenges and learn from peers at leading companies, in person and between gatherings. Conversations are off the record, with personal introductions and guidance to help you take your next step.
Find your community
Heather AceEVP & Chief Human Resources Officer · Qualcomm
“Matthew understands our function very well and seems to know everyone in the space. He has hired for me over the years and continues to partner on my most critical roles as well as helping me to bring on executives in other functions around the organization.”Read the full story
The strength behind every decision.
13 years of community.
Relationships with CEOs, CHROs and talent leaders across more than 300 companies, and a room of sitting CHROs and CPOs we can call on during a search.
20+ years of experience.
Matthew Guss has spent more than twenty years placing senior leaders and advising the CEOs and boards who hire them.
A strategic partner network.
Findem’s talent intelligence and BrightHire’s interview tools, alongside a curated network of search firms, assessment tools and leadership advisors that NHL brings together for each search.
CHRO and Chief People Officer search, by sector.
Matthew Guss has advised on executive teams and succession across technology, consumer, healthcare, industrial and financial services. Three of our rooms for sitting CHROs and Chief People Officers are organized by sector, and we can call on them during a search.
Technology
Chief People Officer and CHRO searches for technology companies, alongside our Tech CPO Group of sitting Chief People Officers in technology.
Life sciences and healthcare
CHRO and Chief People Officer searches for life sciences, pharma and healthcare companies, alongside our room of people leaders across life sciences and pharma.
Consumer
CHRO and Chief People Officer searches for consumer businesses, alongside our room of people leaders in consumer companies.
Fortune 500, PE-backed and venture-backed
Matthew has recruited hundreds of Chief People Officers across Fortune 500, venture-backed and PE-backed companies, during 12 years at Russell Reynolds Associates and since founding NHL.
A connected approach to your next leadership decision.
Search, leadership advice, talent intelligence and trusted peers, connected around your needs and supported by NHL throughout.
You hire with the network, never alone. Here is the network.
20+
Years alongside CEOs, CHROs & boards
300+
World-class companies represented across the network
600+
Executive-level roles placed
1M+
Leaders in our talent-intelligence layer
Questions about a search.
What kind of executive search firm is Next Horizon Leadership?
A retained executive search firm. We place CHROs, Chief People Officers, senior HR and talent leaders and the wider executive team, and run some searches with trusted search partners.
Do you run every search yourselves?
We lead HR and talent searches ourselves. For other leadership roles, we bring in a specialized team from our network of search firms, help you choose the right partner and stay engaged from the first conversation through the leader’s start.
Who will lead our search?
One NHL partner owns each search from start to finish. Matthew Guss, our founder, has spent more than twenty years placing senior leaders, and has recruited hundreds of Chief People Officers during 12 years at Russell Reynolds Associates and since founding NHL.
What does talent intelligence add to a search?
Each search draws on Findem’s talent intelligence, with market maps and talent signal across more than a million leaders, and on BrightHire’s interview tools. You get a clear, evidence-based read of the market, so you can decide where to build from within and where to hire.
Can you help before a role is open?
Yes. We help CEOs and CHROs see who can step into the top executive roles, inside the organization and across the market, so that a transition is planned rather than improvised.
How do we start?
Tell us about the role and the context in the form below, and someone will contact you within one business day. Every inquiry goes straight to a partner and is held in confidence.
Have a question about a search?
Tell us about the role and the context and we will have someone contact you with more information within one business day.