Retained construction executive search for the leaders who build the UK's biggest programmes: contractors, consultancies and infrastructure, and international contractors entering the market.
Scott Lechley Quantity Surveyor from 1990 to 2002, construction executive search since 2002. You deal with me from brief to offer, on a published fee of 22.5% with no minimum, and I take on a small number of searches at a time. How the fee worksSenior Hiring Index
Identifying and securing board-level and senior leadership talent. Every search is mapped, researched, and personally managed from brief to placement.
Building leadership pipelines before vacancies become risks. I work with clients to map internal capability, identify gaps, and develop targeted external talent strategies.
Market intelligence, salary benchmarking, and strategic advice on leadership structures. Informed by relationships across every tier of the UK construction sector.
Too many in the recruitment field are reactionary and transactional; Scott is neither. He is the consummate professional.
In executive search, true expertise is rare. Most consultants have never priced a subcontract package, managed a commercial negotiation on a live scheme, or set foot on a project site. I have. Before moving into executive search, I worked as a Quantity Surveyor at Sir Robert McAlpine on major projects across the UK. That operational foundation shapes every conversation I have and every search I run.
Senior leadership for Tier 1 contractors, developers, and the organisations delivering the UK's largest building programmes. From the New Hospital Programme through to major commercial and mixed-use developments, I place the Commercial Directors, Project Directors, and C-suite executives who run these projects.
Read about healthcare searchExecutive talent for highways, rail, bridges, and major infrastructure delivery. I work with clients across HS2, National Highways frameworks, and complex civils programmes to secure the operational and commercial leadership needed to keep major schemes on track.
Read about civil engineering searchLeadership placements across the UK's most regulated and technically demanding sectors. From Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C through to port infrastructure, water, and utilities programmes, I source senior professionals who combine technical credibility with the security clearance and safety culture these environments demand.
Read about nuclear searchExecutive search for organisations working across borders, on sensitive government programmes, and in the fast-growing data centre sector. I also place leaders into defence and industrial environments.
Read about data centre search
I work at the intersection of talent and opportunity in the construction and infrastructure sectors. As a qualified Quantity Surveyor turned executive search specialist, I bring a perspective that most recruiters simply cannot offer. I have lived both sides of the hiring equation, on live projects and in boardrooms.
Today, I partner with forward-thinking organisations and ambitious leaders to make connections that genuinely move the sector forward. This is not about filling vacancies. It is about identifying the right leadership to drive performance, culture, and long-term growth.
Confidential support for leaders navigating their next move.
Confidential, no-pressure conversations about where your career is heading. Whether you are weighing up an approach, considering a move, or planning a return from overseas, I provide honest guidance rooted in deep market knowledge.
Access to leadership opportunities that never reach job boards. The senior construction market operates largely through trusted networks, and I sit at the centre of it.
I build relationships that span entire careers, not single transactions. Many of the leaders I placed ten years ago are now the clients who instruct me on their own leadership searches.
Roles matched to you, the UK infrastructure pipeline, what your role pays and free career pathways. On your phone, free, with no adverts.
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My Saturday morning email on leadership, talent and what is really moving in UK construction and infrastructure. Free, and sent to more than 5,500 people across UK construction.
This week's BriefIssue 20
616 government projects, and the firms and people who have to build them.
Read Issue 20
Whether you are building a leadership team or considering your next move, I would welcome the chance to talk. No hard sell. No obligation. Just a direct conversation with someone who understands the sector.
Shaping the future of construction leadership 
