Hire the operator who already knows the terrain.
Executive search for foreign firms building a team in Nigeria — with credentials, employment history and references verified at source, in country, before you make an offer.
A CV is a claim. In this market it needs checking like any other claim.
Qualifications, employment dates and reporting lines are routinely overstated and rarely verified by foreign employers who have no way to check them. We verify at source — the institution, the former employer, the regulator — because the same field capability that checks a factory checks a degree.
Senior and C-suite
Country managers, finance directors, commercial and operations leadership for foreign firms establishing or scaling a Nigerian entity.
You found them, we check them
Already have a candidate? We verify credentials, employment history, regulatory standing and references independently, and report what we find.
First hires on the ground
The initial commercial, regulatory and operations hires that determine whether an entry works — recruited and checked as a group.
What we confirm before a shortlist reaches you.
- Qualifications
- Confirmed with the awarding institution directly, not from a copy of a certificate.
- Employment history
- Dates, titles and scope confirmed with the former employer, including whether the role carried the responsibility claimed.
- Professional standing
- Membership and licensing checked with the relevant Nigerian professional body where the role requires it.
- References
- Spoken to, not emailed. We ask about judgement under pressure, not personality.
- Conflicts
- Directorships and business interests that could sit awkwardly alongside the role you are hiring for.
Retained, staged, and replaceable.
Role definition
What the person must be able to do in the first year, what the market pays for it, and whether the profile you have in mind exists in Nigeria at that price.
Search and verification
Longlist, approach, assessment, then verification at source on the shortlist only.
Shortlist and interviews
Three to five candidates with the verification file attached to each. Our staff can host interviews in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano or Lagos when you cannot travel.
Offer, onboarding and guarantee
Support through offer and start. If the hire leaves or is released within the guarantee period agreed at engagement, we search again at no further fee.
If you are a senior Nigerian professional, we would like to know you.
We are not a job board and we do not post vacancies publicly. We keep a small, verified network of senior operators and approach people directly when a mandate fits. There is no fee to candidates, ever.
- Roles are typically country manager, finance, commercial, operations, regulatory and technical leadership.
- Clients are foreign firms entering or scaling in Nigeria and West Africa.
- Your details are never shared with a client without your explicit consent for that specific role.
- Our CV builder is free to use whether or not you ever work with us.
Tell us about the role.
Send the brief below and it opens a message to our Istanbul desk on WhatsApp with your details attached. We reply within one business day. Candidates should use the email link rather than this form.
Thank you — it has reached our desk.
We reply within one business day, usually sooner. If it is urgent, write to hello@arewaworld.com directly.