Non-Executive Director Search in Australia
A Non-Executive Director search is a defined brief: find and appoint a NED. It is not a general hunt for “someone for the board”, and it is not a Chair search wearing a different title.
Tiger Boards is a boutique Australian board search firm, founded by Kylie Hammond LLM EntGov, Australia’s #1 Board Search Selector. This page is for boards, Chairs, owners and investors who already know the vacancy is a Non-Executive Director. Mixed mandates sit on board search. A Chair-only brief sits on Chair search.
The first conversation is confidential, and it is with Kylie.
What a NED search is
A NED search is the confidential identification and appointment of a Non-Executive Director for an Australian board. The person you appoint sits as a director: they prepare, they vote, they carry the same legal duties as the rest of the table. They do not run the company. They do not chair the board.
Boards that treat a NED search as “any experienced person who will take a seat” end up with a familiar CV and a quiet director. The brief should name the contribution — a skill the board cannot oversee, a sector the strategy is moving into, a committee that needs a proper chair, or independence the owners have not yet put on the table.
Tiger Boards has been involved in thousands of Chair, Non-Executive Director, committee and advisory appointments across Asia Pacific. NED work is a core part of that practice, not a junior version of a Chair mandate. The standard is the same. The role is different.
When a board needs a NED
Most NED searches start for one of a small number of reasons. Put the reason in the brief. It changes who you look for.
The current table cannot cover a gap — digital, cyber, AI, capital markets, a new geography. Deferring that gap is a decision. Another reason: every director is an owner, a relative, or a long-standing adviser. The next appointment needs to be independent enough to disagree.
A committee may be underpowered, or the board wants succession without making them Chair. A NED can be a future Chair. They should not be sold as one if the board is not ready to say it. If the contribution is capability the current board does not already have, that brief is also on next-generation directors. It is still a NED search.
A director is leaving, or should leave, and the market does not need to know until there is a name. Confidentiality is a reason to run a proper search, not a reason to recycle the same three people. If you are not sure the vacancy is a NED, start with board advisory. Search can follow. It should not be assumed.
How Tiger Boards runs a NED search
This is not a new product. A NED search uses the same board search methodology Tiger Boards already uses for Chair appointments. The brief is a Non-Executive Director. The method is not rewritten for the title.
Consultation. A deep consultation on the organisation, the current board, and the contribution you are actually missing. We work with the Chair, the owners, or the board — whoever holds the brief — to write a role profile.
Search strategy. One size does not fit all. The strategy takes account of industry, culture, and the qualities the board needs in this NED. A first independent on a founder board is not the same brief as a third NED on a listed audit committee.
Network. An extensive network of directors and operators, including people who are not already sitting on four boards. Kylie’s practice is founder-led. The search is not handed to a junior team.
Screening. Screening goes past the CV. Experience, track record, leadership, and fit with the organisation are tested. The aim is a director who will integrate into the board.
Assessment. Interviews, reference checks, and a proper evaluation of suitability. The question is not “have they been a NED before”. The question is whether they will contribute from the first meeting and take a share of the decision.
Diversity of thought is part of that work — including next-generation directors when that is the contribution you named. Ongoing support after appointment sits with board advisory.
NED versus Chair versus advisory
A NED prepares, debates, votes, and carries director duties. They may chair a committee. They do not run the board.
A Chair leads the board: the agenda, the quality of debate, the Chair–CEO relationship, and the succession of the table itself. That brief is on Chair search. Do not run a NED search and hope the person will “step up”.
Advisory is not a seat on the statutory board. If you want advice without appointment, start on board advisory. If you want an advisory board member found and appointed, that search lives on board search unless the brief is clearly a NED.
Use this page when the vacancy is a Non-Executive Director. Use Chair search when the vacancy is the person who will lead the board. Use board search when the mandate is mixed. Use advisory when the question is the board, not the name.
Frequently asked questions
Is a NED search the same as board search?
NED search is a type of board search. This page is for a Non-Executive Director brief only. Board search is the umbrella appointment page. If you have a mixed mandate, start there.
Do you only appoint experienced, sitting NEDs?
No. The brief decides. Some boards need a director who has already sat through cycles. Some need a next-generation director whose contribution the current table does not have. Prior NED title is not a substitute for judgement.
Who leads the search — and who will we speak with?
Kylie Hammond. Tiger Boards is founder-led. The first conversation is not handed to a researcher. Kylie has been involved in thousands of Chair, Non-Executive Director, committee and advisory appointments across Asia Pacific.
We might need a Chair, or we might need advice. Should we start here?
If the vacancy is clearly a NED, start here. If it is a Chair, use Chair search. If the question is how the board is working, start with board advisory.
Speak confidentially with Kylie Hammond
If you want to appoint a Non-Executive Director — or you want to test whether that is the right brief — speak with Kylie Hammond, CEO and founder of Tiger Boards, Australia’s leading Board Search Selector.
Tiger Boards works with Australian boards from Sydney. The first conversation is confidential.