Chair Search in Australia
A Chair search is a defined brief: find and appoint the person who will lead the board. It is not a NED search with a heavier title, and it is not a general board search for “someone senior”.
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, owners, investors and sitting directors who already know the vacancy is a Chair or Chairperson. Mixed mandates sit on board search. A NED-only brief sits on Non-Executive Director search.
The first conversation is confidential, and it is with Kylie.
What a Chair search is
A Chair search is the confidential identification and appointment of a Chairperson for an Australian board. The person you appoint leads the board, not the company. They set the quality of the agenda and the debate. They hold the Chair–CEO relationship. They are responsible for whether the table can actually govern — including who sits on it next.
That is a different job from a Non-Executive Director. A NED contributes and votes. A Chair makes the board work. Boards that collapse the two briefs — “we need a strong NED who can chair if needed” — usually get neither. If you need a Chair, say Chair.
Tiger Boards has been involved in thousands of Chair, Non-Executive Director, committee and advisory appointments across Asia Pacific. Chair work is a core part of that practice. The methodology is the same family as any other board search. The brief is leadership of the board, the Chair–CEO relationship, and succession — not a CEO search.
When to run a Chair search
Chair searches are usually late. They should not be. If the current Chair is leaving — or should leave — start before the announcement. If succession was never built, and you are not yet sure what the next Chair needs to be, start with board advisory. The search comes after the brief is honest.
A Chair–CEO fracture will not be fixed by adding another NED. A Chair search is the right tool only when the board has decided the Chair is the appointment. Advisory is the right tool when that decision has not been made.
Founder-Chairs and owner-Chairs often carry the business past the point where the same person should still run the board. The next Chair needs to lead a professional table, not remain the loudest owner in the room. A new Chair can reset a board that is not working — they cannot inherit an undefined problem. Name it in the brief. Confidentiality is why you run a proper search.
If the vacancy is actually a NED, use Non-Executive Director search. If you are not sure you should appoint at all, use board advisory.
How Tiger Boards runs a Chair search
This is not a new product. A Chair search uses the same board search methodology Tiger Boards already uses for NED appointments. The brief is different: leadership of the board, the Chair–CEO relationship, and succession. The method is not rewritten for the title.
Consultation. A deep consultation on the organisation, the current board, and what the next Chair must do that the current one does or does not. Whoever holds the brief — board, owners, or lead investor — helps write a role profile that is honest about the Chair–CEO relationship and whether you are replacing a person or changing the shape of the board.
Search strategy. One size does not fit all. A listed Chair, a private-company Chair, a founder transition, and a Chair close to a major investor are four different strategies.
Network. An extensive network of directors who can actually chair — not only people who have the word on a CV. Some are already Chairs. Some are NEDs who are ready. Kylie’s practice is founder-led.
Screening. Screening goes past the CV and the reputation. Experience, track record, judgement, and the way they will hold a CEO and a board are tested. A famous Chair who cannot run this board is a failed search.
Assessment. Interviews, reference checks, and a proper evaluation of suitability — including how they will lead the table, work with the CEO, and build succession rather than occupy the role until the next forced search.
After appointment, further governance thinking belongs on board advisory. It is scoped separately.
Chair versus NED
A Chair leads the board. They own the agenda, the quality of debate, the Chair–CEO relationship, and the succession of the directors around them. They are a director with extra work, not a ceremonial title.
A NED contributes to that board. They prepare, test, vote, and may chair a committee. They do not run the meeting and they do not hold the CEO on behalf of the table. That brief is on Non-Executive Director search.
Do not appoint a NED and hope they will chair. If you need both, you have two briefs — or a mixed mandate, which belongs on board search. If the question is not “who chairs” but “whether this board can work”, start with board advisory.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Chair search the same as board search?
Chair search is a type of board search. This page is for a Chair or Chairperson brief only. Board search is the umbrella appointment page. If you have a mixed mandate, start there.
Can a sitting NED become Chair, or do you always search externally?
Either. Some boards have a ready successor and need a confidential process to test that, not a public hunt. Some do not, and an external Chair is the honest answer. The consultation should settle which, before anyone writes a longlist.
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.
The Chair–CEO relationship is strained. Is a Chair search the right first step?
Not always. If the board has not decided whether the Chair, the CEO, or the way they work together is the problem, start with board advisory. A Chair search is the right step once you know you are appointing a Chair.
Speak confidentially with Kylie Hammond
If you want to appoint a Chair — 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.