Services · Tier-1 Premium

Your first-call recruiting partner.

Tier-1 is how serious hiring organizations work with us: a dedicated team, guaranteed weekly search capacity, Tier-1-only ESAI.work analytics, and the market's deepest transparency. Prepay placement fees as a deposit, and we put your hiring first.

Who it's for

We take on a small number of Tier-1 partners.

Tier-1 exists because committed partnerships produce better outcomes than transactional work. We reserve capacity for companies who want us as their primary recruiting partner, and we decline to take on Tier-1 partners we can't fully serve.

Hiring 5+ senior roles per year

If you're filling at least 5 mid-to-senior positions per year, Tier-1 gives you guaranteed weekly capacity and priority candidate access.

Want visibility, not promises

Tired of black-box agency work? ESAI.work gives you real-time visibility into every candidate contacted, every response, every market signal.

Market intelligence matters

Beyond filling roles, you want to understand what competitors pay, where talent is moving, and how your offer stacks up against the market.

Tier-1 plans

Three commitment levels.

Bronze, Silver, and Gold differ by guaranteed weekly search volume and the depth of market intelligence included. All three include the same dedicated team, full ESAI.work access, and the same fee-discount mechanics.

Bronze

¥7,500,000

6-month deposit · 2 guaranteed searches / week
  • Dedicated Business Manager + Candidate Manager
  • Full Headhunt.AI sourcing on all roles
  • ESAI.work analytics access
  • Full candidate list sharing
  • Weekly status meetings
Discuss Bronze →
Most popular
Silver

¥12,000,000

6-month deposit · 4 guaranteed searches / week
  • Everything in Bronze
  • Quarterly salary market research report
  • Quarterly competitor talent-mapping
  • Priority candidate right-of-first-refusal
Discuss Silver →
Gold

¥16,500,000

6-month deposit · 6 guaranteed searches / week
  • Everything in Silver
  • Dedicated recruiter team (not just one)
  • Salary research 2x / quarter (8x / year)
  • Competitor talent-mapping 2x / quarter
  • Employer branding consultation
Discuss Gold →

All prices exclude consumption tax. 12-month contracts also available with extended deposit validity. All deposits apply 100% to placement fees.

How the deposit works

The same fees you'd pay anyway.

Your Tier-1 deposit isn't an extra cost, it's simply the placement fees you'd pay for 2-3 hires, prepaid. As we place candidates, we deduct from the deposit at the standard 35% rate. Once exhausted, additional hires bill as normal contingency.

Example · Silver plan deposit of ¥12,000,000
Hire #1
¥3,500,000
Hire #2
¥2,800,000
Hire #3
¥3,200,000
Hire #4
¥2,500,000
¥12,000,000 Deposit depletes as hires close ¥0

While the deposit lasts

Each placement fee (salary × 35%) is drawn from your deposit. No additional invoices.

After deposit exhausted

Subsequent placements bill as standard success fees at the same 35% rate.

Deposit validity

Your deposit remains available for 12 months after the Tier-1 term ends.

6-month term + 12 months = 18 months total

Tier-1 exclusive

ESAI.work analytics, only for partners.

ESAI.work is the analytics layer on top of Headhunt.AI, the same dashboard our own recruiters use. We give Tier-1 partners full access because transparency strengthens the partnership. Contingency and RPO clients see summary reports only.

Live search activity

Every candidate being contacted, every scout sent, every response, updated in real time. No more 'let me check with the team and get back to you.'

Pipeline health dashboard

See conversion at every stage, scout sent → reply → meeting → resume → interview → offer. Identify bottlenecks before they become problems.

Quarterly market research

Actual salary ranges for the roles you're hiring, not Glassdoor hearsay but pulled from active candidate conversations in your sector.

Competitor talent mapping

A complete picture of who's at your competitors, in which roles, for how long, to understand the talent pool and plan your approach.

Fee discount

Same 5% discount on every role.

1

14-day exclusivity

Grant us 14-day exclusive access on a role, no other agency working it, and the fee drops from 35% to 30%.

2

Headhunt.AI subscriber

Active Headhunt.AI Pro or Enterprise plan customers get 5% off placement fees automatically, on top of all Tier-1 benefits.

Conditions stack, both apply on the same role for a combined 10% reduction (→25%).

Our commitment

We take Tier-1 seriously.

We don't spread our team thin across hundreds of clients. Tier-1 partners get a recruiter team whose calendar, priorities, and incentives are aligned to your hiring, not to chasing the next deal.

Dedicated team

A recruiter team assigned exclusively to your company, with deep understanding of your hiring needs, culture, and priorities.

Priority approach

Target lists built first. Candidates approached first. Weekly meetings to share every update. You're always at the top of the queue.

Right of first refusal

When we find exceptional talent, even candidates not specifically matching an open role, Tier-1 partners get first introduction.

Next step

Tier-1 starts with a conversation, not a contract.

We'll look at your hiring plan together, discuss which plan fits, and decide jointly whether Tier-1 is the right commitment. If it isn't, we'll say so, contingency or RPO may serve you better.