Embedded Recruitment With
Structure, Accountability, and Results.
Guaranteed.
The 6E Framework is our embedded delivery framework – six pillars that ensure every embedded partnership is set up for success, measured transparently, and continuously improved. Inside it, our recruiters run 6S and 6F for every hire, so you get search-quality rigour at embedded scale.
40%
more cost-effective
6E+6S
processes at scale
60+
countries delivered
The Problem With Most
Embedded Recruitment
Embedded and RPO models promise cost savings and scalability. But too often, they deliver inconsistent quality, recruiter churn, and no accountability for outcomes.
Cost focus, not quality focus
Most embedded providers compete on price. The result? Junior recruiters, high turnover, and a race to the bottom on candidate quality. You save money on fees but pay the price in mis-hires and manager time wasted on weak shortlists.
No consistent methodology
Quality varies recruiter to recruiter. There’s no standardised process — just individuals doing their best with whatever approach they prefer. You get capacity, not capability. Activity, not outcomes.
No accountability for results
Embedded providers get paid for time, not success. If hires don’t work out, if roles stay open, if hiring managers are frustrated — it’s your problem. There’s no skin in the game, and no guarantee of outcomes.
The 6E framework exists to solve this. It’s a structured framework that ensures every embedded partnership delivers consistent, measurable, and guaranteed outcomes with every hire.
Six Pillars. One Outcome.
Embedded Recruitment That Works.
Every pillar of 6E is designed to ensure your embedded partnership succeeds – from how we set it up, to how we execute, to how we continuously improve.
Expectations
Align on Success Before We Start
What Happens
We work with you to define what success looks like: hiring targets, timelines, quality benchmarks, and how we’ll measure progress. We agree on scope, roles, and responsibilities. We document everything so there’s no ambiguity.
Why It Matters
Most embedded partnerships fail because expectations were never clearly set. Six months in, there’s disagreement about what “good” looks like. Blame replaces collaboration. 6E prevents this by forcing alignment upfront.
What Makes Us Different
We don’t just ask what you want, we challenge whether it’s realistic. If your targets are unachievable given market conditions, we’ll say so. Better to set honest expectations than to overpromise and underdeliver.
Engagement
Define How We'll Work Together
What Happens
We establish how the partnership will operate day-to-day. Communication rhythms, reporting cadence, stakeholder access, escalation paths, and decision-making authority. We integrate with your systems, your processes, and your team.
Why It Matters
Embedded recruitment fails when the “embedded” part doesn’t work. Recruiters who can’t access hiring managers. Reports that nobody reads. Issues that escalate too late. Engagement ensures the operating model is designed for success.
What Makes Us Different
We don’t just slot in and follow your process. We bring our own, while adapting to your context. You get the benefit of our methodology, integrated into how your organisation actually works.
Execution
Deliver Every Hire With Rigour
What Happens
Our embedded recruiters run the 6S search process and 6F fit methodology for every hire. Scoping with hiring managers. Scorecarding to define requirements. Structured sourcing, selecting, and securing. Fit assessment across all six dimensions.
Why It Matters
This is where most embedded providers fall short. They provide recruiters, but those recruiters don’t have a consistent methodology. Quality varies. Outcomes are unpredictable. 6E ensures every hire, whether it’s the first or the fiftieth, is delivered with the same rigour.
What Makes Us Different
Your embedded team isn’t just “your recruiters.” They’re recruiters running a proven system. The same 6S and 6F methodology we use in retained search, applied at scale. That’s how we maintain quality while delivering volume.
Efficiency
Continuously Improve Performance
What Happens
We track the metrics that matter: time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, offer acceptance rates, hiring manager satisfaction, candidate experience scores. We identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities to improve. We report transparently and act on what we find.
Why It Matters
Embedded partnerships should get better over time, not just maintain the status quo. If we’re embedded for 12 months, month 12 should be more efficient than month 1. Efficiency ensures we’re always improving, not just delivering.
What Makes Us Different
We don’t just report metrics, we own them. If time-to-hire is slipping, we diagnose why and fix it. If a hiring manager is consistently unhappy, we address it. Efficiency isn’t a dashboard, it’s a commitment to continuous improvement.
Enablement
Define How We'll Work Together
What Happens
We transfer knowledge throughout the partnership. Process documentation, hiring manager training, market insights, and capability building for your internal team. When the engagement ends, you’re stronger than when we started, not dependent on us to continue.
Why It Matters
Some embedded providers want you to stay dependent forever. We don’t. Our goal is to leave you with better processes, better-trained hiring managers, and a stronger internal capability. That’s what a true partnership looks like.
What Makes Us Different
Enablement isn’t an afterthought, it’s built into how we work. We share what we learn. We train as we go. We document what works. You’re not renting recruiters, you’re gaining lasting capability.
Experience
Protect Your Employer Brand at Every Touchpoint
What Happens
We measure and manage the experience of everyone involved – candidates, hiring managers, and stakeholders. We track satisfaction, gather feedback, and act on it. We ensure that how you hire reflects how you want to be seen as an employer.
Why It Matters
Candidate experience affects your employer brand and your offer acceptance rates. Hiring manager experience affects adoption and collaboration. A poor experience, even from an external partner, damages your reputation. Experience ensures we protect it.
What Makes Us Different
We treat every candidate interaction as a reflection of your brand, not ours. We’re not here to process applications, we’re here to represent you in the market. That means professionalism, responsiveness, and respect at every touchpoint.
An Embedded Framework That Contains a System
6E governs how the embedded partnership operates. 6S and 6F govern how every hire is delivered within it.
6E — The Delivery Framework
Expectations, Engagement, Execution, Efficiency, Enablement, Experience. The six pillars that ensure your embedded partnership is set up for success, measured transparently, and continuously improved.
6S — The Search Process
Scoping, Scorecarding, Sourcing, Selecting, Securing, Satisfying. The structured search methodology our embedded recruiters run for every hire, ensuring rigour and consistency at scale.
6F — The Fit Methodology
Fit, Freedom, Family, Fulfilment, Fortune, Future. The six dimensions we assess to ensure every candidate is aligned with your culture, expectations, and trajectory – not just qualified on paper.
This is what makes SD Embedded different.
A structured framework that ensures every embedded partnership delivers consistent, measurable, and guaranteed outcomes, with 6S and 6F powering every hire.
The Results of Embedded Recruitment Done Right
40%
cost savings
Compared to equivalent search volume, our embedded model delivers significant cost efficiency, without compromising on quality.
Consistent
quality at scale
Because every hire runs through 6S and 6F, quality doesn’t degrade as volume increases. Hire 5 or hire 50 — the rigour is the same.
Outcomes
not just activity
We measure what matters — hires made, time-to-fill, retention rates, hiring manager satisfaction — and we’re accountable for delivering against them.
Challenge
A global industrial company needed to hire 40+ engineers across three countries in 12 months. Their internal TA team was overwhelmed, and previous agency relationships had delivered inconsistent results.
Approach
We embedded a team of 3 recruiters running the full 6E framework, with 6S and 6F powering every hire. Weekly reporting, monthly reviews, continuous improvement.
Outcome
44 hires delivered in 11 months. 96% passed probation. Cost savings of 38% vs. previous agency model. Internal TA capability strengthened through knowledge transfer.
Three Services.
One Methodology.
6E is purpose-built for SD Embedded. But the methodology that sits inside it powers all our services.
Critical Hire Search
Milestone search with a 12-month guarantee and shortlists delivered in weeks, not months.
Executive Search
VP to C-suite hires that shape your future. Leadership profiling, internal benchmarking, and an 18-month guarantee that traditional exec firms won’t match.
Embedded Recruitment
Dedicated recruiters in your team, running our methodology at scale. Typically 40% more cost-effective than equivalent search volume.
Embedded Partnerships Across
Four Specialist Sectors
The framework is consistent. The execution is tailored to your industry.
Industrial & Engineering
Manufacturing, automotive, electronics, semiconductors, robotics, defence, aerospace and automation.
Energy & Infrastructure
Oil & gas, power & utilities, renewables, construction, data centre infrastructure, testing & inspection.
Life Sciences & Process Industries
Pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices, chemicals, food & beverage, FMCG production and process manufacturing.
Advanced Technologies
IoT, connected devices, software, AI/ML, , SaaS, robotics, automation, sensors, data, analytics, digital transformation and IT services.
Whether you’re scaling a manufacturing operation in Europe, ramping engineering capacity for a tech scale-up, or building a commercial team across APAC – 6E adapts to your context while maintaining the structure that delivers results.
Resources & Insights
Expert perspectives on hiring, talent strategy, and building exceptional teams.
Ready to scale hiring without sacrificing quality?
Let’s talk about your hiring challenges. We’ll show you how 6E applies to your situation — and why it delivers results you can measure.