Director Recruitment Checklist 

How to use this tool: Nominating and governance committees can use this checklist to ensure a thorough and transparent recruitment process. Actions are grouped under the five key steps outlined in the Director Essentials report on Director Recruitment. 

1. Maintain Continuous Recruitment Readiness 

• Review and update the board’s skills matrix at least annually.
• Assign accountability for the collaborative process, led by the nominating and governance committee chair.
• Monitor anticipated recruitment triggers (e.g., retirements, term limits, leadership transitions).
• Develop a candidate pipeline through the board’s own contacts or through other methods (e.g., search firms, professional and industry associations, service providers, or databases).
• Build and refresh the candidate pipeline aligned with strategic priorities. 

2. Confirm Requirements and Role Specification 

• Plan the recruitment process and time line, including interviews, background checks, and board updates. 
• Use the skills matrix to inform the competencies needed for the director search. 
• Create the candidate specification (“spec”) document.  
• Determine the evaluation framework, grounded in the board’s agreed-upon selection criteria. 

3. Activate Recruitment Process 

• Establish confidentiality and communication protocols for candidate outreach. 
• Determine sourcing strategies (e.g., board and leadership networks, search firms, professional and industry associations, service providers, or databases). 
• Narrow the slate by confirming alignment to the spec, candidate availability, independence, reputation, and other factors.