Recruitment Services in Lagos and Across Nigeria
Hiring in Nigeria has become harder and more expensive at exactly the same time. Skilled candidates in technology, finance, engineering and health are receiving offers from remote international employers, from regional groups and from organisations willing to move faster than the incumbent. Vacancies that used to close in four weeks now run for three months, and the cost of that delay usually exceeds the cost of the hire.
We recruit for employers across Nigeria, from single specialist appointments through to structured hiring programmes and executive search.
How we work a vacancy
Role scoping. A working session to establish what the role must deliver in its first year, what is genuinely essential in a candidate and what has been inherited from an outdated job description. This step removes more failed searches than any other.
Market view. An honest read on availability and current pay for that profile in Nigeria, in NGN. Where the brief cannot be filled at the budget set, we say so at the outset rather than after six weeks of searching.
Sourcing. Direct approach and headhunting, our existing network, referrals and targeted advertising. For senior and scarce roles, direct approach does the work that advertising cannot.
Assessment. Structured, competency-based interviews scored against an agreed scorecard, with role-relevant exercises where they add signal. Structured assessment is what makes hiring decisions comparable and defensible.
Verification. Referencing and, where you require it, background and credential checks conducted with candidate consent and handled in line with the NDPA 2023.
Offer and close. Guidance on offer construction, managing counter-offers and staying in contact through the notice period, which is where a surprising number of Nigerian hires are lost.
Executive and specialist search
Leadership hires are researched rather than advertised. We build a mapped longlist of the relevant market, approach discreetly, and present a shortlist with written assessment against the agreed criteria rather than a stack of CVs.
For confidential appointments, including succession where an incumbent is still in post, the search runs without your organisation being named until a candidate has been qualified and has signed a confidentiality undertaking.
Recruitment technology and MoonTrack HR
Volume hiring falls apart without a system. Applications sit in inboxes, candidates go unanswered, and hiring managers cannot see where anyone is in the process. It damages the employer brand quietly and permanently, because rejected candidates talk.
For employers who want to run recruitment in-house on a proper applicant tracking system, we recommend MoonTrack HR, our recruitment technology partner. It handles job publishing, application capture, structured scorecards, interview scheduling and pipeline reporting in one place. Speak to us if you would like the process design and the assessment framework built alongside it.
Building your own hiring capability
Interview skills training for hiring managers, focused on structured questioning and consistent scoring.
Scorecard and competency framework design for your core role families.
Careers page and job advertisement review, so that adverts describe the role rather than list requirements.
Time to hire and offer acceptance reporting, so recruitment is managed on evidence.
Hiring in the Nigerian market as it stands
Employers competing for the same scarce candidates in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt are no longer competing only with each other. Remote roles paid from abroad, regional groups hiring into Ghana and Kenya, and relocation routes have all widened the field. A brief written against last year's salary band will simply not attract the shortlist it used to.
We work with clients on what can realistically be secured for the budget available in NGN, and where the trade-off is best taken: a slightly less experienced hire with a development plan, a restructured role, an interim appointment, or a genuine increase in the offer. That conversation held early is what separates searches that close from searches that drift.
We also advise on the candidate experience itself. Response times, interview volume, clarity of feedback and the speed of the offer decision all influence acceptance rates in a market where good candidates hold multiple processes at once.
Getting started
Recruitment assignments are quoted in NGN, either as a percentage of first year remuneration or as a fixed fee for defined programmes. To brief us on a vacancy, email consulting@sahrpartners.com.