CDS was founded in April 1998 by Simon Childs and Jason Dacaret.

CDS' retained practice is known as CDS Executive and our consultants come from leading retained search firms as well as from senior positions in industry with companies such as Nissan, Canon, and Microsoft. We focus on the consumer, financial services, healthcare & life sciences, industrial, online media and technology sectors.

CDS was the first western managed search business in Japan to receive private equity funding from Jasdaq-listed NIF-SMBC. And then in January 2008, CDS achieved another first by becoming the search arm of Recruit Agent - Japan's largest domestic recruiting business. This has further enhanced our ability to deliver top-caliber talent, especially from Japanese multinationals, to our clients.

CDS Executive follows standards set by the AESC (Association of Executive Search Consultants) as well as by JESRA (Japan Executive Search and Recruitment Association) which regulates local executive search companies.