Wilco is a boutique recruitment agency specialising in legal and leadership placements, connecting top-tier talent with leading law firms and organisations across New Zealand. Its two guiding ambitions are simple: leaders who fit, and careers that land — delivered with what the team calls quiet expertise and confident delivery.
The agency is led by Erin Donkin, whose career spans more than six years in legal practice in New Zealand and Singapore and over a decade in recruitment. That background matters: Wilco's team has recruited lawyers at every level, placed senior leaders across accounting, finance, sales, marketing and tech, and worked both agency-side and in-house, managing teams and holding a seat at the leadership table. That dual perspective — professional practice plus recruitment expertise — means they don't just fill roles; they read the room, the culture and the career arc.
Wilco's legal recruitment covers lawyers across all major practice areas, from solicitors through to directors and partners, plus in-house appointments from junior lawyers up to General Counsel. Its leadership recruitment places GMs, directors and heads of function across accounting, finance, sales and marketing, using a search-led approach that maps the market and identifies passive candidates rather than recycling the same shortlists.
Clients get a focused process from brief to placement, honest advice on market conditions, salary expectations and candidate availability, and proactive communication throughout — no padding, no wasted shortlists, no surprises at offer stage. Candidates get recruiters who understand their profession, straight talk on the market, and access to roles that aren't advertised, with the reassurance that no CV goes anywhere without their knowledge and no one disappears after the placement is made.
Engagements are exclusive or retained, tailored to the complexity of the role. And the ethos that underpins it all is relationship-first: as Wilco puts it, the best brief it will ever win is your second one.
Quiet expertise. Confident delivery. That is how Wilco describes itself, and the two phrases sum up a boutique recruitment agency specialising in legal and leadership placements. Working across New Zealand, Wilco connects top-tier talent with leading law firms and organisations nationwide, guided by two simple ambitions: leaders who fit, and careers that land.
Wilco is led by Erin Donkin, and the agency's approach is rooted in experience on the other side of the desk. Before recruiting, Erin spent more than six years in legal practice in New Zealand and Singapore. Since then, more than a decade in recruitment has meant placing lawyers at every level and senior leaders across accounting, finance, sales, marketing and tech — working agency-side and in-house, managing teams, and holding a seat at the leadership table.
That dual perspective — professional practice plus recruitment expertise — shapes every conversation. As Wilco puts it, they don't just fill roles: they read the room, the culture, and the career arc.
Wilco's work runs along two streams. The first is legal recruitment: lawyers placed at all levels and across all major practice areas, from solicitors through to directors and partners, along with in-house appointments from junior lawyers up to General Counsel. The second is leadership recruitment, where Wilco recruits senior leaders across accounting, finance, sales and marketing — including GMs, directors and heads of function.
For clients, the process is deliberately sharp and efficient. Wilco takes the time to understand a firm or legal team — the work, the culture, the growth plan — then builds a shortlist around the role, the team and where the organisation is heading. Every candidate is assessed against the brief, the culture and the strategic direction, not just today's job description. The promise is blunt: no padding, no wasted shortlists, no surprises at offer stage. The advice is honest even when it isn't what a client wants to hear, because that is how the best outcomes are reached.
Leadership hiring gets a search-led treatment. Wilco maps the market, identifies passive candidates, and builds shortlists on capability, culture fit and strategic alignment — rather than recycling the same names. Hiring the right person matters: a strong hire lifts a team, and a poor one costs far more than the recruiter's fee. Engagements are exclusive or retained, tailored to the complexity of the role — a retained search brings dedicated focus and full market coverage for senior or confidential appointments, while an exclusive engagement offers a single point of accountability and full access to Wilco's networks when speed and precision matter most.
Wilco is equally clear that a career is not a transaction. Whether someone is actively job hunting or quietly keeping options open, they are invited to an honest conversation about where they are and where they want to be. The commitments are explicit: no pushing roles that don't fit, no sending a CV anywhere without the candidate's knowledge, and no disappearing once the placement is made.
Candidates get recruiters who understand their profession, straight talk on the market and realistic salary benchmarks, and access to roles that aren't advertised, drawn from networks across legal and commercial sectors. The process is confidential and respectful from the first conversation to the first day — and continues well beyond it.
That last point matters. Wilco describes its relationships as lasting long after the paperwork is signed, and measures itself by a simple standard: the best brief it will ever win is the client's second one. In a market where recruitment can feel transactional, that emphasis on trust — backed by the judgement that comes from having practised law and led teams — is what sets the agency apart.
If your organisation needs a senior hire done properly, or you're at a point in your career where the next move matters, starting is simple. Send your CV or reach out to Erin Donkin for a confidential conversation. There is no pressure and no obligation — just a frank discussion about your options, with a team that knows the market because it has lived it.