Internal recruiters only care about positions at their company. External recruiters really only care about an applicant if there’s a position that needs filled that they’ve been contracted out to fill (mainly because they get a cut, don’t fault them for that).
What I’m curious is if there is someone who is willing to work on your behalf and leverage connections they have in an industry to find a person a job regardless of where it is.
Im either using the wrong search terms or it doesn’t exist (for reference I’m looking for Director+ IT).
My experiences with these kinds of headhunters has been “mixed”, trending toward “poor”. Most were useless. They would show up with “opportunities” then I’d never hear from them again. These people/companies typically, as I understand it, work “in bulk”. They’re just harvesting as many resumes as they can, throwing buckets of them at employers and hoping something sticks. They aren’t really going to put any meaningful effort into helping you.
That said, a rare few have really stepped up. The last one I worked with back around 2012, really went out of his way to get me in with a company and secure me a good offer. So they do exist. But, in my experience at least, they are rare.
You’re in a tricky position. You’re looking for a relatively senior position. You’ll be up against a fair amount of competition for somewhat rare roles with very specific requirements. There’s just not going to be a ton of those director+ level roles out there at any given time. But don’t give up and don’t give up hope. Those recruiters do exist, as do those jobs. Good luck!