For the most part, executives negotiate their own pay packages. At the level of most executive hires, the firm expects the executive to be fully capable of negotiating his or her own terms.

However, if there is an extensive employment contract involved where a top level compensation attorney is hired by the executive, that attorney may handle the pay negotiation for the executive.

Many executives who are represented by recruiters also tend to utilize the recruiter as the agent/negotiator, however most will allow the recruiter to get involved and but not negotiate the final deal. This is something the executive usually wants to do personally.