As the boss (Willem Dafoe) of a Chicago-based headhunter prepares to retire, Dane Jensen (Gerard Butler), who works at the Blackridge Recruiting agency arranging jobs for engineers, vies to achieve his longtime goal of taking over the company going head-to-head with his ambitious rival, Lynn Vogel (Alison Brie). However, Dane's 10-year-old son, Ryan (Maxwell Jenkins), is suddenly diagnosed with cancer and his professional priorities at work and personal priorities at home begin to clash with one another.