Executive Search For
Private Equity
Building Private Equity Leadership to Drive Portfolio Performance, Operational Excellence, and Scalable Growth
Private equity firms operate at the nexus of capital deployment, operational transformation, and strategic velocity. Success depends not only on deal execution but on installing the right leadership, quickly and precisely, within portfolio companies and at the fund level. In a high-stakes environment where every quarter counts, executives must drive EBITDA expansion, accelerate value creation plans (VCPs), and navigate liquidity events, bolt-on acquisitions, and organizational redesign. Operating partners and deal teams require talent who can lead cross-functional transformations, build institutional-grade infrastructure, and navigate industry-specific complexity, often under compressed timelines and investor scrutiny. At the portfolio level, PE-backed companies must be led by CEOs, CFOs, and other C-suite leaders who can balance hands-on execution with a sharp eye for enterprise value creation, exit planning, and growth-stage scalability. At ExactSearch, we specialize in delivering investor-grade leadership for private equity firms and their portfolio companies, matching the urgency, precision, and discipline that define the asset class.
How We Partner with Private Equity Firms and PortCos to Solve Strategic Talent Gaps
Private equity leadership demands high-performance talent across investment, operational, and portfolio levels. Key challenges include:
- Leadership for Value Creation Plans (VCPs): PortCo executives must execute on specific growth and efficiency mandates, including pricing optimization, cost takeout, operational scaling, and go-to-market acceleration.
- CEO and CFO Upgrades for PortCos: PE sponsors often seek proven executives with repeatable playbooks for EBITDA improvement, working capital efficiency, and exit readiness—often within 3-5 year timelines.
- Functional Buildouts for Scale: We support key leadership placements across finance, operations, HR, GTM, and supply chain to build institutional capability for portfolio companies entering high-growth or pre-exit phases.
- Operating Partners and Fund-Level Leaders: PE firms need senior talent with hybrid investing and operating backgrounds to manage value creation, diligence support, and portfolio oversight across sectors.
- Sector-Specific Talent: Whether in healthcare services, industrials, software, or consumer, firms need executives who bring domain fluency, regulatory understanding, and competitive insight specific to each thesis.
- Change Management and Culture Integration: PortCo transformations often require significant organizational change, executives must lead through culture shift, new incentive models, and agile decision-making environments.
- M&A Integration and Buy-and-Build Playbooks: Leaders must manage bolt-on acquisitions, post-merger integration, and inorganic growth strategies while maintaining core business execution.
We begin with a rigorous intake that aligns on investment thesis, hold-period strategy, KPIs, and the leadership capabilities required to meet fund return expectations. Using AI-accelerated sourcing and deep executive networks, we deliver investor-caliber candidates with proven results in sponsor-backed environments.
Our process includes private equity-specific diligence—prior deal experience, exposure to liquidity events, success in leveraged environments, alignment with sponsor reporting requirements, and resilience under compressed timelines.
Why Private Equity Firms Choose ExactSearch
Private Equity Expertise at the Core
We understand PE-backed environments and how leadership needs differ based on fund strategy, sector, hold period, and exit planning.
Precision + Speed
Our AI-powered sourcing tools combined with real-world operator knowledge allow us to deliver curated, high-impact candidates typically within 2-4 weeks.
Leadership with Repeatable Playbooks
We prioritize executives with experience driving investor returns across multiple sponsor-backed companies, not just strong operators, but ones fluent in private equity cadence.
Strategic Talent Partner Across the Lifecycle
From carve-outs and first-time platforms to mature roll-ups and exits, we support firms across the investment lifecycle with leadership built to perform under pressure.
Value Creators Who Execute Fast
We place portfolio-ready operators who understand the levers of enterprise value, leaders who can deliver EBITDA growth, build strong teams, and work shoulder-to-shoulder with deal partners through the full investment cycle.
AI-LQ™ for Smarter Executive Evaluation
We evaluate candidates using AI-LQ™, our proprietary tool that measures an executive’s ability to accelerate digital transformation, optimize operating leverage, and embed AI into value creation plans.
Building Leadership That Translates Strategy Into Return
In private equity, time is value, and execution is everything. Whether you’re scaling a new platform, upgrading leadership to unlock value, or prepping a portfolio company for exit, ExactSearch delivers the leadership precision you need to outperform. We partner with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to build executive teams that don’t just meet plan, they expand it.
