Executive Search Lead
Leads confidential executive searches across Payward’s multi-brand platform, partnering with the Board, CEOs, and senior leadership on C-level, VP, Board, and Advisor mandates. Requires 6+ years of executive recruiting experience, strong negotiation and selection judgment, and San Francisco Bay Area location.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Own end-to-end executive recruiting across Payward, NinjaTrader, Reap, and future acquisitions, including C-level, Board, VP+, and Advisor mandates.
- Partner with Co-CEOs and executive leadership as a trusted advisor on priority searches.
- Run confidential board and advisory searches.
- Define and scale executive hiring as a shared service across a multi-brand platform.
- Own external search partner strategy, including retained-firm relationships, briefing, accountability, and spend control.
- Partner with Compensation & Benefits and HR business partners throughout the search lifecycle.
- Lead executive-level closing, offer construction, negotiation, and complex equity and compensation discussions.
Requirements
- 6+ years of executive recruiting experience with ownership of VP, C-level, and Board searches from mandate through close.
- Strong candidate-selection and calibration judgment, with the ability to defend shortlists to executive stakeholders.
- Business acumen to understand and credibly present a complex platform business.
- Proven retained-firm and agency management experience.
- Exceptional written and verbal English at an executive level.
- Track record of handling confidential executive searches with discretion.
- Comfort operating in ambiguity and supporting candidates and executives across all time zones.
- Located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Nice-to-haves
- In-house executive recruiting experience at a fintech, brokerage, exchange, or payments company.
- Experience at a retained executive search firm in addition to in-house recruiting.
- Experience building executive recruiting as a shared service across multiple entities or portfolio companies.
- Exposure to crypto or digital assets.
Compensation
- Annual salary range: $127,200–$254,400.
Skills
Executive Recruiting, Talent Acquisition, Candidate Selection, Executive Search, Offer Negotiation, Compensation Strategy, Equity Compensation, Agency Management, Retained Search, Stakeholder Management, Succession Planning, Market Intelligence, Crypto, Digital Assets
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