Specialized Executive Search
The people who help leaders run the business.
Retained executive search for Chiefs of Staff, business operations and executive operations leaders. We help founders and executives make permanent hires who take ownership of complex responsibilities and turn leadership priorities into results.
What We Search
Operating leaders.
Clear ownership.
Senior operators who work directly with leadership, take responsibility for important decisions and carry complex work through to completion.
Chief of Staff
Manage leadership priorities, coordinate across the organization and carry initiatives that require the founder’s, partner’s or principal’s direct attention.
Explore this search → Operational ownershipBusiness Operations
Own the processes, planning and accountability that support the business through growth and change, with clear responsibility for execution.
Explore this search → Executive executionExecutive Operations
Run the executive office, coordinate advisors and critical relationships, and manage responsibilities that require judgment, discretion and follow-through.
Explore this search →Where We Focus
The business shapes the hire.
We work with founders, partners and principals whose responsibilities call for dedicated operating leadership. The search reflects the business, the scope of the role and the person it supports.
Investment Firms
Chief of Staff and operations leaders for venture capital, private equity and investment management firms, taking ownership of the business and executive operations around the investment team.
Family Offices
Operating leaders for established and emerging family offices, coordinating the office, its advisors and the principal’s responsibilities across business, investment and private affairs.
Professional Services
Business and executive operations leaders for law, accounting and advisory firms, bringing operational ownership to partner-led organizations.
Founder-led Businesses
Operators who help founders manage complexity across the company and executive office, including private responsibilities that develop alongside the business.
A private office can take shape within a founder-led business before it has a formal name. When advisors, investments and private responsibilities are already being coordinated around the founder, we help define the operating role that structure needs.
Industry Experience
Industry context matters.
Our approach to search draws on firsthand experience across these industries, informing how we understand the business, define the role and assess candidates.
- Financial Services
- Venture Capital
- Private Equity
- Family & Private Offices
- Professional Services
- Life Sciences & Biotechnology
- Technology
- Sports & Entertainment
- Real Estate Development
Search markets. We conduct searches across the New York Tri-State Area, Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern California.
Our Approach
Search informed by
doing the work.
We begin with what the hire needs to own, who it supports and where it has authority. Then we assess the experience and judgment required to deliver.
A clear mandate. A focused search. Direct involvement.
Executive search for Chiefs of Staff and operations leaders
What we search, and why it is a different discipline. Chief of Staff, business operations and family office mandates — roles where judgment, ownership and working fit matter as much as capability.
Explore
Search, in context.
Chief of Staff Search
How we define the mandate for one of the most context-dependent hires a leader makes.
Read more → Search FocusSearch for Founders & Executives
Business and executive operations leaders for founder-led businesses and leadership teams.
Read more → Search FocusFamily Office Search
Chief of Staff and operations roles across family, investment and private offices.
Read more →Begin a Search
Make the next hire count.
Start with the responsibilities this person needs to own.
Tell us about the business or office, who the role supports and what should be materially better after the hire.
Start a SearchNeed operating leadership directly?
William David Advisors provides fractional, interim and project-based operating leadership: planning, reporting, operating systems and cross-team delivery. Engage WDA for ongoing support, a leadership transition or a defined project.