INDUSTRY PRACTICES

Consumer and Retail

These are volatile times for the retail and consumer industry: the advent of the Internet has reshaped the way we buy and sell in more dramatic ways than could ever have been imagined. From evolving consumer demographics to industry consolidations, globalization to shifting sources and supply chains, the industry continues to change and evolve. Cultural segmentation is adding another dimension, making it more difficult to navigate this ever-changing landscape. As a result, organizations critically need the managerial and leadership talent to survive and thrive.

Our team approach is both strategic and consultative: We understand the various markets that we serve and excel at finding just the right executive who combines the business skills, leadership style, and cultural “fit” to help ensure the success of your organization.

Digital, Media, Entertainment, & Sports

When it comes to digital, media, entertainment, and sports, we have more choices than ever before. It wasn’t that long ago that it would have seemed outlandish to consider watching the Super Bowl on your phone as you sat on a bus; “talking” to your television, or having it know you so well that it could anticipate what you wanted to watch; storing a jukebox on your phone; or wearing a mini-computer as a stylish wristwatch. And yet we do all of these things today. And think little of it.

But technology is changing far more than our leisure time. It’s also making demands: for top-notch leadership that can not only manage the shifting sands it creates, but that can anticipate the change coming around the bend, and the bend after that, and the bend after that. The demand for high-quality digital experiences is increasing; the competition for market share is fiercer than ever. In addition, the focus on culturally and linguistically relevant local content is critical to attracting consumer demand. Media, entertainment conglomerates, and sports bodies need leaders with the experience and perspective that will enable them to not only predict and adapt to consumers’ rapidly changing needs but also identify new revenue sources, too.

Our team is comprised of seasoned recruiters with heavy industry experience at leading media and sports organizations, including the management of internal recruitment organizations in large media conglomerates. We know the talent marketplace of these industries and we are able to respond quickly to our clients’ needs. We excel at identifying executives who have the creativity, business acumen, and vision to lead the growth of your organization.

Education

A dynamic educational experience answers the call of potential and imagination, spurs growth of individuals and ideas, rouses passions, and cultivates opportunity. The constantly evolving education landscape requires tactical, forward-thinking leaders who can manage this changing environment. The stakes could not be higher.

All institutions are acclimating to revenue challenges, in many cases attributable to increased competition, low growth, or declining government funding. Shifting demographics mean there are new populations to be served and, for education, that historical numbers of students aren’t necessarily available anymore from traditional sources. Policymakers and other stakeholders are shifting focus to measuring outcomes and the adoption of performance-based funding models. While these changes can be daunting, many tools exist for forward-thinking education organizations to thrive. Data analytics, formal risk assessment, enrollment management for education, and strategic planning can improve outcomes, sustainability, and mission fulfillment. By securing the right leadership, institutions can ensure they are ready for any challenge.

We have an exceptional track record of identifying, assessing, and recruiting leaders to the education sector. In 2019, we acquired Koya Leadership Partners, the nation’s premier search firm dedicated to mission-driven leadership; and in 2020, we acquired Storbeck Search & Associates, one of the most highly respected education executive search firms in the country.  Many of our consultants have served as the education and nonprofit administrators and leaders, giving them firsthand knowledge of these environments and organizational dynamics. We have dedicated our own careers and passions to these vital causes, and now apply our expertise in executive search and leadership assessment to partner with our clients.

Energy

Energy and natural resources are integral to the global economy. But they are far more than commodities. Today, they are front and center in every facet of the national discourse. Companies face many challenges, but now, more than ever, there is a need for boards and management teams to define and execute successful transformative strategies.

Diversified Search’s Energy and Natural Resources Practice is global in reach and scope. We have a team of experienced recruiters worldwide, focused in key geographies across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Combining unrivaled local knowledge with a deep understanding of the people and issues impacting the energy and natural resources sectors, we provide high-touch support and counsel to every type of company involved in power, oil and gas, mining, metals and minerals, and renewable and clean-tech energy industries. Our clients include public and private companies, investors, and end-users, as well as industry associations. The combined experience of the group is a resource for clients who are producers, manufacturers, traders, financiers, investors, and transporters in the energy and natural resources sectors.

Financial Services

Financial Services is one of the most dynamic and fastest-changing sectors of our global economy. Leading financial services depository institutions need bright, highly-motivated professionals to build successful businesses, and with a continuing flurry of regulatory changes, mergers, globalization, e-business, and new products and services, leaders must be increasingly nimble, strategic, and tactical. To succeed, executive leadership in your organization must embrace change and transform business models to meet customers’ demands; be technology-oriented as the customers’ experience and internal processes continue to be reshaped; become more customer-centric, not just with services but with products as well; utilize IT, data analytics, and big data as competitive weapons; streamline distribution channels to be more effective; and, most of all, be innovative.

We are adept at aligning the successful experience and track record of candidates with the culture and vision of your organization. Our proven source networks allow us to develop effective search strategies and begin project execution quickly; our seasoned team knows industry verticals, functional positions, industry trends, and which target firms have momentum—and which do not. We are accomplished in presenting opportunities and evaluating candidates. And we do it all with refreshing candor and insight.

Healthcare Services

There may be no more volatile sector of the American economy. Changing government legislation and regulations, a rapidly increasing geriatric population, dynamism in research and technology, and a radically changing landscape for patient expectations and care make the healthcare industry one of our most unpredictable. And there has never been a more pressing need for innovative and forward-thinking leadership.

With pressure for increased quality, efficiency, access, and value, healthcare leaders are redefining success through emerging models of delivery, care management, and financing. As traditional boundaries fade, integrated care systems emerge, and innovative products, services, and capabilities are introduced. Effectively facilitating this transformation has created a need for new business and leadership competencies.

We are dedicated to working with clients to find the leaders of tomorrow, capable of transforming the healthcare industry to ensure access to affordable, high-quality care while sustaining and improving organizational performance and efficiency. Our team of industry experts, search consultants, and researchers bring significant cumulative experience to uncover candidates with varied perspectives and skills who can contribute in unique and impactful ways. We pose the important questions. And we bring insight and market intelligence to open new possibilities.

Industrial

Globalization of business and competition. Outsourcing. High-growth new markets. Far-flung supply chains. Succession planning. New technologies and innovation. The need to continue to drive operational excellence in the midst of it all.

These are just some of the challenges facing the 21st Century Industrial field. And navigating them successfully requires boards and leadership teams that not only possess deep knowledge of their businesses, but teams that are also adaptive, transformational, digitally literate, and globally aware. It requires leaders who are at once strategic and operational, who are market savvy and commercially adept, and who are mindful of the impact of their decisions in both the short and long terms.

Aided by our carefully built and maintained a network of sources, references, and clients—and the depth of knowledge our seasoned consultants bring to the table—Diversified Search offers outstanding search leadership throughout the Industrial economy. Add to that our firm’s unparalleled track record in developing highly inclusive slates of candidates—not only in terms of ethnic and gender diversity but just as important, in terms of diversity of thought and perspective—and we are the best executive search partner available.

Life Sciences

The future is here, and it lies at the intersection of science, technology, and patient care. These areas have converged to create pressing leadership needs for a broad array of life science companies and organizations.

Our Life Sciences Practice is, in effect, a firm within a firm, and we work closely with our Silicon Valley arm, BioQuest, to provide high value-added executive search services to our clients on a global basis. As a core commitment, we partner with you to bring together the ablest geographic and subject-matter experts within our firm to solve the most imperative human capital needs of your organization. We partner with financial sponsor entities ranging from global corporations to portfolio companies of private equity and venture capital firms. We have the experience and skill to find the leaders you need to help your organization thrive.

Nonprofit and Arts & Culture

Nonprofit organizations elevate our communities while serving and protecting those at risk, our most cherished beliefs, and our most vulnerable resources. Our arts and culture institutions engage us, teach us, inspire us, and move us. The evolving nonprofit and arts and culture landscapes require values-driven leaders who incorporate diverse perspectives while continuously improving.

All institutions are acclimating to revenue challenges, in many cases attributable to increased competition, low growth, or declining government funding. Shifting demographics mean there are new populations to be served in different ways.  While new realities can be daunting, many tools exist for forward-thinking organizations to not only maintain, but thrive. The ongoing digital revolution is providing increasingly flexible and customizable ways to communicate and provide services. New approaches to constituent communications can enhance affinity, perceived value, participation, and giving among an organization’s stakeholders. By securing the right leadership and appropriately leveraging sophisticated methodologies, institutions can ensure they are ready for the future.

We have an exceptional track record of identifying, assessing, and recruiting leaders in the nonprofit and arts and culture sectors. In 2019, we acquired Koya Leadership Partners, the nation’s premier search firm dedicated to mission-driven leadership.  Many of our consultants have served as nonprofit administrators and leaders, giving them firsthand knowledge of these environments and organizational dynamics. We have dedicated our own careers and passions to these vital causes, and now apply our expertise in executive search and leadership assessment to partner with mission-focused clients.

Technology

Is there any field that is more confusing, more dynamic, more exciting, and—frankly—more vexing than technology and telecommunications? We live in a world where your cutting-edge smartphone or tablet today may be obsolete by next week. And where the Internet of Things is sweeping across every sector and every role, changing every life in America.

It can be challenging, to say the least, to work through the thicket of this and find the right people for the ever-demanding leadership roles that the changing technology landscape demands. We know this, and we know how to do it. At Diversified Search, we focus on identifying, assessing, and recruiting leaders steeped in the new technologies, and who are experts at leveraging convergence, telecommunications, and content. This co-mingling is igniting transformation and disintermediation across the global economy—and creating a new paradigm for business. Such change requires a different kind of leader: an agent of change who can see around corners, define a great future for a business or organization, and instill positive, creative collaboration and operational focus.

In executing our work—and reflecting this brave new world—we, too, strive to be different. We employ a multifaceted methodology, leveraging our expertise in diversity, access to unique talent pools, and superior process to find not just your next leader, but your next great and transformational one.

Private Equity

Increasingly, America’s most dynamic companies all have two things in common. One is that each has an ahead-of-their-time leader who has the drive and the smarts to revolutionize the way the world works.

The second? They’re funded through private equity. In today’s hurly-burly global marketplace, private equity is the engine propelling forward new ideas, new visions, new ways of thinking and looking at the world. In every metric that matters, it’s the definition of the new frontier in business, funding everything from cutting-edge tech start-ups to new methodologies for manufacturing to almost everything encompassed by the Internet of Things. And because of all of that, it requires leadership that is not only smart and focused, but also one step ahead of almost everyone else.

Our Private Equity Practice leverages the full capability of our deep industry and functional expertise across every major sector to effectively serve private equity firms and their suite of portfolio companies. We know that the right leadership is vital the success of any investment at any stage of the investment life cycle, whether that’s IPOs and pre- and post-merger integrations, or executive introductions and talent studies that include management benchmarking and market scans.

The challenge facing PE firms today is to attract the right talent to impact the investment strategies and drive operations growth within their respective portfolios. We know that leaders in this market must excel at managing cash and improving the top line. We know what qualities a private equity needs for success. And we know how to bring those leaders to you.