Chief Executive Officer Executive Search

The one hire the board can't miss

Retained CEO search for PE-backed, growth and public companies. The partner you meet runs the search from start to close.

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98% Placement Rate
400+ Annual Searches
85% Client Return Rate
4.9 / 5 Satisfaction Rate
The Role

Chief Executive Officer
executive search

A CEO search usually opens with a spec written for the company as it was, and the market punishes that. Our 2026 research found 81% of senior leaders are open to a move, which means the candidates you want are reachable but they are weighing sharper offers than yours.

Nearly half of executives also say their successor will need AI fluency they were never asked for, so the profile that worked last cycle may not be the one that works next. We start by naming which CEO the moment calls for, then build the search around the business you are building. PE-backed, growth, and public companies, partner-led from first call to close.

Source:  ON Partners Widening Gap, 2026 

The Roles We Place

Three CEO archetypes. One right answer for your moment.

Every CEO search is a calibration question before it is a candidate question. We name the archetype before we open the search so the spec fits the business you actually have.

Built to scale a company through known terrain. Operationally disciplined. Builds the leadership team, the operating cadence, and the financial muscle the business needs at the next inflection.

  • Has scaled a company through $100M to $500M+ in revenue

  • Builds executive teams without disrupting the operating rhythm

  • Comfortable with PE governance or public-co cadence

  • Lives in the operating review, not the strategy offsite

Hired into volatility. AI shift, regulatory reset, capital structure change, activist situation, post-COVID strategy reset. Brings rigor without sentimentality and the willingness to break what isn't working.

  • Has led at least one company through a structural reset

  • Comfortable with board scrutiny and investor optics

  • Strong cost discipline without losing growth muscle

  • Builds AI capability without losing what makes the business work

Replaces a founder or owner-CEO who is stepping back. The hardest archetype to place because the chemistry, the legacy, and the change agenda all have to land at the same time.

  • Has succeeded a founder before, or run a closely-held company

  • Builds credibility with the existing team in 90 days or less

  • Holds the culture without freezing it

  • Comfortable working alongside a founder-Chair

Sample of our work
In their words

What clients say after the placement.

1 / 4
“

ON did a great job of understanding what we were looking for in a outside Board Director role and found great candidates for us.

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Common Questions

What leaders may ask before a search

A PE-backed CEO operates in 100-day plans, EBITDA architecture, exit mechanics, and tight partner alignment. A public-co CEO operates in quarterly cadences, investor optics, board governance, and shareholder communication. The skills overlap. The temperament does not. Naming which kind of CEO the business needs is the first work we do.

Both can work. Sitting CEOs bring pattern recognition but often carry off-limits restrictions and longer transition timelines. First-time CEOs bring hunger and full focus but require deeper reference work on board chemistry and operating maturity. The right answer depends on the business stage and the urgency of the seat.
Three options most often. First, hire a President or COO 18 to 24 months ahead and groom into the role. Second, run an external CEO search with the current CEO stepping to Chair. Third, recruit a CEO with explicit succession optionality in the spec. We help the board pick the right path before the search opens.
Most of our CEO searches are confidential. The candidate slate, the company name, and the search itself are protected through specific outreach protocols, NDA-first conversations, and back-channel reference framing. Discretion is part of the search, not an add-on.