Commercialization & GTM Executive Search

Revenue leaders for a new motion

Q: How long does a GTM leadership search take?

Our median GTM search closes in 102 days. CRO searches typically run 100 to 130 days from kickoff to signed offer, depending on whether the brief requires international experience.

Find your next Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, or Chief Commercial Officer, the leader who turns your strategy into pipeline.

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95% Referral Rate

4.9 out of 5 rating

102 median days to close

900+ Searches

The Function

Commercialization & Go-To-Market
executive search

The commercial leaders you hire decide whether the strategy on paper turns into pipeline in production. Two in three high-growth companies have now put sales, marketing, and customer success under a single revenue leader, which makes the right CRO one of the highest-leverage hires on the team, since a unified function pulls three motions in one direction. We have placed hundreds of CROs, so we can tell you early which candidates hold all three.

Source: ON Partners Widening Gap, 2026 & Gartner CMO Spend Survey 2025

Role in this function

It takes more than one seat to build revenue.

A sample of the commercial seats we fill, each with its own candidate pool. Our partners know these markets seat by seat and can tell you which combination fits the GTM motion your company actually runs.

The Role

Chief Revenue Officer

The CRO is now the most-watched seat in growth-stage hiring. We separate revenue leaders who build a motion from those who only manage an existing one. The difference shows up in board meetings two quarters in.

Visit our CRO Page

A sample of our work in this area

The Role

Chief Marketing Officer

We placed NVIDIA’s first-ever CMO. The brand-versus-growth choice still matters. The right CMO in 2026 also has to translate AI-driven marketing infrastructure to a non-technical board.

See Our CMO Page

A sample of our work in this area

The Role

Chief Commercial Officer

While a CRO unifies top-line generation, a Chief Commercial Officer optimizes the full customer journey. This role is a powerful catalyst for services-heavy and expansion-driven companies looking to elevate post-sale revenue, deepen customer loyalty, and scale recurring value.

See our CRO & CCO work

A sample of our work in this area

The Role

Vice President Positions

Whether the seat is marketing, sales, or business development, these vice presidents own a number. We place leaders who have done the specific job before: scaled a sales team from five reps to twenty, turned marketing into a pipeline source, or opened the partnership doors a sales org can't reach on its own. Increasingly, companies pair one of these searches with a CRO mandate, and our partners can tell you when that makes sense.

Visit our Vice President & Senior Leadership Page

A sample of our work in this area

Our clients

Companies trust ON Partners

In their words

What clients say after the placement.

1 / 3

“

Professional and personal. Presented exceptional candidates.

Commercial Services

CEO

Common Questions

What leaders may ask before a search

When does a Series B SaaS company hire its first CRO?

Most commonly when ARR crosses $5M to $10M and the founder-led sales motion has stopped scaling. The first CRO needs to be a builder, not a manager - the candidate profile is very different from a CRO at a $50M company.

What's the difference between a CRO and a Chief Commercial Officer?

A CRO owns revenue end-to-end: sales, customer success, and often marketing alignment. A CCO traditionally owns customer-facing functions more broadly. In SaaS the terms are often used interchangeably; in industrials they are distinct.

When does a company hire its first CMO?

Most commonly when revenue crosses $20M to $30M, or when a new growth motion (enterprise, international, or category creation) requires a senior marketing voice at the leadership table.

How long does a GTM leadership search take?

Industry average is anywhere from 90 - 180 days. Our median average for GTM searches close in 102 days from kickoff to signed offer; depending on the brief.

Should a PE-backed portfolio company hire a CRO or a CCO?

Hire a CRO when revenue functions need to be unified and the company is preparing for scale. Hire a CCO when customer experience and post-sale revenue need elevation, typically in services-heavy or expansion-driven businesses.

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Build the GTM team that
compounds quarter over quarter.

A conversation is all it takes to know if we're the right fit. Tell us about the role, and we'll tell you what the market looks like. You'll speak directly with the partner who would lead your search.

85% of clients search with us again

4.9 / 5 client satisfaction rating

Partner-led from kickoff to close

98% placement rate

Revenue leaders for a new motion

Commercialization & Go-To-Market
executive search