Organizational Leadership
The executive search that shapes the next stage of the company.
Growth-stage companies rarely lack opportunity. They lack leadership capacity. The right executive expands what the organization can execute. The wrong one costs six months and the momentum around it.
Our executive retained search practice places C-suite and VP leaders who match your stage, operating model, and what the business will require in the years ahead.
Formerly HireBetter
Our executive retained search practice carries the team, methodology, and track record of HireBetter, now operating as part of the 512Financial platform. Same people. Same process. The added depth of an integrated finance and people operations firm behind every search.
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Successful placements
(no replacement required)
#1
Retained Search Firm,
Austin Business Journal
Forbes
America's Best Executive
Recruiting Firms
When we get the call
Leadership gaps don't announce themselves until they're already costing you.
01
A key leader has left, is leaving, or isn't scaling with the business.
02
The company is preparing for a phase of stronger execution and needs leadership depth before expectations rise.
03
New goals or organizational complexity have arrived and the existing team doesn't have the capacity to carry them.
04
A capital event, board expectation, or major initiative requires proven operators at the senior level, not someone growing into the role.
05
You need to make a critical hire, but internal efforts or networks haven't delivered the right candidate.
06
You're defining what leadership should look like next, but don't yet know the right role or profile.
Placement scope
Leadership placed for where the business is going, not just where it stands today.
We place C-suite executives and VP-level leaders across the functions that define how growth-stage companies perform, alongside select strategic hires that shape long-term direction. Board members and advisors fall within our scope when the company is ready for that level of guidance.
C-Suite Leadership
- CEO
- CFO
- COO
- CMO
- CTO
- Chief Revenue Officer
- Chief Product Officer
- Chief People Officer
Functional Leadership (VP-Level)
- VP Finance
- VP Sales
- VP Marketing
- VP Product
- VP Engineering
- VP Operations
- VP People
Strategic Leadership
- President
- Board members
- Strategic advisors
Functions we recruit across
The critical functions.
Placed with operator-level precision.
Every search is built around the company's stage and operating model, not a talent database. We find leaders who fit how the business works and where it needs to go.
Sales
Build repeatable revenue and scalable teams from a leader who's done it at your stage before.
Marketing
Elevate brand, demand generation, and positioning as growth expectations increase.
Product
Define product strategy, roadmap, and execution with leaders who translate vision into scalable outcomes.
Finance
Bring financial discipline and operating rigor with a leader built for scaling companies.
Operations
Improve execution and organizational performance with an operator who understands complexity at scale.
Human Resources
Build culture and talent systems with HR leadership that matches the company's growth phase.
How the search works
A high-touch, end-to-end search process built to deliver the right executive.
The search process is where most firms lose ground by moving too fast to the wrong candidate or too slowly to hold momentum. Our five-stage methodology is built to find the right person and get them contributing quickly.
01
Discovery & Alignment
We start by understanding the business model, team dynamics, reporting relationships, and the specific outcomes the role must deliver. This is a working session, not an intake form. We define success, timing, and expectations upfront to guide the entire search.
02
Success Profile
We define the competencies, leadership traits, and operating experience the role requires, calibrated to the company's current stage and where it's headed. The success profile is shared with the hiring team to align expectations before sourcing begins.
03
Research & Sourcing
We identify proven operators, including passive talent not visible to traditional recruiting.
The right candidate for a growth-stage company is rarely the person who applied to a job board. We find who fits, not who is available.
04
Evaluation & Decision Support
Structured behavioral interviews, rigorous reference validation, and selection guidance throughout. We don't just present candidates. We give the hiring team the context to make an informed decision, including an honest view of risks and trade-offs.
05
Onboarding Support
Our engagement doesn't end at the offer. We support early integration planning so placed leaders begin contributing in the first 90 days. The goal is a search that holds, not just one that closes.
Operator-led. Outcome-owned.
We identify leaders who align with your company's goals, values, and how your business operates.
Most retained search firms are optimized for placement volume. We're optimized for placement quality and long-term success. We stay accountable for outcomes, not just the hire.
Stage-matched fit
Full-time team members, not independent contractors cycling between firms.
Access to an established network
We build long-standing relationships with proven operators. When the timing is right, our clients have access to leaders who aren't actively on the market and aren't accessible through traditional channels.
High-touch search experience
From initial outreach through offer and acceptance, we run a structured, transparent process with consistent communication,
clear feedback, and full visibility into the search.
Focus on long-term success
We evaluate beyond experience to ensure alignment on leadership style, culture, and expectations. The goal is a leader who performs and stays, not just one who accepts the role.
What changes
The right executive hire
lifts every function around it.
Leadership is the multiplier. When the right person is in the role, decisions get faster, execution gets tighter, and the organization builds capacity it didn't have before. These are the changes that show up inside of 90 days and compound from there.
Faster decisions with clear ownership: a senior leader with defined authority resolves the ambiguity that costs junior teams weeks.
Stronger planning and execution across the team: experienced operators bring process and accountability, not just presence.
Better alignment with investors and the board: a credible leadership team reduces the friction that comes with every reporting cycle and capital conversation.
Leadership capacity that matches the growth trajectory, not a team stretched thin trying to grow into expectations that are already here.
Higher retention and earlier performance: leaders placed for stage fit stay longer and begin contributing in the first 90 days, not the first year.
PROVEN RESULTS
What clients say about the search and the outcome.
"
It is clear to me when choosing a strategic partner to build the single most important part of an organization, the people, that they rise above the rest. Their ability to listen, ask probing questions, and truly seek clarity up front really expedites the balance of the process in hiring the best candidates.
Jason Bronstad · CEO, MALK
"
With their help, we have been able to transform our C- suite and our business. Our key metrics have improved across the board and our aggressive growth objectives are now well within reach.
Justin Tysdal · CEO, Seven Corners
"
I've used recruiting firms in the past and viewed them as a necessary evil, not partners. I engaged 512Financial, after two candidates from a different firm didn't survive past the probationary period. It was immediately apparent that their model is something entirely different. They put candidates through multiple behavioral interviews before I was even presented with a resume. We hired our Director of HR through them and got a candidate that fit our team, our culture, and our needs.
Linda Webb · CFO, Basden Steel
Works together
Executive search is stronger inside an integrated platform.
A retained search that ends at placement is only half the work. When the org design is right and people operations are in place, placed leaders have the infrastructure they need to perform from day one. These are the service lines most often engaged alongside executive search.
Organizational Leadership
Organizational design, hiring roadmaps, and leadership alignment before a search begins.
The best retained searches start with organizational clarity: which roles to fill, in what sequence, and what the org structure needs to look like at the next stage. Strategic Talent Planning builds that foundation.
Organizational Leadership
Fractional HR leadership, compliance, and people systems that support a growing leadership team.
When a new executive arrives, the HR infrastructure around them either accelerates their impact or creates drag. People Operations ensures the systems, policies, and processes are ready for the leader who's coming in.
From the 512Financial team
Executive hiring insights for founders and investors.
Need a shareable overview?
The Executive Retained Search one-pager covers our process, track record, and team structure in a format built for circulation.
The right executive hire changes what
the company can do next.
If a key leadership role is emerging, we'll help you define what the company actually needs, then run a search that delivers the right person the first time.
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