Companies

Better Hiring Starts With Better Judgment.

For critical technology hires, I bring 25+ years of search experience to role calibration, market mapping, candidate evaluation, and the final hiring decision.

  • Real market mapping before sourcing starts.
  • High-signal finalists, not high-volume slates.
  • Direct involvement from intake through close.
Discuss a Search
Use this when

The hire matters enough that getting it wrong has consequences.

Complex, confidential, or hard-to-define searches don’t need more candidate flow. They need clarity and judgment.

What this work delivers

  • A clear role mandate and success profile
  • A real market map and target strategy
  • Interview calibration and decision criteria
  • A finalist decision you can defend
Executive Search

What Goes Into the Search

Search is the service. These are the pieces that make it work.

Role Calibration & Search Strategy

Get clear on the mandate, outcomes, constraints, tradeoffs, and what success actually looks like before the search starts.

Market Mapping & Talent Intelligence

Identify the real talent lanes, target companies, compensation reality, adjacent backgrounds, and market constraints.

Search & Candidate Evaluation

Targeted outreach, technical and contextual evaluation, ongoing calibration, and a focused shortlist.

Interview & Decision Support

Interview structure, stakeholder alignment, finalist assessment, offer strategy, and close support.

Engagement Flow

How an Engagement Actually Runs

The work runs in four stages.

01

Calibrate

Define the mandate, outcomes, success markers, constraints, and real decision criteria.

Role brief + success definition
02

Map

Target the right talent lanes, competitors, compensation reality, and outreach strategy.

Market map + outreach plan
03

Execute

Outreach, screening, shortlisting, and ongoing calibration against the brief.

Shortlist rationale + risk notes
04

Decide

Structured interviews, stakeholder alignment, finalist assessment, offer strategy, and close.

Scorecards + close plan
Search Experience

What I’ve Actually Searched For

After 25 years, there aren’t many parts of an IT organization I haven’t recruited for. Most of my work sits where technical depth meets leadership responsibility.

Representative Searches

From the architects designing the environment to the executives accountable for it.

CIO · CTO · CISO · CPO · VP Engineering / Development · VP Product · Cloud, Security, Enterprise, Software, Infrastructure and Business Architects · Director-level searches across essentially every major IT function.

~50% Manager / Director / Senior Director
~30% Senior Technical ICs
~10% VP / C-suite
~10% Early- to Mid-Career Tech Specialists
Technical Judgment

I can tell what the work actually is.

I know enough about architecture, engineering, cloud, data, AI/ML, automation, product, platform engineering, DevOps/SRE, security and modernization to get past the labels.

If someone can explain what they built, changed, owned or led, I can usually tell how complex it was, where they actually sat in the work, and whether that experience translates to your environment.

That matters because hiring isn’t a keyword match. I’m trying to authenticate capability, judge the match, and get down to what actually counts: fit.

Track Record

25+ years in recruiting and executive search.

Recruiting and executive search firm lineage
2x President’s Club Top 8 IT Permanent Placement nationally.
Top IT billings 400%+ division growth during SNI tenure.
25+ years in search Technology recruiting, executive search, and direct client advisory across the career.

Have a critical technology search? Let’s talk.

Tell me what you’re hiring for and where the search is getting difficult.

You work directly with me. The person taking the brief is the person reading the market, evaluating candidates, and advising the decision.

What People Say

A Few Things I’d Rather Let Other People Say

“Dave has the technical skillset to dive in and understand what I do and don’t do.”
Data Leader
“When David brings you a person to interview he has put in the work to make sure they are a strong fit.”
Security Leader
“Working with him is simple, and he doesn’t waste time. Easily one of the best recruiters I’ve ever worked with.”
Technology Leader
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FAQ

Common Questions From Companies

What kind of search work do you take on?
I’m best used on retained, contained, or exclusive technology searches where access, calibration, and direct accountability matter. If the goal is simply more resumes, I’m probably not the right fit.
How do you handle confidentiality?
We agree on outreach, stakeholder access, and disclosure boundaries up front. For a confidential replacement or competitor-adjacent search, discretion is part of the basic operating model.
What’s a realistic timeline?
Most retained searches run roughly 8–14 weeks from calibration to accepted offer. Role complexity, market depth, and interview speed can move that number in either direction.
Can you help with the interview process too?
Yes. Scorecards, stage design, stakeholder calibration, and finalist evaluation are often part of the search. A strong slate doesn’t help much if the interview process is reading the wrong things.
We already have an internal recruiting team. Where do you fit in?
Usually where the search needs more reach, confidentiality, technical depth, or a second set of eyes. I’m there to handle the search that needs outside help, not compete with the internal team.
Our search has stalled. Can you reset it?
Often, yes. I’d first look at the role calibration, the market being targeted, and how finalists are being evaluated. More activity won’t fix the search if one of those is off.