Executive Recruiter

Why You'll Want to Join:

• Direct Impact - Shape the success of Arbor's portfolio companies by securing executives who drive growth, and see their impact firsthand throughout the hold period.
• High Level Exposure - Work closely with deal professionals, operating partners, and portfolio leadership, reporting directly to a Partner.
• Build For the Future - Create lasting executive hiring processes, talent pipelines, and leadership strategies across the portfolio.

Experience You Need For Consideration:

• Proven Search Expertise: 5+ years of experience in executive search, with at least 3 years leading the execution of executive searches, ideally in manufacturing businesses.
• Private Equity Portfolio Company Experience: 3+ years of experience placing executives within private equity portfolio companies, working alongside both the executive teams and interacting directly with investment/operational teams at the PE firm.
• Functional Breadth: Experience making placements across functional areas.
• Influence and Agility: Strong communicator who can navigate PE priorities, portfolio needs, and thrive under time constraints across multiple concurrent searches.

Role Purpose:

Reporting directly to the Partner and Chief People Officer, the Executive Recruiter at Arbor Investments leads the strategy and execution of portfolio company executive hiring. This individual is responsible for identifying, attracting, and securing top executive talent to drive value creation across Arbor’s portfolio. Acting as a strategic partner to investment professionals, portfolio leadership teams, and operating executives, the Executive Recruiter ensures each hire is aligned with the firm’s growth ambitions and operational priorities.

The Executive Recruiter serves as a trusted advisor, shaping executive search strategy and building a best-in-class talent pipeline to meet the unique needs of middle-market businesses. This role requires balancing long-term talent planning with immediate search execution—able to design strategy while also directly managing the recruiting process from sourcing through close.

This individual will thrive in a fast-paced private equity environment, moving quickly and decisively to deliver results. They will be responsible for using executive search tools to develop and execute executive level recruitment processes tailored to diverse portfolio companies, ensuring alignment with Arbor’s people strategy and the value creation plan for each investment.

Role Accountabilities:

Executive Search Strategy & Execution

• Design and execute executive search strategies that balance Arbor’s portfolio-wide leadership standards with the distinct needs and cultures of individual portfolio companies.
• Act as the lead recruiter on critical portfolio leadership roles (CFO, COO, CCO, CHRO, and functional heads), as well as high-impact VP and Director roles, driving the full search process from kickoff to close.
• Build tailored recruitment processes that deliver speed, rigor, and fit.
• Develop and maintain strong pipelines of executive talent for current and anticipated portfolio needs.

Stakeholder Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to Arbor’s investment professionals and operating partners while simultaneously acting as a hands-on partner to portfolio company leadership.
• Navigate the dual priorities of Arbor’s overarching talent philosophy and each portfolio company’s specific leadership requirements, ensuring both perspectives are represented in hiring decisions.

Candidate Identification & Assessment

• Source, engage, and evaluate high-caliber executives through direct outreach, networking, and strategic partnerships.
• Own candidate assessment, leveraging structured interviews, reference checks, and benchmarking to ensure candidates meet both Arbor’s standards of leadership excellence and the portfolio company’s cultural and functional needs.
• Directly perform reference checking and provide input to the onboarding of new executives.
• Support relationships with executive search firms as needed, ensuring the quality of work done by external partners is up to Arbor’s standards.

Market Intelligence & Talent Mapping

• Maintain an ongoing understanding of executive talent trends, competitor leadership structures, and industry shifts across food and beverage-related industries.
• Build and update talent maps for key executive roles, creating a proactive view of leadership talent that can serve both Arbor and the portfolio in the short- and long-term.
• Identify potential external talent during due diligence processes to accelerate post-close performance of portfolio companies.
• Use market intelligence to shape both company-level hiring strategies and Arbor’s broader talent agenda.

Process Excellence & Efficiency

• Create tools, scorecards, and interview frameworks inclusive of case studies that drive disciplined hiring.
• Track and report recruiting metrics at both the Arbor and portfolio company level.
• Create consistent reporting to both Arbor and their portfolio companies on search progress.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner with Arbor’s Chief People Officer to align executive recruiting with the firm’s overall talent strategy.
• Coach portfolio company HR and leadership teams on best practices for executive hiring and retention.
• Serve as a bridge between Arbor and portfolio leadership teams, ensuring executive recruiting strengthens both immediate company performance and long-term firm-wide value creation.

Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience: 5+ years of executive recruiting experience, with at least 3+ years leading full end-to-end searches for senior leadership roles.
• Technology: Strong use of/strong familiarity with CapIQ, Pitchbook, LinkedIn Recruiter, and other executive recruitment and investment resources along with other tools which identify superior passive candidates for consideration.
• Private Equity & Portfolio Knowledge: 3+ years of experience placing executives into middle-market portfolio companies or similar high-growth, entrepreneurial environments.
• Talent Strategy: Demonstrated ability to advise leadership teams on interview design, candidate evaluation, and decision-making processes; proven experience building structure and discipline into recruiting approaches.
• Candidate Assessment: Skilled in evaluating senior leaders for cultural fit, leadership capability, and alignment with business strategy.
• Market Intelligence: Strong background in talent mapping, competitive benchmarking, and providing insights during due diligence for prospective investments.
• Leadership & Influence: Ability to navigate between Arbor’s private equity priorities and portfolio company needs, building strong relationships and trust with portfolio leadership teams while ensuring alignment with firm-level objectives.
• Communication: Excellent executive communication, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills.
• Agility: Ability to operate with urgency and adaptability in a fast-paced private equity environment.

Location:

The candidate may be remote, with travel anywhere from 10-15% to the HQ in Chicago, as well as trips to port cos.