Cornell Search

Connecting Talent.

Supporting Growth.

Achieving Success.

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A leading boutique Executive Search and Advisory firm with a global presence.

Our Expertise

We’re search partners to venture capital and private equity firms, high-growth companies, and leading consultancies.

We believe exceptional talent exists everywhere. Our team is relentless in uncovering and championing high-potential leaders — from unconventional, overlooked sources to world-class academic and professional backgrounds. Wherever the strongest talent is, we find it.

Find out more about our coverage.

Funds

Our fund team partners with emerging and established venture capital and private equity firms to secure future leaders and partner-level talent across their platforms.

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High-Growth Companies

Our portfolio team partners with investor-backed and founder-led companies navigating growth and transformation to secure high-impact talent.

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Advisory

Our advisory team partners with leading consultancies, from global strategy houses to boutique firms, to build leadership teams and secure high-potential future talent.

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Senior Consultant

For a number of years, Cornell has worked alongside a boutique management consultancy that helps organisations solve the most important business problems. They pride themselves on the relationships they have with their clients and work across a range of sectors, from global multi-nationals to start-ups and public institutions.

Following a long standing relationship with the leadership team, Cornell were asked to support them in finding a senior consultant to join their team. Being a boutique firm, whilst leading in what they offer, they weren’t, at the time, as well known in the market and therefore they were keen to receive support in not only finding the best individual, but also in expanding their market presence.

Having worked with a number of operational focused consultancies we were fortunate to have a network of individuals who we could engage with in the first instance and in the end, one of those individuals secured the role within the company. However, in order to reach that goal, we also needed to engage with the wider market to ensure we found the best talent for the company. We conducted initial screening calls and in person interviews with those who were most relevant before presenting the best calibre individuals in a shortlist to the client to review and interview themselves. We continued to facilitate organisation of interviews as well as offer management when the successful candidate was identified.

As a result of our support, they have had greater interest from candidates across all levels of the organisation and we have continued to support with more senior mandates where the specifics of the individual experience is of greater importance.

Investment Director

The Client

An emerging venture capital fund investing across Europe and the US, led by experienced investors with backgrounds at leading global institutions.

Following the close of its debut institutional fund, the firm was entering a key phase of growth and sought to strengthen its platform across investment, investor relations, and operations as it began scaling the team.

The Brief

The fund engaged Cornell Search to support the appointment of three strategic hires as part of its early team build:

-Chief of Staff to support the firm’s leadership team across operational, regulatory, and fund administration responsibilities.

-Investor Relations professional to help manage LP engagement and communications as the platform developed.

-Investment Associate to support deal sourcing, investment analysis, and portfolio company engagement.

Each role required individuals capable of operating in a lean venture environment, combining strong analytical capability with the flexibility to contribute across multiple areas of the fund.

Our Approach

Cornell conducted targeted searches across venture capital, private equity, consulting, and high-growth technology environments, focusing on individuals with strong academic foundations and the intellectual curiosity required to succeed in an emerging fund.

The process included detailed market mapping, structured candidate evaluation, and close collaboration with the client throughout the interview process.

Outcome

The searches resulted in the successful appointment of a Chief of Staff, Investor Relations professional, and Investment Associate, helping establish the core team supporting the fund’s growth.

These hires strengthen the platform across operations, investor engagement, and investment execution, enabling the firm to deploy capital effectively while building long-term relationships with founders and institutional investors.

Investment Director

The Client

A leading early-stage consumer venture capital fund with a strong track record of backing category-defining consumer brands across Europe.

As the fund continued to deploy capital and expand its founder network, the partners sought to appoint an Investment Principal who could strengthen sourcing capability and support portfolio growth.

The Brief

The fund engaged Cornell Search to identify an individual capable of:

Sourcing high-quality consumer investment opportunities
Building trusted relationships with founders, operators, and co-investors
Leading deal evaluation and investment execution
Developing into a long-term leadership figure within the fund

The search focused on individuals combining investment rigour with deep consumer sector insight.

Our Approach

Cornell conducted a targeted search across the European venture ecosystem, engaging with candidates across:

Venture capital
Growth equity
High-growth consumer startups
Investment banking with consumer sector exposure

The process included detailed market mapping, structured candidate evaluation, and close collaboration with the client throughout the interview process.

Outcome

The search resulted in the successful appointment of a high-calibre Investment Principal, strengthening the fund’s investment team and expanding its reach within the European consumer founder ecosystem.

The hire enhances the fund’s ability to:

Source emerging consumer opportunities
Support founders through early-stage growth
Build a long-term leadership pipeline within the investment team

Head of Innovation Strategy

Cornell were mandated by a leading energy consultancy who have grown to become the largest dedicated power analytics provider in Europe. We were initially mandated by the German office of the organisation to find a German speaking individual who could help with the growth in this part of the business. Given the success we had with the German team, we were subsequently engaged by the UK office to find a Head of Strategy.

Being such a pivotal hire for the company, the process initially consisted of a market mapping exercise whereby we could understand how large the market was when it came to the seniority of the position as well as the need to have experience within the Energy sector. Upon completion of this, the Cornell team conducted initial conversations with those candidates that both the client and Cornell determined to be the most relevant and then discussed these further upon completion of the initial screening. The Cornell team continued to support with organisaion of interviews and offer negotiation and as a result, a successful Head of Strategy for the UK office was placed.

Since the initial engagement with the UK office, we have continued to work alongside the team, highlighting high calibre candidates to them on an ongoing basis, particularly with the challenges that come with a more regional office within the UK

Strategy Director

This client is a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation who offer an array of integrated services combining technology with deep sector expertise. With operations in over 50 companies they have partnered with 85% of the 200 largest public companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list.

Cornell was initially mandated by the London office to support finding a director to sit within their consumer team. This individual would be based in the London office but would be required to travel as/when required and needed experience leading teams of various levels and sizes. The initial ideas we provided as a discussion point came from our well-established network and having discussed those individuals and determined who the leadership team were interested in, we were then able to expand the search, engage further individuals and have further discussions.

To guarantee that we were continuously aligned with the client on who was relevant for the role, there was a constant line of communication, with fortnightly meetings where we discussed profiles, realigned where necessary and also scheduled initial meetings with those candidates who were of interest. This resulted in the successful placement of a Director within the team.

Cornell have since supported on a number of mandates from analyst to director level within the business, as well as supporting with the growth of acquisitions/other areas of the business as well as within the businesses that they’ve acquired since first engagement.

Strategy Director

The Cornell team were mandated by a mid-sized professional services firm that works with public, private and third-sector organisations. They provide management consulting, IT consulting and technology 7 innovation services. With headquarters in London and other offices in Europe, the Nordics, the US, the Gulf and the Asia Pacific, they work with a multitude of global organisations.

The Cornell team was engaged by one of the firm’s Partners to support in the search for a Director within the business. They were already utilising their own network and the resources of their internal HR team, but were looking to understand different avenues that they could explore in order to find the most suitable candidate for the role.

Upon taking the brief, we leveraged our existing network, to source initial ideas that met the requisite requirements for the role. We then expanded our search to active headhunting using a variety of sources and ultimately filtered through a number of individuals with a relevant skill set. We then coordinated meetings between those candidates who were exceptional and PA’s leadership team.

At the conclusion of the process, we successfully placed an individual into the Director position within the business and continued to support ongoing searches across the business.

Head of Business Transformation

Cornell were mandated by an esteemed provider of fibre-based packaging for food & beverage, consumer goods and industrial applications, with a history stretching back 150 years. They have headquarters in Netherlands but operations around Europe and had recently been acquired by a large cap private equity fund.

We were mandated by the PE fund to build out the sub-board leadership capability of their newly acquired business and this multi-faceted build involved key hires across the Commercial Excellence, Operational Improvement and Post-Merger Integration verticals. The biggest challenge with this mandate was arguably the geographical flexibility that the ideal candidate needed to have as the business HQ is in the Netherlands.

We began with two diagnostic calls, initially with the PE fund and subsequently with the portfolio business’ HR functionality and CEO, assessing their various needs and establishing parameters for each role and specific areas of importance to focus on. It was also an important part of our job role to analyse the requirements/needs of both the fund and the portfolio company and determine the varying priorities to ensure both parties were happy with the eventual outcome.

Following these initial briefing calls, we compiled a longlist of individuals who we felt had the skillset that the team were looking for as well as the geographical flexibility and cultural fit for the business. We had weekly roundtable calls with key stakeholders across both businesses and began to filter candidates who would engage with the clients themselves. Following an extensive interviewing programme and with both parties aligned on preferred candidates, the Cornell team negotiated and successfully closed offers for both roles, with further hiring planned, once these two individuals were successfully integrated into the business. The entire process was concluded within 4 months of our initial briefing.

Leadership Team Build Out

The client in question is a preventative health screening and diagnostics company, with the vision that society should focus on prevention and not cure. They provide services such as 48-hour blood test results, and mobile health units that can travel to businesses for their convenience. Ultimately, they are revolutionising the health care system, while improving employee satisfaction, sick leave, and absenteeism. While only founded in 2016, over the course of their initial 3 years, they grew to a turnover of over £400million, and without the support of any external funding.

At the point of mandating Cornell, the company were still in the early stages and as such were looking to bring on board senior talent to support and build upon their growth ambitions.

With transformational plans, a new Commercial Director, a Director of Operations, a Head of Corporate Institutions Sales and Head of Global Media Sales were priority hires for the business. After working closely with the client team to understand and confirm the key requirements for these roles, it was determined that successful hires would need to have experience in a top tier consulting firm as well as within a corporate/portfolio environment. An interest or experience in healthcare was preferred but a driven individual was key.

The Cornell team began by identifying the areas of the market that were most suitable to map as well as identifying those individuals in our existing network who would be suitable for the role. Cornell managed the initial screening interviews and ultimately shortlisted those individuals who were worth the client team meeting. As with all processes we support on, we also supported with any interview scheduling and offer management/salary negotiation as and when appropriate.

Director of Operations

Having worked with a number of the Board level team across their careers, Cornell were mandated by one of the UK’s largest gym operators to support in the growth and development of their leadership function. For this specific role, Cornell were engaged by the Chief Operating Officer and Commercial Director to lead the drive for key hires to the sub-board management team, in conjunction with directives from U.S. private equity fund. Our lengthy track record of operating in this space was a crucial factor in the management team’s decision to approach us for these hires.

Following consultation with the leadership team, we established their requirements as primarily comprising of two Director-level operational hires capable of owning a P&L; as well as someone to be their Head of Commercial to focus on furthering their customer acquisition capabilities in the UK.

Upon taking the brief we leveraged our existing network to source initial ideas that proved a yardstick for the standard and ability that the company were seeking. With these meetings as a benchmark, we set about structuring a thorough search, with a focus on ex consultants who had subsequently held commercial and operational roles in growing organisations. We filtered through a number of individuals with a relevant skill set and then coordinated meetings between those candidates who were exceptional and the client’s leadership team.

At the conclusion of the interview process, Cornell and the client aligned on three relevant candidates, at which time Cornell managed the provision of offers and salary- negotiation. We successfully secured two permanent hires and a further hire that initially began on a contract basis but subsequently received a permanent offer. We are currently re-engaging with the client as they look to build out their digital offering, specifically targeting a commercial product manager, a Head of Operational Transformation and a Head of Strategy.

Chief Operational Officer

Cornell were mandated by a soft facilities management service provider who offered commercial cleaning to a variety of sectors across the UK. The introduction came through a positive recommendation from an existing client relationship we had with a Private Equity backed business.

After an initial conversation with the Co-Founders of the company, Cornell were asked to direct the hiring of a senior level Chief Operational Officer. The initial steps of the process involved spending time understanding not only the business but also the culture of the team to ensure that the individuals we spoke to, fit with the different needs that the business had. They had recently onboarded a new CEO, so understanding his strengths and ideas for the business was also important when considering who would compliment his skillset.

Our search focused on both current and ex operational consultants who also had experience working “in-house” as the combined skillset this would offer, was what would most likely work for the team. With a plethora of potential candidates, we conducted initial screening calls to determine who functionally ticked the boxes and then arranged further in person meetings to get to know the personalities of these individuals, before finally presenting a shortlist of 8 individuals to the board level.

After 2 weeks of interviews with the client team, and an in person day at their offices, they made an offer and successfully onboarded an individual who is now supporting in their ongoing growth and hiring plans.