Chief of Staff
Own priorities, coordinate across the leadership team and move initiatives that need the principal’s attention.
Specialized Executive Search
The people who help leaders run the business.
Executive search for Chiefs of Staff, business operations and executive operations leaders. We help businesses hire the people who turn leadership priorities into results.
Who we serve
Investment firmsFamily officesProfessional servicesFounder-led businesses
What We Search
Operating leaders.
Clear ownership.
People who give leaders more capacity, build stronger operations and carry important work through to completion.
Business Operations
Build the processes, planning and accountability that help a business operate through growth and change.
Executive Operations
Run the executive office, coordinate critical relationships and keep decisions and commitments moving.
Where We Focus
The business shapes the hire.
Our specialty is operating leadership. The mandate reflects the sector, the organization and the people leading it.
01
Investment firms
Chief of Staff and operations mandates for venture capital, private equity and investment management firms, supporting the business around the investment team.
02
Family offices
Operating leaders who coordinate the office, its advisors and the principal’s responsibilities across family, investment and private affairs.
03
Professional services
Business and executive operations leaders for law, accounting and advisory firms, bringing structure to partner-led organizations.
04
Founder-led businesses
Operators who help founders manage increasing complexity, strengthen execution and build for the next stage of the business.
Our Approach
Search informed by
doing the work.
We begin with what the hire needs to accomplish, then assess the experience and judgment required to deliver it.
A clear mandate. A focused search. Direct involvement.
01Real operating experience.Our perspective comes from working alongside founders and senior executives, with firsthand responsibility for the operations these roles carry.
02Clear expectations.Before sourcing begins, we define what the role owns, where it has authority and what success should look like.
03Focused market coverage.We map the relevant market and approach candidates against the mandate, with direct involvement throughout the search.
04Fit beyond the résumé.We assess how candidates make decisions, take ownership and work with leadership. Trust and discretion remain essential.
Executive search for Chiefs of Staff and operations leaders
What we search, and why it is a different discipline. Chief of Staff, business operations and family office mandates — roles where judgment, ownership and working fit matter as much as capability.
Explore
Search, in context.
Search Focus
Chief of Staff Search
How we define the mandate for one of the most context-dependent hires a leader makes.
Read more → Search FocusFounder & Executive Search
Business and executive operations leaders for founder-led businesses and leadership teams.
Read more → Search FocusFamily Office Search
Chief of Staff and operations roles across family, investment and private offices.
Read more →Begin a Search
Make the next hire count.
Start with the work the business needs this person to own.
Tell us about the business, the role and what should be materially better after the hire.
Start a SearchNeed operating support before a permanent hire?
For fractional, interim and project-based operating leadership, William David Advisors works alongside founders and principals directly.