Comhar Partners Expands Private Equity Practice Group

August 4, 2021 – Chicago-based executive recruitment firm Comhar Partners has expanded with the addition of Joe Brennan ss managing director a senior member of the private equity practice group.

“We are thrilled to welcome Joe to our growing team,” said Bernard Layton, managing director and chief executive officer of Comhar Partners. “Joe’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge will make him a key addition to Comhar Partners. “We hire talented individuals like Joe as a sign of our commitment to continually enhance the level of service we provide to our clients and our dedication to be leaders in the recruitment industry space.”


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Most recently, Mr. Brennan was a key partner of Banister International. His diversified full product life cycle, strategic business planning and global sales management background have helped him develop a keen eye for identifying and placing top executive talent, according to Comhar Partners.

Mr. Brennan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He also holds an MBA in marketing from DeVry University.

Comhar Partners, led by former Stanton Chase executives, was formed to focus on providing recruiting solutions in consumer products and services, education and non-profit, financial services, healthcare and life science, industrial, private equity, professional services and technology industries. Besides its Chicago headquarters, the firm has specialized recruiting consultants based in seven offices across the country, including New York City, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, South Florida and Mid-Atlantic.


Comhar Partners Names Sports, Higher Education, & Non-Profit Practice Leader
Comhar Partners has appointed former Chicago Bear defensive tackle Chris Zorich as leader of its newly launched sports management, higher education and non-profit recruiting practice. “Any Chicago area professional sports fan or Notre Dame alum will recognize Chris from his litany of accomplishments on and off the gridiron,” said Bernard Layton, a co-founder and managing director of the search firm.


James J. O’Malley co-founded Comhar Partners with Mr. Layton in 2019. Mr. O’Malley previously served as managing director of the Chicago office of Stanton Chase. His role centered around senior-level searches for the professional services and financial services practice groups in Chicago. For more than 25 years, Mr. O’Malley has developed talent acquisition solutions to help leadership talent align with changing business needs.

Before Stanton Chase, he was a partner and executive search practice leader at TalentRISE, a recruitment solutions firm in Chicago. Prior to that, he was senior vice president in the human resource function of Fifth Third Bancorp. Mr. O’Malley has also worked for several professional service firms, including Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, Huron Consulting and Lante.

Mr. Layton has over 30 years of mid-level and senior-level executive search experience within the consumer products, packaged goods and industrial products industries. Previously, he built and led the Chicago office of Stanton Chase. He performed over 2,200 searches spanning a wide range of senior and mid-management positions such as presidents, CEOs, partner, chief information security officer and senior vice presidents across a number of industries, with particular expertise in engineering, information technology/information security, construction, management consulting, consumer products, industrial and financial services.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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