Occam Global

About Us

Occam Global is the executive search firm and leadership advisory partner for entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations pursuing exceptional goals in frontier technologies, including life sciences, defense, robotics, and venture capital, worldwide.

Since 2012, Occam has partnered with leading founders, CEOs, and investors across life sciences and deep tech to deliver high-performing C-suite and board leadership. From stealth startups to public markets, we run retained executive search, advise on organizational strategy, and invest alongside visionary teams building category-defining companies.

Our edge: an unmatched ability to attract exceptional business and scientific leaders, seamless access to rare talent, and a relentless commitment to results — guided by high ethics and enlightened aggression.

Whether you’re launching, leading, or investing, Occam fuels growth through the power of talent. Visit occam-global.com to learn more.

Occam Global

Leadership

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‍Occam was founded in 2012 on a simple yet uncommon belief: executive search could be more creative, thoughtful, and principled than the industry norm.

After a 25-year career shaping leadership at Fidelity Investments, William ”Bill” Holodnak partnered with his son, John, to build a firm defined by focus, judgment, and ethics.

From the beginning, we chose to partner closely with founders and entrepreneurial leaders as they navigate moments that define their companies. We understood that early-stage and high-growth businesses require more than resume shuffling — they require judgment calls made under incomplete information, the kind no algorithm can make for you. Today, Occam is a global executive search firm trusted by founders, boards, and investors in high-stakes leadership moments.

That judgment is built from pattern recognition — hundreds of these decisions, across every stage from founding team to post-IPO board — brought to bear on the search in front of us. It’s why investors bring us in before the problem is even fully defined, and why the leaders we place deliver proven track records, real impact, and long-term value.

Occam Global

Solutions And Expertise

We built our firm on the pillars of objectivity, undiluted ethics, and enlightened aggression.

With a process that’s rooted in relationships, data, and intellect, we’ve provided professional judgments that have made a lasting impact on our partners.

Our judgements are simultaneously inspired by instinct and pragmatism, resulting in balanced outcomes designed to endure.

Solutions
  • Advisory Services
  • Board & CEO Services
  • Board Advisory Services
  • Board and Governance Advisory
  • Board Services
  • Candidate Pipeline
  • Candidate Research & Assessment
  • Change Management
  • Compensation Consulting
  • Compensation Evaluation Service
  • Compensation Studies
  • Consulting Services
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Due Diligence
  • Equity & Inclusion
  • Executive & Advisory Services
  • Executive Assessment
  • Executive Compensation
  • Executive Search
  • Expert Introductions
  • Extensive Board Level Candidate Research
  • Leadership Advisory
  • Leadership Assessment
  • Leadership Consulting
  • Leadership Team Development
  • Organization Design
  • Organizational Consulting
  • Organizational Development
  • Organizational planning
  • Organizational Structure and Design
  • Portfolio Companies
  • Retained Executive Search
  • Succession Planning
Industries
  • Aerospace/Defense
  • AI
  • AI
  • Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
  • BioTechnology
  • Chemical & Process Industries
  • Chemicals
  • Clean Tech./Sustain.
  • Cleantech
  • Climate
  • Data & Analytics
  • Defense
  • Digital
  • Energy and Natural Resources
  • Environmental
  • Executive Search
  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare
  • Healthtech
  • Industrial
  • Investment Mgmt.
  • Leadership & Talent Services
  • Legal
  • Legal/Compliance
  • Life Sciences
  • Life Sci./Healthcare
  • Machinery & Industrial Technology
  • Non-Profit
  • Non-Profit
  • Portfolio Companies
  • Private Capital
  • Private Equity
  • Private Equity Backed Companies
  • Private Equity/VC-Backed Startups
  • Robotics
  • Science & Technology
  • Science and Research
  • Social Impact
  • Startups
  • Technology
  • Transportation
  • Venture Capital
Functions
  • Accounting
  • Accounting & Risk
  • AI
  • AI/ML/Data
  • All Functions
  • Board Members
  • Board of Directors
  • Board/Governance
  • Business Development
  • C-Level
  • C-Level Leaders
  • C-Suite
  • CEO
  • CEO/President
  • CEO/President/Executive Director
  • CFO
  • Chief Compliance Officer
  • Chief Development Officer
  • Chief Growth Officer
  • Chief Human Resource Officer
  • Chief Information Officer
  • Chief Investment Officer
  • Chief Legal Officer
  • Chief Marketing Officer
  • Chief Medical Officer
  • Chief People Officer
  • Chief Product Officer
  • Chief Revenue Officer
  • Chief Sales Officer
  • Chief Supply Chain Officer
  • Chief Technology Officer
  • CHRO
  • CIO
  • CISO
  • Clinical Development (M.D.s and Ph.D.’s)
  • Communications
  • Communications/PR
  • Compliance & Government Affairs
  • COO
  • Corporate Affairs
  • Corporate Affairs & Communications
  • Corporate Development
  • Corporate Functions
  • CTO
  • Cyber and Technology Officers
  • Executive Leadership
  • Executive Search Firm
  • Finance
  • Finance/Accounting
  • Financial Officers
  • Fundraising
  • General Counsel
  • General Management
  • GM/Operations
  • Growth
  • Healthcare
  • Healthcare Board Placements
  • Human Capital
  • Human Resources
  • Investment Management
  • Investment Officers
  • Investment Professionals
  • Leadership Team
  • Legal/Compliance
  • Managing Director
  • Managing Partner
  • Marketing
  • Marketing & Communications
  • Marketing & Sales
  • Marketing Professionals
  • Medical/Clinical
  • Non-Profit
  • Operating Partner
  • Operations
  • Physician
  • Portfolio Management
  • Portfolio Operation
  • President
  • Private Equity
  • Private Equity Deal Team
  • Private Equity Portfolio Operations
  • Public Affairs
  • R&D and Quality
  • Regulatory
  • Research & Develop.
  • Risk
  • Risk Management
  • Sales
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Senior Accounting & Finance
  • Senior Research Professionals
  • Strategy & Corporate Development
  • Technology
  • Technology Leadership
  • Technology/Product/AI
  • Venture Capital Partner & General Partner
  • Vice President
  • VP+ searches

Occam Global

News Briefings

Occam Global Recruits CEO for Prolynx

New York City-based executive search firm Occam Global has recruited Chris Boulton as the new CEO of Prolynx. “We engineered this platform to enable medicines that were previously impossible to make,” said Daniel Santi, co-founder of Prolynx. “Having established the viability and versatility of our technology in earlier clinical applications, we have now optimized it to specifically address

Occam Global Recruits Chief Business Officer for A-Alpha Bio

New York City-based executive search firm Occam Global has assisted in the recruitment of Troy Lionberger as chief business officer of biotechnology company A-Alpha Bio. “Troy brings a rare blend of deep technical fluency and commercial creativity,” said David Younger, co-founder and CEO of A-Alpha Bio. “His track record speaks for itself—from inventing platform applications to

Occam Global Places Leader of Gene Therapy Company Ensoma

New York City-based recruitment firm Occam Global has placed Emile Nuwaysir as president, chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of gene therapy company Ensoma. In conjunction with the CEO appointment, Ensoma executive chairman Paula Soteropoulos will transition to the role of chairman of the board, and Kush M. Parmar, managing partner

Occam Global

Press Releases

Occam Places Natalie Holles as CEO of Aura Biosciences

In May 2026, Occam Global placed Natalie Holles as CEO of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ: AURA). Natalie is a proven biopharma CEO with a track record of building and leading innovative companies through critical inflection points. Most recently, she served as President and CEO of Third Harmonic Bio, where she ​guided the company through its IPO and advanced its clinical pipeline. Prior to

Occam Recruits Board Director and SAB Member to In Vivo Cell Therapy Leader, Umoja Biopharma

In March 2026, Occam placed Athena Countouriotis, MD, on the Board of Directors of Umoja Biopharma and Andrew C. Chan, MD, PhD, on Umoja’s Scientific Advisory Board. ‍Countouriotis is Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Avenzo Therapeutics and previously led Turning Point Therapeutics through its IPO and $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2022. Her career spanssenior R&D and executive roles

Occam Recruits Former CSO of Novo Nordisk to Advisory Board of Cradle

In March 2026, Occam Global, a leader in executive recruiting for TechBio, appointed Marcus Schindler, PhD, to Cradle’s Advisory Board. Cradle is an AI-powered protein engineering company accelerating innovation across the life sciences. Schindler most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Novo Nordisk, where he led global research and early development across major therapeutic

Occam Places CMO and President of R&D at Variant Bio

NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2026 — Occam Global, a leading executive search and advisory firm to life science innovators, announced today the successful placement of Craig T. Basson, MD, PhD, as CMO and President of R&D at Variant Bio, a genomics-driven AI drug discovery company. ‍Basson brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across academic medicine, global pharmaceutical development,

Occam Global

Multimedia

Case Studies
Read about how Occam Global is helping innovative organizations tackle their biggest executive recruitment challenges

Blog & Insights
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