Lancer Group Fills Senior Role for Empower Pharmacy
April 9, 2026 – La Jolla, CA-headquartered search firm Lancer Group has placed Suzanne Farhoud as vice president, chief of staff of Empower Pharmacy, a vertically integrated compounding pharmacy focused on delivering personalized, affordable medications directly to patients and providers at scale. As it moves into its next phase, the focus shifts from growth to how that growth is managed, with greater structure, visibility, and consistency across the organization. “Farhoud’s background is closely aligned with that shift,” Lancer Group said.
Ms. Farhoud most recently served as director, strategy within Microsoft’s AI business, where she led enterprise-wide initiatives across a $20 billion advertising portfolio, working across product, engineering, and commercial teams. Her work included building governance frameworks, driving large-scale program execution, and translating emerging technologies into practical operating models.
Prior to that, Ms. Farhoud held senior leadership roles at Xandr as chief of staff and head of business operations, and earlier roles at Google in strategy and finance. Across these environments, a consistent thread emerges. she has operated inside complex, fast-moving organizations where execution depends on clear priorities, strong operating cadence, and the ability to align leadership around measurable outcomes, Lancer Group explained.
“That is increasingly where the chief of staff role is evolving,” the firm said. “In high-growth environments, it is no longer a coordination function. It sits closer to the center of how the business runs, helping leadership teams stay aligned, focused, and accountable as complexity increases. Empower’s operating environment makes that especially relevant. With a leadership team that prioritizes urgency, accountability, and results, the role is designed to support execution at scale, not slow it down. “
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At The Lancer Group, this is also where they are seeing the most meaningful shift in how AI capability is being brought into organizations. “Rather than hiring standalone AI leaders or building isolated teams, many high-growth and PE-backed companies are embedding this capability into core operating roles,” the firm said. “Chief of staff and business operations leaders are increasingly expected to understand how new tools and data can be applied to improve execution, not just explored at the edge of the business. The focus is practical. Where can automation remove friction? How can reporting become faster and more reliable? How do leadership teams get clearer signals to make better decisions?”
Experience Reflecting Direction
These are operating questions, not technical ones. “Farhoud’s experience reflects that direction. Her time across Microsoft, Xandr, and Google combines systems thinking with hands-on execution in environments where scale and complexity are constant,” Lancer Group said. “She’s also a classically trained opera singer. This appointment reflects both where Empower is in its growth journey and how companies are thinking about building the leadership required to support it. We congratulate Suzanne on her new role and wish her and the Empower team continued success in this next phase of growth.”
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With relationships at over 50 of the top 100 private equity firms, The Lancer Group provides a range of pre-deal private equity advisory services beyond traditional executive search. These include deal origination, diligence support and introductions to “backable” executives. The firm, which is privately held, operates from offices in Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sydney, Australia.
Scott Dunklee is a founder and managing partner of The Lancer Group. He has been instrumental in the firm’s development since 1998, overseeing over 350 C-suite searches predominantly for private equity-backed software companies. Mr. Dunklee has led The Lancer Group’s focus on software, and personally recruited out of more than 100 industry verticals as well as led the firm’s value creation services effort – linking C-suite executives with actionable deal ideas for the firm’s PE clients. Notably, one of those introductions led to a $200 million equity check “in” and over $800 million back to the PE fund.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
