ON Partners Recruits CFO for Kairos Power
November 9, 2026 – Partners Chris Clements and Cher Murphy of ON Partners have recruited Ignacio (Nacho) Redondo as chief financial officer of Kairos Power, marking an important step as the company builds the financial infrastructure to support its continued growth and expansion. “Nacho Redondo brings the experience, leadership, and financial expertise that Kairos Power needs as we enter this next phase of growth,” said Mike Laufer, co-founder and CEO of Kairos Power. “He has a proven track record of scaling finance organizations, supporting high-growth companies, and navigating the complexities of capital-intensive industries. His leadership will be instrumental in helping to position Kairos Power for long-term success.”
Mr. Redondo brings 27 years of finance and leadership experience across capital-intensive energy sectors in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. He most recently served as senior vice president of finance at Nextracker, a provider of utility-scale solar infrastructure, where he led the company through a period of rapid growth and expansion.
Throughout his career, Mr. Redondo has held senior finance and divisional CFO roles at public and private companies, beginning his career as an auditor at a Big Five accounting firm. He has built and led high-performing international finance teams spanning multiple continents, with experience across corporate finance, accounting, financial planning and analysis, compliance, and business operations.
As Kairos Power’s first CFO, Mr. Redondo will oversee the company’s financial strategy and operations, including corporate fundraising, investor relations, cost accounting, financial reporting and transparency, compliance, and other core financial functions.
“I’m excited to join Kairos Power at such an important moment in the company’s trajectory,” said Mr. Redondo. “Kairos has a tremendous opportunity ahead, and I look forward to working alongside the team to build the financial capabilities and discipline that will support that growth.”
Kairos Power is an advanced nuclear energy technology company headquartered in Alameda, CA. Founded in 2016, the company develops and manufactures nuclear reactor technology designed to provide reliable, low-carbon electricity. Its primary focus is the commercialization of fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactors, which use molten salt coolant and specialized nuclear fuel.
With a primary focus on technology, consumer, industrial, and the life science sectors, ON Partners recruits C-level and board talent for public and private companies, as well as venture capital and private equity firms. Founded in 2006, the firm’s consultants work from offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; Minneapolis. MN; San Francisco; and New York. ON Partners was named one of the fastest growing search firms this year by Hunt Scanlon Media. The firm is now ranked as one of the 20 largest search firms in the nation.
Based in San Francisco, Mr. Clements is an experienced search executive with expertise in energy transition, climate tech, industrials, and software sectors. has led high-level executive searches in cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, energy, automotive and mobility, aerospace technology, smart cities, buildings, and the Internet of Things. He has served both large public and private companies, as well as growth-stage firms.
Related: ON Partners Recruits CFO for Fortera
Ms. Murphy specializes in people and talent roles across a wide range of industries including AI & emerging tech, consumer & retail, consumer tech, hardware tech, healthcare & life sciences, industrials, services, software, and more. She has advised leaders on building organizational capability and coached executives on leading effective global teams for clients, including Amazon, Quanta Services, Yamamotoyama, and Activant Capital.
Increasing Importance
CFOs are being asked to play an ever-broader role. “The tumultuous environment companies are operating within demand a different skill-set in the CFO chair,” said ON Partners co-president Tim Conti. “CFOs are playing a critical strategic role in companies, not only to pull levers necessary to secure a company’s financial platform, but also to position the company to emerge in a strong competitive positioning in a marketplace where not all will survive. This requires the CFO to lead from the front, be strategic and savvy, to navigate a company through choppy waters. When boards and CEOs do not have confidence that they have this strategic CFO, then they have no choice but to seek out an alternative.”
Financial Services is Booming, CFO Role Continues to Evolve
Despite economic uncertainty and the challenges of finding top talent, the financial sector continues to change and grow. Interviewed by Hunt Scanlon Media, search leaders who specialize in the sector offer their insights on the path forward, the CFO’s responsibilities, and more.
“In times like these, where businesses demand hyper-agility, being a functional specialist isn’t good enough,” said Bryan Buck, partner at ON Partners. “It’s required now that CFOs can see around corners and understand the physical (and digital) trends that are reshaping their world – and then act quickly. They need to think like P&L owners – not like accountants. Regardless of the product or service their company offers, customer expectations have changed. And the CFOs in highest demand right now are the ones who have proven to be nimble and business-focused enough to drive organization’s to where the puck is moving (both organically and inorganically).”
This business environment is also putting more pressure on CFOs. “There’s definitely more need for CFOs to operate with transparency around the realities of the market conditions, how those conditions are impacting the business in the short and long term, and what strategic steps are being taken to address the challenges faced,” said Mr. Conti. “Shareholders understand that market conditions are challenging, and they’ll be more patient in these unique times, but only if they have confidence in the CFO’s leadership and strategy.”
“Yes – and it’s industry-agnostic,” Mr. Buck added. “For public companies specifically, those in negatively impacted sectors are trying to survive the rapid slow down, and maintain various levels of ongoing business operations, while planning and positioning for a potential recovery that could happen within the next few quarters…or the next few years,” he said. “Public finance leaders on the other end of that spectrum are seeing tremendous growth and demand, but they’re also cognizant that current share price reflects Wall Street’s expectation of perfection – leaving no room for quarterly missteps.”
Related: ON Partners Recruits CFO for Bushel
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
