Private Equity Shifts Focus in Executive Hiring
July 25, 2025 – In the evolving environment of private equity, the expectations placed on executive talent are undergoing a dramatic transformation. As firms adapt to shifting market dynamics, leadership teams are reassessing how executives engage, lead, and deliver value within portfolio companies. One of the most notable shifts is a renewed emphasis on in-person leadership, with cultural cohesion, decision-making agility, and long-term commitment taking center stage in the executive hiring conversation. Against a backdrop of slower deal flow and extended hold periods, private equity investors are not only refining their definitions of leadership effectiveness but also grappling with a tighter supply of proven talent. Senior partners at Kingsley Gate are at the forefront of these changes, offering critical insights into what’s driving new approaches to executive selection and how search firms are delivering deeper strategic value in a high-stakes environment.
The most significant shift in private equity clients’ expectations for executive hiring has been a pronounced movement back toward in-office presence requirements, according to Alison Woodhead, senior partner at Kingsley Gate. “Before COVID, about 80 percent of my searches required people to be in the office full-time,” she said. “After the pandemic hit, everything went remote. But over the past year, there’s been this crawl back to expecting executives to be at least hybrid, with a much stronger emphasis on in-office leadership and culture building. This shift reflects a growing recognition that in-person leadership is critical for building and sustaining company culture. Many organizations have struggled with distributed executive teams.”
“I don’t think culture is necessarily more important than before but distributed executive teams just haven’t cracked the nut on how to drive engagement and motivation in remote settings,” Ms. Woodhead continued. “The challenge is that while hiring managers are pushing for more in-office presence, strong candidates still have numerous opportunities where they can work entirely or mostly remotely, creating a disconnect between employer expectations and candidate preferences.”
“I’m seeing much more focus on how leaders lead and whether they’re good at building culture,” said Christine Sobhani, senior partner with Kingsley Gate. “Culture seems even more important now than it was several years ago. Another notable change stems from the slowdown in PE transactions and deal flow. With the decline in transactions and deal flow, hold times are extending. This means fewer strong candidates are available to explore opportunities.”
Ms. Sobhani noted that: “With extended hold times becoming more common, this has created a significant supply-demand imbalance: searches are being launched (often to replace underperforming incumbents mid-hold), but the strongest potential candidates remain unavailable because they’re seeing their current investments through to completion,” she said. “This tight market for top talent is particularly pronounced for critical roles like CFOs, who are often the window into an organization’s health for PE investors and frequently replaced upon acquisition. With fewer strong candidates available, we’re having to get more creative in our recruiting approaches, including considering promising ‘step-up’ candidates who haven’t previously held the exact role but show real potential and hunger to succeed.”
Look Beyond the Resume
“We advise private equity clients to look beyond the resume and focus on a candidate’s leadership potential with decision making as a primary lens,” Ms. Woodhead said. “I’ve been coaching clients to really consider how a person’s decision-making style aligns with the company environment. It’s not just about finding a good executive generically—it’s about finding the right executive for this specific company and its objectives.”
Alison Woodhead is a senior partner with Kingsley Gate. Her expertise spans a variety of industries and functions, focusing on placing executives in general management, finance, operations and marketing roles within private equity, technology, energy, and consumer companies. Ms. Woodhead serves as thought partner to C-suite clients regarding strategic human capital needs, including succession planning, organizational structure, talent assessment and executive coaching.
This approach is supported by meaningful research. Kingsley Gate studies show that 73 percent of senior executives within PE/VC firms have either resigned (33 percent) or considered resigning (40 percent) from positions where they weren’t sufficiently empowered to make decisions. “Understanding how candidates process information, solve problems, and handle ambiguity provides crucial insights into their potential effectiveness in specific company environments,” said Ms. Woodhead. “You want to understand how a person makes decisions. Does the candidate require extensive information before making decisions? How comfortable are they with ambiguity? Do they thrive in hierarchical structures or flatter organizations? These factors determine not only cultural fit but how effective they’ll be in achieving objectives.”
Related: A Private Equity Blueprint To Secure High-Impact Leaders
For step-up candidates—those taking on a role for the first time—thorough vetting through references and deep assessment of readiness becomes essential, Ms. Woodhead explained. “While traditionally private equity has been risk-averse, the current talent market demands more openness to first-time executives,” she said. “Instead of automatically going for the safer choice, I’ve been aggressively coaching clients to seriously consider number-twos who are ready for that next step. The strongest candidates are often those hungry first-timers who have something to prove.”
They’re typically more likely to roll up their sleeves and work harder than established executives who’ve already had multiple exits, and they may be more amenable to relocation or hybrid arrangements since these opportunities are career-defining for them, according to Ms. Woodhead. “References remain a crucial evaluation tool when properly leveraged,” she continued. “References are incredibly valuable if you know how to conduct them well. Third-party perspectives can validate the scope of a candidate’s role and provide unbiased assessment of their leadership abilities, since self-perception doesn’t always align with reality.”
Christine Sobhani is a senior partner at Kingsley Gate. She brings over 25 years of recruitment experience to Kingsley Gate. Ms. Sobhani is a leader in the talent acquisition and talent management space, with a focus on leadership roles across industries. Before her last role as partner at August Leadership, she served as a managing director in Allegis Partners’ New York office, where she focused on identifying talented executives to lead organizations’ HR teams and leadership functions.
“I tell my clients to get to know candidates as people,” Ms. Sobhani said. “Spend time with them outside formal interviews—have lunch or coffee together. When you get that informal time, it makes a huge difference in seeing if they’ll gel with the team. This informal evaluation helps assess the interpersonal chemistry that’s vital when building a senior leadership team. By expanding evaluation to include decision-making approaches and leadership style, PE firms can make more successful executive placements even in a challenging talent market.”
Search Firms Providing Value
In today’s high-stakes private equity environment, executive search firms are uniquely positioned to create exceptional value beyond traditional recruiting services, Ms. Woodhead explained. “Executive search firms have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the market more than most other service providers,” she said. “This advantage stems from their continuous engagement with executives across industries, providing unparalleled access to ground-level intelligence about market conditions, company performance, and industry trends. PE-focused recruiters develop deeper market insights than almost any other professional service partner through extensive conversations with dozens of executives during each search process.”
“This intelligence becomes increasingly valuable when search partners develop sector specializations, allowing them to provide nuanced perspectives that can validate or challenge assumptions about potential portfolio companies,” Ms. Woodhead continued. “We can provide insights that help inform investment decisions beyond just filling positions. When we truly understand a client’s investment thesis, we can offer market intelligence that influences diligence processes, valuation considerations, and post-acquisition strategies.”
“Search firms also add significant value through opportunistic talent connections,” Ms. Sobhani added. “If we see strong executives leaving companies, even if we don’t have an active search, we’ll connect them with PE firms we work with. These introductions can lead to executives who might drive new deals or advise on potential platforms—creating value that transcends current assignments. The relationship management aspect cannot be overlooked. I meet with talent partners monthly just to discuss what we’re seeing in the market.”
“By maintaining regular contact about market conditions and compensation trends, recruiters help PE firms anticipate talent issues before they become problems,” Ms. Sobhani said. “The most successful PE-search firm relationships evolve beyond transactional search assignments into strategic partnerships. Search firms function as trusted advisors who understand not just how to fill open positions, but how executive talent drives value creation in the PE model.”
Related: How to Identify Leadership Potential in Private Equity Acquisitions
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
