Rob Crawford

Managing Director

Based in the New York City office, Rob Crawford is a Managing Director at Diversified Search Group, where he is a senior member of the Private Equity, Corporate and Board Practices

Crawford joined Diversified Search Group from Egon Zehnder, where he was a Principal and core member of the Private Equity and Financial Officers Practices.  His expertise in advising C-level executives, Boards, and investors on talent and strategic matters makes him a prized executive search consultant for private equity clients across a wide spectrum of industries and functions.

At Diversified Search Group, Crawford leverages his broad and extensive financial services industry experience, advising private equity firms at the fund level and their portfolio companies, on critical searches to attract the executive leadership required in today’s competitive market.

Crawford has worked closely with Financial Officers throughout his career and brings deep experience helping public and private companies recruit CFOs and fill key direct reporting roles to the CFO, including corporate controllers, chief accounting officers, tax leaders, and divisional finance executives.

Preceding his career in executive search, Crawford spent over two decades in various leadership roles in private equity and investment banking. He was a Managing Director at Fair Oaks Capital, a corporate credit-focused investment firm, as well as a Managing Director at IMB Partners, an independent financial sponsor.

Prior to moving to the buy-side, Crawford was an investment banker focused on providing M&A advisory primarily to private equity clients. He was a senior banker at Lincoln International, where he helped establish the firm’s New York office, and a Co-founder and Partner at Watch Hill Partners, a merchant banking firm focused on serving private equity clients. Previously, he served as an investment banker focused on M&A and Financial Sponsors Coverage at Bowles Hollowell Conner and M&A at Goldman Sachs, where he began his investment banking career as an Analyst and later rejoined the firm as a Vice President.