Riviera Partners Names Partner to Lead Financial Services Practice Expansion

October 21, 2024 – San Francisco-based Riviera Partners, a recruitment provider specializing in C-level engineering, product, and design leader placements, has named Mike Flood as a partner, where he will lead the expansion of the firm’s financial services practice. “With a distinguished career spanning over two decades in executive search and leadership advisory, Mike’s expertise will enhance the firm’s capabilities and broaden the scope of its offerings in financial services,” the search firm said. “We are thrilled to welcome Mike Flood to the Riviera team,” said Michael A. Morell, managing partner and co-founder of Riviera Partners. “Mike’s track record in financial services, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit and extensive network, will be instrumental in broadening our reach and impact within this important sector. His expertise aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver the best leadership talent to drive transformational outcomes for our clients.”

Mr. Flood brings deep industry expertise to Riviera. He is the founder of Calibration Talent Advisors and previously served as the co-founder and managing partner of Westwood Partners LLC, a financial services-focused retained search boutique. In that role, Mr. Flood interviewed and assessed hundreds of analysts and portfolio managers. His entrepreneurial acumen led to the launch of a venture business within Westwood, and he remains a partner at Connectivity Capital Partners LLC and the Connectivity Ventures Fund. Early in his career, Mr. Flood co-founded The Capstone Partnership and built a strong foundation in executive search at Norman Broadbent, where he led the financial services practice. He is also the New York regional board chair for Good Sports.

“I’m excited to join Riviera and lead the financial services practice,” said Mr. Flood. “The industry is experiencing rapid transformation, and finding the right leadership is more critical than ever. Riviera’s focus on delivering tech-forward leaders with precision and insight makes this an exciting opportunity to help financial services firms stay ahead and thrive.”

Riviera Partners is a global recruiting firm specializing in the technology industry. The firm provides clients with optimal placements by combining recruiter interactions and experience with data-driven findings about candidates. Riviera Partners has recruited for key executive roles at Pinterest, Postmates, Tinder, Twilio, Uber, Asana, Dropbox, GitHub, DoorDash, Hulu, and partnered with venture-backed concerns, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Benchmark, Accel, Menlo Ventures, KPCB, Greylock, and General Catalyst.

Related: Riviera Partners Adds Veteran HR Executive

Through machine learning algorithms, Riviera Partners identifies specialized, highly qualified candidates that fit an organization’s needs from 600,000 professionals across tech geographies. Riviera can often provide a short list of candidates in 30 days and has a success rate of over 95 percent.

New Cybersecurity Practice

Riviera Partners recently launched its dedicated cybersecurity practice. The practice will focus on meeting the growing demand for CISOs and cybersecurity leaders across all industries, as well as technical leadership at companies in the digital security space. The practice is led by Sean Cleary, who joined Riviera Partners earlier this year as a partner. Supporting him in this new practice are Matt Stravitz and Chloe Kataev, both who bring deep expertise in cybersecurity recruitment.


Riviera Partners Receives Investment from Insight Partners
Riviera Partners has received an investment from global software investor Insight Partners. Privately backed since 2019, this investment allows Rivera Partners to forge additional opportunities for its recruiters and employees to scale into new markets and geographies. Riviera Partners will continue to operate independently. “With thousands of open engineering, product, and design leadership roles across Insight Partners’ portfolio, we know how in-demand top talent is,” said Allyson White, managing director at Insight Partners. “Riviera Partners has established a best-in-class, tech-driven approach to finding the best product and engineering candidates. Hiring is a critical component to a company’s success regardless of their stage, and we recognize that Riviera plays a large role in the health of the software ecosystem. We look forward to working with Riviera Partners as they continue to grow and place top technical leadership that will build the future generational companies.”


“As cybersecurity continues to grow in importance, both for enterprises and the security technology companies leading the charge, finding the right leaders is critical,” said Mr. Morell. “Under Sean Cleary’s leadership, our new practice will deliver on Riviera’s commitment to helping our clients secure top talent in an increasingly competitive market.”

Riviera Partners also  recently welcomed back Austin Douglas as a partner. “We are thrilled to have Austin back with us,” said Eoin O’Toole, managing partner of Riviera’s venture-backed practice. “His extensive experience and deep understanding of the engineering and product space, combined with his ability to connect with and understand the needs of founders, make him a valuable asset to our team and to the companies we serve. Above all that, he is a fantastic human of the utmost integrity, and will be a valued member of the team.”

Mr. Douglas brings nearly 15 years of experience in recruiting, with a deep focus on engineering and product roles for venture-backed companies. His recruiting has taken him through key markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Douglas gained search expertise at Riviera Partners, where he played a role in placing engineering and product leaders. He joined Paradigm Search in 2023, where he continued his focus on partnering with founders to identify visionary leaders capable of steering startups through growth stages.

Related: Riviera Partners Acquires Arete Partners, Creates Riviera Ventures

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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