The Barton Partnership Expands in North America
March 24, 2026 – U.K.-based executive search firm The Barton Partnership (TBP) has added Marty O’Doherty and Purab Parikh as part of the continued expansion of its North American business and its CEO and board capability, based in Toronto and aligned with the firm’s global private equity platform. “The appointments reflect TBP’s continued investment in senior leadership hiring for capital allocators and portfolio companies as value creation timelines increase and leadership impact becomes more material across the hold period,” the firm said in a release. The hires also mark an important step in The Barton Partnership’s continued expansion across North America.
Mr. O’Doherty joins as senior vice president – private equity, North America, and Mr. Parikh joins as principal. Both will partner closely with The Barton Partnership’s private equity and transformation practices to support clients across North America, with a focus on CEO, board and senior C-suite placements for private equity firms, family offices, pension funds and their portfolio companies.
“Our U.S. business has been a key growth area for the firm, and we are excited to now include Canada as part of the North American proposition,” said Oliver Phoenix, CEO of The Barton Partnership. “We have a strong track record in operating partner and chief transformation officer appointments and have broadened our capability across chief financial officer and chief technology officer leadership. With Marty and Purab joining the team, we add further depth to our CEO and board work, reinforcing The Barton Partnership’s position as the first call for people driving value creation, strategy and transformation worldwide. We are delighted to welcome them to the team.”
“Marty and Purab bring a highly complementary approach to what The Barton Partnership already does exceptionally well for investors and operating leaders,” said Michael Doud, executive vice president, North America at The Barton Partnership. “They strengthen our ability to support CEO and board hiring as a dedicated North American capability, while connecting seamlessly to our global private equity work. We are thrilled to have them on the team.”
Mr. O’Doherty brings more than a decade of experience advising investors and portfolio leaders on board and C-suite hiring, with work spanning the investment value chain from deal advisory and post-deal value creation through transaction readiness. He most recently served as partner – private equity and family office portfolio practice leader with GlassRatner.
“The Barton Partnership has been at the forefront of talent-to-value creation for years through its transformation and consulting work with many of the most respected private equity funds, family offices and pension funds,” said Mr. O’Doherty. “As the EBITDA growth required to achieve target returns has increased and hold periods have extended, the importance of board and C-suite leadership has only intensified. I’m excited to be a part of expanding the North American CEO and board offering that helps investors and portfolio companies translate leadership decisions into performance.”
Mr. Parikh brings a background spanning engineering and industrial operations, management consulting and executive search, with experience advising senior leaders on strategy, operating model improvements and growth priorities across sectors. He most recently served as practice co-leader, private equity, for GlassRatner.
“The Barton Partnership’s brand, market approach and positioning punches above its weight, and that creates a strong foundation to build on,” said Mr. Parikh. “I’m excited to help expand a CEO and board offering in North America that is tightly aligned to investor value creation and leverages the broader strengths of The Barton Partnership’s private equity and consulting ecosystem.”
Related: The Barton Partnership Expands Professional Services Practice
The Barton Partnership is an executive recruitment firm providing permanent search and independent consulting services across all aspects of strategy and M&A, digital, data and analytics, ESG and sustainability, and transformation and change.
With offices in New York, Chicago, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong and now Sydney, The Barton Partnership’s clients include FTSE-listed and Fortune 500 companies across all sectors/industries, SMEs, strategic, innovation and management consulting firms (large and boutique), global financial services, and private equity and venture capital organizations.
New VP in North America
Late last year, The Barton Partnership named Melissa Chester as vice president, North America. “Melissa’s extensive experience supporting private equity firms and their portfolio companies makes her a perfect fit for our firm, and the timing is just right,” said Mr. Doud. “We’re thrilled to have her join BJ Clinton in driving continued growth in the transformation & value creation space within our independent consulting practice. Her experience also complements our executive search offering and the work of our U.S. private equity team, led by Harry Chamberlain.”
Ms. Chester joined The Barton Partnership from talent solutions firm Robert Half, where she served as managing vice president, strategic accounts and led enterprise private equity relationships, partnering with operating teams at large-cap funds and their portfolio companies to deliver talent and consulting solutions through periods of change.
“What drew me to The Barton Partnership is its client-centric focus and the agility to deliver precisely what private equity sponsors and portfolio leaders need, when they need it,” said Ms. Chester. “Mike, BJ and the team have built a strong North American platform; my goal is to expand that momentum by listening closely to our clients’ transformation agendas and matching them with practitioners who not only have the functional toolkit but can lead organizations through change.”
Related: The Barton Partnership Appoints Senior Leaders
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
