Winner Partners Opens for Business

September 13, 2018 – An array of new recruiting firms have opened around the world this year. The latest: Former DHR International recruiters Tina Winner and Steven Oberhoffer have launched Winner Partners in St. Petersburg, FL.

Ms. Winner has experience in the fields of human resources, information technology, finance, accounting, engineering, operations, sales and marketing, and supply chain. Her practice includes executing searches for clients in the areas of industrial manufacturing, heavy equipment manufacturers (construction/mining), oil & gas/energy, financial/professional services, private equity, consumer packaged goods, life sciences/medical devices, distribution, automotive, aerospace, construction, education, non-profit and retail.

Most recently, Ms. Winner served as executive vice president for Jobplex Inc., a DHR International company, based in Pittsburgh. Before that, she was with Boyden World Corp., where she co-led the creation of Boyden Interim Management, a temporary manager/executive-level contract labor practice. Concurrently, Ms. Winner built a nationwide database of over 2,000 senior leaders in various competencies and developed numerous best-in-class resource tools for Boyden North America. Previously, she served as a project manager for investment advisory firm Legend Financial Advisors.

With 18 years of recruiting experience, Mr. Oberhoffer has built a reputation for having a strong commitment to every search assignment and client relationship. He said he firmly believes in being honest and upfront with both clients and candidates in order to place the right person with the right opportunity. His functional experience includes: sales and marketing, strategy, operations, R&D, human resources, engineering and logistics and supply chain. Mr. Oberhoffer’s consumer goods experience ranges from well-known multinational fortune 500 companies, private equity backed turnarounds too small to medium sized private and family owned operations. Although his focus is consumer goods, specifically food and beverage, he has also completed assignments in renewable energy, architecture engineering and construction, manufacturing, private equity and real estate across many functions and roles.

Mr. Oberhoffer previously served as partner for Jobplex. Prior to that, he was a vice president with Miller Resource Group, a boutique search firm. Earlier in his career he gained search experience with RSMR Inc., Cook Associates and Worldwide Express.

Open for Business

Over the past year new recruiting firms have put out shingles around the world in a wide range of industries. Here’s a look at a recent sampling from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

City Executive Search has been launched in the U.K. by Mike Lee, Dale Williams and Duncan Powell. The firm provides executive search services to organizations in a range of sectors including financial services, information technology, fintech, human resources, sales and marketing.

FIND Executive Consulting recently opened its doors in New York City. The firm was launched by former Martens & Heads! search consultants Kate Benson, Theresa Fuchs-Santiago and Jennifer Puckett. FIND’s industry focus spans the worlds of fashion, beauty, retail, luxury and lifestyle.

Wealth management industry veteran Michael Brody, along with KDS Strategic Search, announced the establishment of Fiduciary Search Group (FSG), a recruiting, placement and search firm offering a new model designed to provide fiduciary representation for premier wealth managers, RIAs and small to mid-sized broker dealers. 

Flashlight Partners, an executive recruitment firm based in Carmel, IN, has opened for business. “I believe that one should live intentionally and not vicariously,” said founder and CEO Laura Latham in a recent interview. “For me, being intentional meant starting a company where values and relationships mattered more than business transactions.”

Former Credit Suisse banker and personnel consultant Christian Haas has opened Haas Associates in Zurich to focus on the asset management industry. Mr. Haas has more than 10 years of practical experience in the field of asset management. Previously he was active as, among other things, the head of business development institutional clients at Credit Suisse.

Simon Pollock has launched Simon Pollock & Co in London, specializing in senior level executive search in global media and entertainment. Mr. Pollack most recently served as head of the media & entertainment practice at Heidrick & Struggles. Before that, he was a partner at the SevenArts, a boutique search firm.

Veteran executive recruiter Jennifer Muller has launched Academic Career and Executive Search (ACES), a higher education search firm focused on high precision, flexible executive search services, career planning and candidate coaching. Ms. Muller has 20 years of experience in research and development for higher education and Fortune 500 companies.

A new executive recruitment firm, Hanning Recruitment, has been launched in the U.K. It is headed by Toby Speke and backed by Rory Penn and Thomas van Straubenzee of the London agency VanHan. Mr. Speke previously worked for VanHan as well as global real estate firm Knight Frank.

Anuj Dhawan, former director and partner at Positive Moves Consulting, an angel investor in a Seattle-based healthcare IoT business, has founded executive search firm Cognitive Talent Partners LLP. Based in Gurgaon, Haryana, India, the firm provides executive search services to private equity funds, banks, consumer lending clients and global technology corporations.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media