Executive Search in New York
Advius Group is a retained executive search firm working with New York companies on CEO, CFO, and full C-suite mandates. We run one search at a time for one client, and we stay accountable through the first 120 days after the hire starts.
One client, one search, one outcome. Never contingency.
Clarity, Precision, Momentum on every engagement.
Structured integration support after the offer is signed.
Executive search in the most crowded talent market in the country
New York has more qualified executives than any market in the country, which sounds like it should make hiring easier. It does the opposite. The leaders worth recruiting are employed, well compensated, and approached constantly, so they have learned to ignore the approach. Volume does not work here. Precision does.
Advius Group runs retained executive search for New York companies: financial services and private equity firms, technology and media businesses, healthcare services platforms, and nonprofits with real institutional scale. Every search is retained, methodology-driven, and committed to a single referenced shortlist.
Why a New York company would hire a firm based elsewhere
The honest answer: because a local rolodex is worth less than it used to be, and it is the thing most New York search firms are actually selling. A rolodex is a list of people who already answer that firm's calls. It is not a map of the qualified market, and it tends to produce the same names the last three searches produced.
Advius is headquartered in Phoenix and runs New York searches as national searches, because for a C-suite role that is what they are. We build a target universe from the companies where the relevant experience actually sits, approach those people by name through referenced outreach, and evaluate for the specific conditions the role will face. We travel for finalist meetings and stakeholder sessions. What we do not do is charge for proximity.
Our retained executive search process
Every Advius search follows the same three-phase methodology. Clarity starts with a diagnostic rather than a job description: what does success look like 24 months out, where is the current team strong, and what will derail the wrong candidate? The output is a written search specification the hiring authority signs off on before any outreach begins.
Precision builds a target universe of the qualified market and approaches candidates through named research and referenced outreach. Evaluation goes beyond credentials to system fit: leadership style, operating context, and the conditions the role will actually face. You receive a short, referenced shortlist with a written brief on each finalist.
Momentum covers compensation benchmarking, offer structuring, the close, and the 120-Day Flight Plan with checkpoints at 30, 60, 90, and 120 days. In a market where counteroffers are routine, the close is not an afterthought. The full sequence is on our executive search methodology page.
C-suite roles we place in New York
Advius runs searches across the full executive team. The mandates we see most often in New York:
- Chief Financial Officer. CFOs for sponsor-backed businesses, firms preparing for a transaction, and companies stepping up to institutional reporting discipline.
- Chief Executive Officer. Board-led succession, founder transitions, and portfolio company leadership changes.
- Operating and functional C-suite. COO, CTO, CIO, CRO, CHRO, and CMO, plus board directors and VP-level leaders with real enterprise scope.
Practice pages by role: CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, CIO, CMO, CHRO and HR, and board directors.
Industries we serve in the New York market
New York is not one market either. The executive who thrives inside a sponsor-backed portfolio company is rarely the one who thrives inside a legacy institution. Our heaviest concentration:
- Financial services and private equity. Sponsors, portfolio company leadership, asset managers, and the finance functions that support them.
- Technology and media. Software, data, and media businesses moving from founder-led to institutionally governed.
- Healthcare services, real estate, and nonprofit leadership. Provider platforms, owners and investment managers, and mission-driven organizations with institutional scale.
Sector detail: private equity, financial services, technology, healthcare, real estate, and nonprofit.
Why the wrong executive hire costs more than a search fee
Research consistently puts the failure rate for externally hired executives between 40 and 60 percent inside the first 18 months. The cost runs to roughly three times annual compensation once severance, missed strategy execution, team disengagement, and the second search are counted. At New York compensation levels that arithmetic gets expensive quickly.
Retained executive search exists because the alternative is not cheaper, it is more expensive and paid in a different currency. See our cost of a failed executive hire analysis and executive search cost guide.
About Craig Devereaux, founder of Advius Group
Craig Devereaux started his career in recruiting. More than ten years of watching what happens after the offer letter convinced him the industry kept the wrong scoreboard: a search closes, a leader arrives, and the organization is not ready. He founded Advius Group to fix that.
Craig leads every Advius engagement personally, including searches run for clients outside Arizona. Read more about Craig and the firm.
Start a retained search in New York
If you are weighing whether now is the right time to open a retained search, we would rather have that conversation early than late. A scoped intake call takes 30 minutes, costs nothing, and ends with a clear view of the role, the market, and whether Advius is the right firm for it. Contact Advius Group to schedule one.
C-suite practices we run
Advius operates as a retained-only firm. Every practice below is delivered against the Clarity, Precision, Momentum methodology.
CEO search
Board-led CEO recruitment with structured stakeholder alignment.
02CFO search
Finance leadership for PE-backed and growth-stage operators.
03COO search
Operating leaders for scale, integration, and value creation.
04CTO search
Technology leadership across product, platform, and engineering.
05CMO search
Revenue-accountable marketing leaders for the next growth chapter.
06HR search
CHRO and people-strategy leadership in periods of rapid organizational change.
Frequently asked questions
Does Advius Group have a New York office?
No. Advius is headquartered in Phoenix and runs New York searches from there. For retained executive search that matters less than it used to: the work is market research, confidential outreach, and structured evaluation, and the candidate pool for a New York C-suite role is national anyway. We travel for finalist meetings and stakeholder sessions. If you want a firm whose value is a Manhattan address and a local rolodex, we are not the right fit. If you want a firm that maps the whole qualified market for the role, we are.
What does an executive search in New York cost?
Advius works on a retained basis. The investment is structured as a percentage of first-year total compensation, invoiced in installments at engagement, shortlist, and placement, and it includes the 120-Day Flight Plan after the hire starts. New York compensation benchmarks run higher than most markets, which moves the absolute number rather than the structure. Our executive search cost guide explains how retained fees are built and what they cover.
How is a retained search firm different from the executive recruiters who cold-call our team?
A contingency recruiter is paid only when someone they sent gets hired, so the incentive is speed and volume, and several firms often work the same role. A retained firm is paid in installments to run one search to completion for one client. In a market as dense as New York that difference compounds: the same candidates circulate between contingency firms, while the executives worth hiring are employed, not looking, and will only engage through a discreet, referenced approach. Advius operates exclusively on a retained basis. See our retained vs contingency comparison.
Which industries do you cover in New York?
Financial services and private equity are the heaviest concentration, along with technology, media, healthcare services, and real estate. We also run searches for nonprofit and foundation leadership, which is a substantial New York sector that most search firms treat as an afterthought. The common thread is the situation rather than the sector: a growth inflection, a leadership transition, a turnaround, or a post-acquisition integration.
Which roles does Advius place?
CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, CIO, CRO, CHRO, and CMO, plus board directors and VP-level leaders when the role carries real enterprise scope. We do not work roles below the VP level and we do not run high-volume or contract staffing.
Start a confidential conversation
Send a short note about the New York role, the company, and the timeline. Craig reads every inquiry. All conversations are confidential.
