Board of Directors Recruitment

Get transformational direction with board of directors recruitment for PE-backed companies.

Recruiting the right person for a role takes on fundamental importance when that individual will be responsible for leading and executing the value creation strategy for your portfolio company.

At Apex Leaders, we leverage over a decade of experience servicing private equity investors to source the most relevant and experienced executives to serve on the portfolio company Board of Directors. Our specialized research process and nuanced understanding of investors’ needs have successfully driven board of directors recruitment and placement for PE-backed companies across all major sectors, including many niche industries.

A man who works at a PE firm reviewing a board of directors recruitment strategy on a computer from a private equity expert network.

Ready to find the perfect board member?

We’ll help you find the right fit—for every seat.

Perfect-fit Board Members

Whether you’re looking for a Board Member with proven skills in a particular sub-sector or architecting an entire Board comprised of diverse backgrounds and expertise – our experience and client focus will deliver the right talent to augment your management team’s collective experience.

We introduce investors and their management teams to experienced operators and respected former executives who spent their careers developing expertise in your industry. These leaders help:

Drive value creation
Facilitate growth into adjacent industry segments or new geographic regions
Improve infrastructure capabilities
Lend a diverse perspective
Navigate regulatory environments and approval processes
Position the company for sale to a strategic buyer

Our process is how we deliver exceptional board candidates.

A private equity expert being contacted on the phone about board of directors recruitment for a private equity firm.

Our Board of Directors Recruitment Process

Scope

Our process starts with a comprehensive discovery call where your dedicated project manager will meet with firm leadership and the company C-suite to understand growth goals, exit strategy, and candidate experience. To ensure we have accurately captured all criteria and requirements, we will provide a thorough scope document to secure alignment before starting the search.

Discover

With your board of directors recruitment goals and criteria as the guide, our team conducts custom research, maps all relevant talent and recruits, and interviews potential candidates. Along with covering the candidate’s experience and accomplishments, the interview also digs into:

Challenges they’ve faced and how they handled adversity
Ability to influence others
Leadership and collaborative skill sets

Connect

Once we have identified qualified candidates, we will provide resumes and interview notes for you to review. Then you choose which candidates you would like to meet with, and the Apex team facilitates the introduction.

Follow-through

We are committed to your success. If your needs change, our team will make the necessary pivots and continue researching, recruiting, interviewing, and presenting executives until your precise-fit board member is successfully placed.

Board of Directors FAQs

What are the top platforms for private equity board placements?

Traditional “board member search firms” (like Heidrick & Struggles or Spencer Stuart) are known for their large-scale, global searches.

However, specialist firms like Apex Leaders focus exclusively on board placements for PE-backed companies. We provide a unique advantage by custom-recruiting the experts who are prepared to execute specific value creation plans on a compressed timeline.

How do private equity board members influence portfolio company strategy?

The right board member is a value creation partner, not a governance checkbox. They are brought in to be highly engaged and results-oriented.

Strong board members accelerate strategy by injecting operational expertise, mentoring company leadership, providing a high-value network, and using their pattern recognition to anticipate the costly mistakes that derail exits.

How do private equity firms select their board members?

The process for board member recruitment is often systematic. PE firms typically start by defining the portfolio company’s value creation strategy over the holding period. They then identify the skill gaps on the current board/management team, and recruit a board member whose past experience directly addresses that specific operational or strategic need.

What is the board placement process at Apex Leaders?

We don’t rely on a Rolodex of “professional board members.” We conduct custom searches to find current or former operators who have actually solved the challenges your portco is facing. Whether you need a turnaround CEO or a tech-savvy advisor, we run a bespoke search process to find the ideal cultural and strategic fit.

“Apex Leaders is excellent across the board. They’ve found us great advisors in a timely manner, and have kept working through issues once we found a primary operator. We always appreciate the team’s thoroughness and persistence on our behalf.” Sam G. Astor
Partner, Atlas Holdings

“Working with Apex Leaders has fundamentally changed how we operate. The people they have working with us are top notch, really outstanding.” Luke Plumpton
Partner, O2 Investments Partners

“Today’s market is so competitive, you’ve got to be more than just smart to win. Working with Apex Leaders gives us the edge on every deal we’re serious about.” Stephen King
Founding Partner, Prairie Capital