Your private equity recruitment specialists
A portfolio company’s next technology leader has to turn the business plan into decisions: what to build, where to invest and how to get the team delivering. Nexus IT Group recruits CIOs, CTOs and senior engineering, data and product leaders for private equity sponsors and investment-backed businesses.
We run retained executive searches for the leaders who will own that work. Whether you are preparing for an acquisition, replacing a technology executive or building a leadership team after funding, we start with the company’s objectives and the responsibilities of the appointment.
Define the mandate before approaching candidates
A CTO hired to build a product organization needs different experience from a CIO brought in to integrate systems after an acquisition. We discuss the technology environment, reporting relationships, team and business priorities with your hiring leaders. Compensation, location expectations and the interview process become part of the brief from the start.
Reach beyond the applicants
Our recruiters use targeted outbound sourcing, referrals and their professional network to approach potential leaders. We spend time understanding what candidates have delivered, the teams they have led and why they would consider a move. Several conversations establish fit and expectations before we put a candidate in front of your team.
Keep a confidential search focused
We conduct confidential retained searches, including assignments before a deal closes. We agree how to present the opportunity and what can be shared with candidates. Through interviews and offer discussions, we keep both sides informed about expectations, competing processes and the decisions needed to reach a hire.
Four ways private equity sponsors staff technology across the fund and the portfolio
Executive Search (Retained)
We run retained searches for the technology leadership a sponsor installs at a portfolio company, including CIO, CTO and the value creation leads who report to an operating partner. These searches run confidentially, frequently before a deal closes, and the shortlist has to be defensible to an investment committee working to a thesis. Our retained placements hold a 96% candidate retention rate.
Direct Hire
Portfolio companies rarely have an internal recruiting function, and the roles they need filled are urgent by the time a sponsor gets involved. Our recruiters work outbound and deliver a vetted shortlist within 4 days of taking the requirement. We screen for people who have worked inside a sponsor-backed business before, since the reporting cadence and the pace are genuinely different from a corporate environment.
Contract Staffing
Diligence, carve-outs and post-close integrations all need specialist capacity for a defined window. We act as both the recruiter and the W2 employer for the contract term, which keeps co-employment risk off the portfolio company and lets you end or convert the engagement without a further fee. Our contract placements hold a 94.3% quality of hire ratio.
Recruitment as a Service
A sponsor hiring across several portfolio companies gets far better economics from a subscription than from a fee per placement. Our Recruitment as a Service model covers candidate marketing, sourcing, screening and delivery across the portfolio, with your operating partners meeting only finalists. We generate an engaged pipeline for a named role in under 7 days.
We have filled a variety of private equity roles
Recruit with Nexus IT Group in private equity
What our private equity clients have said about working with Nexus IT Group
nexus IT group has partnered with Better since 2019. The recruiting team at nexus IT group has been a key advisor for tech talent. Working over the years on several key roles, has allowed us to continue to scale our team. Nexus’ private equity recruiters were instrumental in helping to hire several Full Stack Engineers and a handful Data Engineers.
We worked with nexus IT group to hire software engineers and product managers. nexus worked swiftly and accurately to get our message out to the right people. Working with nexus IT group allowed us to fill several key roles at a much faster rate than we could have. Nexus IT group is one of a small number of IT recruiters that I’d recommend.
nexus IT group is an extremely talented IT recruiting team. They are very technical when it comes to sourcing capabilities, content writing, and cadences. They also do a great job of controlling the process and are able to read candidates well. They’ve always been responsive and dependable along with hardworking. nexus IT groups private equity recruiters have been a huge asset to the growth of our data and development teams. I would gladly recommend nexus IT group to any Seed or Series company.
I had the opportunity to work with nexus IT group on several tech hires. I would put Nexus in the top 1% of IT recruiters. They bring fierce work ethic along with deep understanding of the technical marketplace. Nexus IT group is a hiring managers dream team.
nexus IT group hired several IT professionals which made a huge impact on our products ability to scale. Their work has been crucial to the growth and success of Brex. Any organization would be lucky to have nexus IT group on their team.
Our private equity staffing skills keep our clients coming back
CTO
We completed an exclusive Chief Technology Officer search for a Series A startup building an online shopping platform where influencers become retailers.
The CTO was hired in 43 days. Our recruiters contacted 293 candidates and submitted nine fully vetted resumes.
Head of Data
The client engaged Nexus IT Group to hire a Head of Data to develop its initial data science products following a $30M seed round.
We completed the search in 52 days after 13 submittals. The hire went on to analyze, model, design and develop those products.
Frequently asked questions about private equity recruiting
Our focus is the technology leadership that private equity sponsors and investment-backed companies need to build and scale a business. That includes CIOs, CTOs, VPs of Engineering, product leaders and Heads of Data. We start with the responsibilities of the role and the stage of the business rather than treating every executive title as the same search. The wider private equity practice also recruits the specialists who work alongside those leaders.
Executive search concentrates on a leadership appointment and the business decisions that person will own. Our broader private equity practice covers technology hiring at other levels, including engineering, security and product specialists. A retained leadership search gives the team room to map the candidate market and approach people who are not applying to job advertisements. We discuss the role first so the engagement fits the hiring requirement.
Yes. We conduct confidential retained searches for technology leadership, including assignments before a deal closes. Contact our team to discuss the confidentiality requirements for your search.
We begin with a discovery conversation about the company, the role and the person you need. Our team builds a candidate profile and uses outbound sourcing, referrals and its professional network to reach potential hires. Candidates go through several conversations about their experience, motivation and expectations before we submit them for client review. We then work with the candidate and hiring team through interviews and offer discussions.
Timing depends on the role, compensation, location expectations and the speed of interview feedback. We completed a CTO search in 43 days and a Head of Data search in 52 days. The timetable for your search will depend on its requirements. We discuss the constraints of your requirement before agreeing the search plan.
We agree the engagement and payment structure with the hiring company before the search starts. We offer retained executive search alongside direct hire and other recruiting services. The appropriate arrangement depends on the level of the role and the work involved in the assignment. Contact the team to discuss the scope and receive terms for your search.