The answer is not more resumes.
It is better judgment.

Whaley Search Partners leads retained searches nationwide for C-suite and senior executives at pivotal moments—when growth, succession, or transformation demands better judgment, not more candidates.

Start a Confidential Conversation

Deliberately varied executive leadership profiles representing global perspective, commercial impact, principled judgment, future focus, and human-centered leadership.
Deliberately varied executive leadership profiles representing global perspective, commercial impact, principled judgment, future focus, and human-centered leadership.

20+ Years

In Executive Search

20+ Years

In Executive Search

Vice President Through C-Suite

Vice President Through C-Suite

Senior Leadership Mandates

Nationwide Reach

Nationwide Reach

Across the United States

Founder-Led

Founder-Led

From First Question Through Transition

SELECTED RECOMMENDATIONS

The work is confidential. The reputation is not.

The work is confidential. The reputation is not.

The work is confidential. The reputation is not.

For more than two decades, Heather Whaley has recruited, assessed, and advised executives and hiring leaders through consequential leadership decisions. Across industries and perspectives, the recommendations are remarkably consistent: listen carefully, understand the mandate, prepare thoroughly, and stay engaged through the outcome.

For more than two decades, Heather Whaley has recruited, assessed, and advised executives and hiring leaders through consequential leadership decisions. Across industries and perspectives, the recommendations are remarkably consistent: listen carefully, understand the mandate, prepare thoroughly, and stay engaged through the outcome.

INDUSTRY LEADER

“Heather is the gold standard for executive recruiters in the consumer packaged goods industry.”
President & Founder
Sustainable Packaging Company
01 / 03

Explore Results & Relationships

RECOGNITION & MEDIA

RECOGNITION & MEDIA

RECOGNITION & MEDIA

Best Executive Recruiter Award by LinkedIn for Best of Staffing and Recruiting
Hunt Scanlon Best Executive Recruiters
Work featured in Forbes Best of Executive Recruiting in Americas
Featured in TIME Magazine
Featured interview in Yahoo News

Recognition from Heather Whaley’s executive search career

Recognition from Heather Whaley’s executive search career

WHO WE SERVE

Different ownership models. The same need to get leadership right.

We work with companies where the next executive hire is tied to what the business must become next—not simply to a vacant seat.

Owner-led, private equity-backed, and transforming companies served by Whaley Search Partners.

OWNERSHIP & LEGACY

Owner-Led & Family-Owned

For succession, founder transition, the first outside executive, and professionalizing the business without losing the culture that made it successful.

Explore Owner-Led Companies →

PACE & PERFORMANCE

PE-Backed & Mandate-Driven

For value creation, acquisition integration, leadership upgrades, functional gaps, and growth or exit plans operating against a visible clock.

Explore PE-Backed Companies→

GROWTH & TRANSFORMATION

Companies at an Inflection Point

For navigating rapid growth, meaningful transformation, succession, market change, or a new stage the leadership structure was not designed to support.

Explore Growth & Transformation →

FUNCTIONS WE RECRUIT

The function may change. The standard for leadership does not.

We recruit senior leaders across the enterprise—from CEO and general management through the functions that drive growth, execution, value creation, and change.

Executive leadership functions recruited by Whaley Search Partners.

CEO, President & General Management

CEO · President · Division President · General Manager

Operations & Manufacturing

COO · Operations · Manufacturing · Operational Excellence

Supply Chain & Procurement

Chief Supply Chain Officer · Planning · Procurement · Logistics · Distribution

Commercial, Sales & Marketing

Chief Commercial Officer · Sales · Marketing · Customer Development · Ecommerce

Finance & Strategy

CFO · Finance · FP&A · Strategy · Transformation

People & Human Resources

CHRO · Human Resources · Talent · Organizational Effectiveness

M&A, Integration & Value Creation

Acquisition Integration · Transformation · Restructuring · Value Creation

Board & Governance

Board Chairs · Independent Directors · Committee Chairs · Advisory Boards

INDUSTRIES WE SERVE

We work where products, operations, customers, and execution meet.

Our deepest experience is with companies that make, move, market, and sell products—and the services and systems that support them.

Industries served by Whaley Search Partners, including consumer goods, food and beverage, beauty, wellness, pharma, retail, logistics, and manufacturing.

Consumer Goods

Food & Beverage

Beauty & Personal Care

Health & Wellness

Pharma & Nutraceutical

Retail, Ecommerce & Food Service

Distribution, Transportation & Logistics

Manufacturing & Industrial

Industry experience matters, but an identical industry background is not always the answer. We assess the operating model, customer, channel, scale, ownership context, and mandate to determine which experience will truly transfer.

Industry experience matters, but an identical industry background is not always the answer. We assess the operating model, customer, channel, scale, ownership context, and mandate to determine which experience will truly transfer.

WHEN TO CALL US

When the next leader carries the weight of what comes next.

We are built for consequential mandates, complex contexts, and executive hires whose impact reaches far beyond an open seat.

Leadership inflection points and situations that call for retained executive search.

01

Succession plans have to be put on hold.

The business needs an objective read on the internal bench, the external market, readiness, and risk—without sentimentality.

01

Succession plans have to be put on hold.

The business needs an objective read on the internal bench, the external market, readiness, and risk—without sentimentality.

02

The mandate has changed

The leader who built the current chapter may not be the leader required for the next one.

02

The mandate has changed

The leader who built the current chapter may not be the leader required for the next one.

03

The search must remain confidential

A sensitive replacement or undisclosed change requires controlled outreach, careful sequencing, and discretion.

03

The search must remain confidential

A sensitive replacement or undisclosed change requires controlled outreach, careful sequencing, and discretion.

04

The capability does not exist yet

Growth or transformation requires experience the organization has never previously needed.

04

The capability does not exist yet

Growth or transformation requires experience the organization has never previously needed.

Services

Search is a decision discipline— not a volume exercise.

Search is a decision discipline— not a volume exercise.

Whaley Search Partners retained executive search, leadership advisory, and market intelligence services.

01

Retained Executive Search

A founder-led search built around the business mandate, the market, and the leadership context behind the role.

01

Retained Executive Search

A founder-led search built around the business mandate, the market, and the leadership context behind the role.

02

Leadership Advisory

Clear counsel on succession, role definition, assessment, and senior-team decisions—before a search begins or when a search is not yet the answer.

02

Leadership Advisory

Clear counsel on succession, role definition, assessment, and senior-team decisions—before a search begins or when a search is not yet the answer.

03

Market Intelligence & Talent Mapping

A discreet, evidence-based view of the talent market before a search begins—or when leadership options need to be understood.

03

Market Intelligence & Talent Mapping

A discreet, evidence-based view of the talent market before a search begins—or when leadership options need to be understood.

OUR APPROACH

A disciplined sequence. A distinctly human read.

Every search is led personally from the first difficult question through acceptance, transition, and the months that follow.

Every search is led personally from the first difficult question through acceptance, transition, and the months that follow.

Whaley Search Partners six-step retained executive search process.

01 — MANDATE

Diagnose

Diagnose

Understand the real business need before defining the role.

02 — DEFINE

Define

Define

Build the success profile, package, and interview process.

03 — BUILD

Map & Engage

Map & Engage

Map the market and engage qualified passive talent.

04 — EVALUATE

Evaluate

Evaluate

Assess capability, career pattern, motivation, fit, and risk.

05 — SHORTLIST

Shortlist

Shortlist

Present deliberately varied, defensible options.

06 — FINISH

Close & Transition

Close & Transition

Guide interviews, references, pre-close, offer, and transition.

See How a Search Works

Heather Whaley, Founder and Managing Partner

FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER

The person behind the judgment.

Heather Whaley is Founder & Managing Partner of Whaley Search Partners. She brings more than 20 years of retained executive search experience across privately owned, PE-backed, and growth-focused companies. Clients know her for candid counsel, deep market knowledge, and hands-on leadership through the decisions they cannot afford to get wrong.

Heather has also served as a speaker, moderator, mentor, and committee member in national client-industry associations and executive forums—often as the only executive recruiter in the room alongside senior operators and business leaders.

The person who understands the mandate is the person who leads the search.

The person who understands the mandate is the person who leads the search.

The person who understands the mandate is the person who leads the search.

At many firms, the partner who wins the work hands it off. Here, the person who understands the mandate also leads the search—from role definition and market strategy through assessment, close, and transition.

Meet our Founder

The Whaley Wire

Notes on leadership, ownership, and the decisions between the lines.

Notes on leadership, ownership, and the decisions between the lines.

Articles from our Million Dollar Mistakes Series:

The Whaley Wire leadership insights and Million Dollar Mistakes article series.

The Whaley Wire · 01

The Real Costs of the Wrong Hire

A look beyond salary to the ripple effects of a bad executive hire: lost momentum, damaged teams, stalled strategy, and the very expensive illusion that “we’ll just fix it later.”

The Whaley Wire · 01

The Real Costs of the Wrong Hire

A look beyond salary to the ripple effects of a bad executive hire: lost momentum, damaged teams, stalled strategy, and the very expensive illusion that “we’ll just fix it later.”

The Whaley Wire · 02

Confusing Confidence with Competence

A sharp look at how polish, charisma, and boardroom swagger can be mistaken for real leadership ability — and why the most convincing person in the room is not always the most capable.

The Whaley Wire · 02

Confusing Confidence with Competence

A sharp look at how polish, charisma, and boardroom swagger can be mistaken for real leadership ability — and why the most convincing person in the room is not always the most capable.

The Whaley Wire · 03

The Pedigree Trap

How PE-backed leadership teams can recalibrate roles before performance drift becomes a people problem.

The Whaley Wire · 03

The Pedigree Trap

How PE-backed leadership teams can recalibrate roles before performance drift becomes a people problem.

Read The Whaley Wire

Confidential conversations begin here

Have an executive hire you cannot afford to get wrong?

Start a Confidential Conversation