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Executive Search Lead

Kraken· People
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Remote$127.2k - $254.4kFull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Executive recruiting lead responsible for end-to-end executive searches across the Payward platform, partnering with C-suite and Board, and scaling executive hiring as a shared service across multiple brands.

Responsibilities

  • Own executive recruiting end to end across the Payward platform spanning C-level, Board, VP+ and bespoke Advisor mandates
  • Partner directly with the Co-CEOs and the executive team on the searches that matter most, absorbing their pace and operating as a trusted advisor
  • Run board and advisory mandates with the discretion they require
  • Define how executive hiring scales as a shared service across a growing, multi-brand platform
  • Own the external search partner strategy: managing relationships with key retained firms, and ensuring seamless partnership if and when they are engaged
  • Report to the Head of Talent and operate as a member of the talent leadership team, with a dotted line into the Chief People Officer

Qualifications

  • 6+ years of executive recruiting experience, with demonstrable ownership of executive searches (VP, C-level, Board) from mandate through close
  • A selection mindset over a screening one. You calibrate candidates against business strategy and can defend a shortlist to a skeptical executive audience
  • Closing and negotiation strength at executive level: pre-closing, offer construction, equity and comp complexity
  • Experience partnering closely with Compensation & Benefits and the HR business partners to ensure full alignment throughout a search lifecycle
  • Business acumen to understand and pitch a complex platform business credibly. Executive candidates buy the thesis, not the job spec
  • Proven agency and retained-firm management — briefing, accountability and spend control
  • Exceptional written and verbal English at executive register
  • Discretion by default, with a track record of executive searches quietly
  • Comfort operating in ambiguity, with responsiveness to candidates and executives across all time zones
  • Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, given the proximity this role requires to our executives and to board and advisory mandates

Skills

Required:Executive recruitingStakeholder managementNegotiation & closingDiscretion & confidentiality
Nice to have:Shared services / program management
Last updated Sep 9, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Kraken

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