Executive Search
Leadership Search for the Future of Banking & Private Credit
We help banks, specialty lenders, and financial institutions identify and place high-impact leaders across credit, risk, operations, product, and specialty finance.
Banking is shifting from task execution to judgment, orchestration, and governance. The most valuable hires are no longer defined only by title — they are leaders who can interpret complexity, guide change, and operate across workflows.
Find the Leaders Who Matter MostSpecialized Search for High-Impact Banking Roles
Doherty Search Partners is a specialized search firm focused on leadership and mission-critical roles across modern banking. We work where domain expertise, sound judgment, and operating-model fluency matter most — including hybrid leaders with banking expertise and AI/data fluency, risk and governance talent, product and data roles, and specialty finance talent across SBA, CRE, ABL, sponsor finance, healthcare, and related sectors.
We do not approach recruiting as a volume exercise. The market is shifting toward fewer hires with greater impact, increased leverage for top performers, and a premium on leaders who can govern, redesign, and execute within more integrated banking workflows.
Where We Focus
Executive & Enterprise Leadership
CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CROs, CCOs, CLOs, CTO/CIOs, and heads of major business lines. Rising demand for leaders who have led evolution, not just balance-sheet growth.
Credit, Risk & Governance Leaders
Chief Credit Officers, senior credit leaders, compliance executives, BSA/AML leaders, model-governance talent, and third-party/fintech risk leaders. Strong expansion in risk-aware, governance-capable leadership as banks adopt AI-enabled decision support.
Commercial & Specialty Finance
Commercial banking, CRE, SBA, ABL, lender finance, fund finance, equipment finance, healthcare, franchise, and vertical specialists. Specialty expertise becomes more valuable as routine work compresses and judgment-intensive roles expand.
Product, Data & Workflow Leadership
AI and LOS platform leaders, banking product managers, data and analytics leaders, digital lending leaders, and PMO/workflow evolution leaders. These roles are increasingly central as banking becomes more integrated and AI-driven workflow ownership grows in importance.
What We Look For
We evaluate candidates for more than experience on paper. The key shift is from 'Can they execute the task?' to 'Can they interpret, challenge, and govern AI-driven outputs?' We prioritize AI literacy, end-to-end workflow thinking, strong judgment in exceptions, cross-functional credibility, and evolution experience.
- Banking and domain expertise
- Workflow orientation across credit, operations, risk, and revenue
- Strong judgment in ambiguity and exceptions
- Data and technology fluency
- Governance mindset and regulatory credibility
- Change leadership and adoption experience
Why Our Search Model Fits This Market
AI is changing how work gets done across lending, risk, operations, treasury, and client coverage. It automates document-heavy work, augments relationship and judgment roles, compresses middle-office handoffs, and raises the premium on governance and explainability. In that environment, the highest-value search work centers on leaders who can connect domain expertise with data, workflow, risk, and client strategy.
Great banking has always been rooted in trust, judgment, and relationships. The future is not relationship banking versus AI — it is relationship banking powered by AI. That makes leadership selection more important, not less.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a bank executive search take?
A well-run retained search for a senior banking or private credit role typically moves from kickoff to accepted offer in eight to twelve weeks. Timeline depends on role complexity, compensation alignment, and how clearly the role is defined before the search begins. Searches that stall almost always do so because of unclear role definition or misaligned compensation — both of which we address at the outset.
Do you work on a retained or contingency basis?
Doherty Search Partners works exclusively on a retained basis. We made a deliberate decision to go fully retained because it is the only model that allows us to do the work that actually produces the best outcomes — deep market mapping, thorough candidate assessment, and honest client counsel. Contingency economics optimize for speed and volume; retained economics optimize for getting it right.
What roles do you place?
We focus on enterprise-level and mission-critical leadership roles across banking, specialty lending, and private credit — including CEO, COO, CFO, CRO, CCO, CLO, and heads of major business lines. We also place hybrid leaders with banking domain expertise and AI or data fluency, risk and governance talent, and specialty finance leaders across SBA, CRE, ABL, sponsor finance, healthcare lending, and adjacent sectors.
What is your fee structure?
Our retained search fee is structured in three installments: an engagement fee at kickoff, a progress fee at candidate presentation, and a completion fee at offer acceptance. The total fee is based on a percentage of the placed executive's first-year total compensation. We are happy to discuss specifics during an initial consultation — fee structures are tailored to the scope and complexity of each engagement.
Do you offer a placement guarantee?
Yes. We stand behind our placements with a guarantee period. If a placed executive departs within the guarantee window for reasons within the scope of our search, we will conduct a replacement search at no additional professional fee. The specific terms are outlined in our engagement agreement and discussed at the start of every search.
Where do you work geographically?
We conduct searches nationally across the United States. Our client base includes banks, specialty lenders, and private credit platforms from coast to coast. While our founder is based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, geography does not constrain our search work — we go where the best candidates are, and we work with clients wherever they operate.
How does Strategic Team Services (Mainlynk) differ from executive search?
Executive search places a single leader into a defined role. Strategic Team Services — powered by Mainlynk — is a broader engagement that designs and builds complete leadership teams aligned to your operating model and growth strategy. It includes team architecture, role definition, behavioral assessment, and coordinated multi-hire execution. It is the right model when you are building a new business line, restructuring a function, or need a cohesive team rather than a single hire.
Find Leaders Built for Where Banking Is Going
If your institution needs leadership that can operate across strategy, workflow, governance, and growth, Doherty Search Partners can help you identify the right fit.
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