First, we define what the business needs from its next leader. Then, we use focused research, direct outreach, and relationships built over decades to identify executives who can lead growth, improve performance, and strengthen the organization.
Nationwide Executive Search
30+ Years of Recruiting Experience
No. 435 on the 2024 Inc. 5000
A Critical Leadership Hire
Requires a Focused Search
An executive hire affects more than one role or department.
The person you select may lead a new stage of growth, improve operations, rebuild a team, or prepare the company for a major change.
That leader may also shape company culture, board confidence, and long-term business value.
Therefore, the search should not depend on who happens to apply.
Retained executive search gives your organization a clear way to define the need, study the market, approach qualified leaders, and compare candidates against agreed business goals.
Trova supports searches tied to three common situations:
- Growth and expansion: Adding leadership to support a new market, larger team, new business function, or next stage of growth
- Succession and leadership transition: Replacing an executive, planning for succession, or guiding a founder or owner transition
- Investment, acquisition, and transformation: Supporting a portfolio company, strengthening leadership after an acquisition, or leading a turnaround or transformation
What Is Retained Executive Search?
Retained executive search is a dedicated recruiting service for senior, specialized, and high-impact leadership roles.
Trova works as your search partner and leads a structured process from the first discovery meeting through the final offer and hiring decision.
Instead of relying only on active applicants, we research the market and contact qualified executives directly.
As a result, the search can include proven leaders who are succeeding in their current roles and may not be looking for a change.
Retained search may be the right choice when:
- The position can affect company strategy or performance
- The search must remain confidential
- The strongest candidates are unlikely to apply online
- The role requires a rare mix of experience and leadership ability
- Several senior decision-makers must agree on the hire
- A previous search did not produce the right candidates
- The organization needs one partner focused on the search
Retained Search or Direct Hire?
Both services help companies hire permanent employees. However, they support different needs.
Direct Hire works well for many professional, management, and permanent positions.
Retained Executive Search provides a deeper and more focused process for critical senior roles. It may include interviews with key decision-makers, market mapping, direct candidate outreach, confidentiality, and a detailed review of each executive.
For broader permanent hiring needs, explore Trova’s Direct Hire Recruiting Services.
We Start with the Business, Not the Job Description
Every search begins with a deeper conversation about the organization.
We ask why the position is open, how the role has changed, and what the new executive must accomplish.
We also learn about the company’s goals, structure, culture, and current leadership team.
Next, we work with the key decision-makers to define the leader the business needs.
Together, we examine four key areas:
- The business need: Why the role is open, which problems the executive will inherit, and what that person must achieve during the first year
- The required background: Which experience is essential and which qualifications would be helpful but are not required
- The leadership environment: How the executive will work with the owner, CEO, board, investors, and the wider organization
- The conditions for success: Which leadership approach will work, what could cause a qualified person to struggle, and why a proven executive would consider the opportunity
This process creates alignment before Trova enters the market.
It also keeps an outdated job description from controlling an important business decision.
Relationships Open Doors
That Job Postings Cannot
Many strong executive candidates are already leading successful teams.
They may not visit job boards, update their résumés, or apply for open positions.
However, they may consider the right opportunity when someone they trust presents it clearly.
Trova’s executive recruiters have spent decades building relationships with professionals across the country.
We use those connections, along with fresh market research, to identify leaders who match the search.
Our approach includes three key areas:
- Market research: We identify relevant companies, markets, and executives with related experience.
- Trusted outreach: We contact referral sources and approach potential candidates directly.
- Search refinement: We gather feedback from the market and adjust the search as new information becomes available.
We do not limit the search to people we already know.
Instead, we use long-standing relationships and targeted research to build a strong candidate pool.
We Assess the Whole Leader
A résumé can show where someone worked and which titles they held.
However, it cannot fully show how the person leads, makes decisions, handles change, or builds trust.
Trova looks beyond career history. We ask open-ended questions about real situations, results, and challenges. Then, we listen for the judgment, values, and actions behind each answer.
We assess candidates across:
- Track record and level of responsibility: Business results, size of teams, budgets, and the scope of past roles
- Leadership and judgment: Communication, decision-making, team development, and problem-solving
- Ability to lead change: Experience guiding teams through growth, transition, pressure, or uncertainty
- Leadership environment and culture alignment: Ability to work with owners, boards, investors, and the company’s wider team
- Motivation and potential risks: Career goals, interest in the opportunity, compensation expectations, strengths, and concerns
Executive hiring also works both ways.
Candidates need a clear and honest view of the position, the company, and its expectations. Therefore, we help both sides exchange useful information and make a more informed decision.
How Trova Leads a Retained Executive Search
01.
Understand
the Business Need
First, we meet with the key decision-makers to learn why the role matters and what the new executive must achieve.
02.
Define
the Leader You Need
Next, we set the experience, results, leadership traits, and values that will guide the search.
03.
Research
the Market
We identify target companies, related markets, referral sources, and potential candidates.
04.
Approach
Executives Directly
Then, we present the opportunity to qualified leaders in a clear, professional, and discreet way.
05.
Interview
and Assess
We review each candidate’s experience, results, leadership approach, goals, and interest in the role.
06.
Present the Shortlist
and Coordinate Interviews
We introduce candidates who meet the agreed search criteria, explain why each person deserves consideration, and help coordinate the client interview process.
07.
Support Selection,
References, and the Offer
Finally, we gather feedback, complete agreed reference checks, and support communication through candidate selection and the offer process.
A Discreet Process
for Sensitive Leadership Decisions
Some executive searches cannot be shared with the public or the wider organization.
A company may need to replace a current leader, plan for succession, explore a new structure, or protect information tied to an investment or acquisition.
In these situations, Trova works with the approved decision-makers and controls how, when, and with whom sensitive information is shared.
A confidential search may be appropriate when:
- A current executive still holds the position
- The board is planning CEO succession
- The company is considering a leadership change
- An investment or acquisition has not been announced
- The organization needs to limit disruption across the company
- A candidate requires privacy before exploring the opportunity
Trova limits access to sensitive information and shares details only as needed throughout the search.
Executive Search Built Around Your Business Situation
Different decision-makers enter an executive search with different goals.
Trova shapes the process around the business need, the company’s stage, and the people responsible for the decision.
Business Owners and Founders
You may need an executive who can reduce pressure on the owner, build a stronger management team, or prepare the company for growth or succession.
Trova helps define where the business needs added leadership and what type of person can succeed in an owner-led organization.
CEOs and Executive Teams
You may need to close a leadership gap, build a new function, improve performance, or add experience the current team does not have.
We turn that need into a focused search and a clear candidate profile.
Boards of Directors
A board may need to lead a CEO search, prepare for succession, or replace another senior executive.
Trova helps decision-makers define the role, protect confidentiality, and keep the search moving through a structured process.
Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Investor-Backed Companies
An investor-backed company may need leaders who can support growth, improve operations, strengthen financial performance, or guide an acquisition or integration.
Trova shapes the search around the company’s stage, investment goals, and the results the executive must deliver.
These searches may support portfolio company growth, post-investment hiring, founder transition, acquisition integration, confidential replacement, or business transformation.
Executive and Senior Leadership Roles
Trova supports executive searches across key business functions.
We help companies find leaders who can guide strategy, build strong teams, and deliver results.
Examples of the roles we recruit include:
Enterprise Leadership
Find senior leaders who can guide the full organization, manage change, and turn business goals into action.
- Chief Executive Officer
- President
- Chief Operating Officer
- General Manager
- Division President
Accounting and Finance
Build financial leadership that supports sound decisions, stronger controls, and long-term business growth.
- Chief Financial Officer
- Controller
- Vice President of Finance
- Head of Financial Planning and Analysis
Technology and Cybersecurity
Add leaders who can guide technology strategy, protect the business, and support digital growth.
- Chief Information Officer
- Chief Technology Officer
- Chief Information Security Officer
- Vice President of Engineering
- Vice President of Information Technology
Sales and Marketing
Find growth-focused leaders who can strengthen market position, build revenue teams, and improve customer demand.
- Chief Revenue Officer
- Chief Marketing Officer
- Vice President of Sales
- Vice President of Marketing
- Business Development Leader
Human Resources
Recruit people leaders who can shape culture, develop teams, and support the organization through change.
- Chief Human Resources Officer
- Vice President of Human Resources
- Head of Talent
- Organizational Development Leader
Operations and Transformation
Add leaders who can improve how the business runs, manage complex change, and build stronger systems.
- Vice President of Operations
- Transformation Executive
- Supply Chain Leader
- Program Management or PMO Leader
Do not see the exact role you need to fill? Talk with Trova about the position, the business goals, and the experience your next executive will need.
Executive Search in Orlando and Nationwide
Trova is based in Winter Park, Florida, and provides executive search services for businesses throughout Orlando and Central Florida while conducting retained executive searches nationwide.
Our team combines deep relationships in Central Florida with a national professional network to identify proven leaders wherever the right candidate may be located.
Why Organizations Trust Trova
with Critical Searches
Experienced, Hands-On Search Support
Trova stays involved throughout the engagement.
You receive direct communication, honest feedback, and clear next steps from a team that stays involved throughout the search.
Clear Market Feedback
We tell you when compensation limits the candidate pool, when the profile is too narrow, or when decision-makers have different expectations.
Then, we help your team adjust the search before those issues cause delays.
A Focused Candidate List
Our goal is not to send the most résumés.
We introduce qualified executives who match the business need and explain why each person deserves your consideration.
A Long-Term View
Trova does not treat the search as a one-time transaction.
We invest in understanding your organization, supporting the decision, and building a relationship that can continue as your hiring needs change.
Retained Executive Search FAQs
Yes. Trova is based in Winter Park and works with companies throughout Orlando and Central Florida, while conducting executive searches nationwide.
Companies sometimes refer to executive search firms as executive recruiters or headhunters. Trova’s retained search model provides a more structured approach for critical senior leadership positions.
Retained executive search is a dedicated executive recruiting service for senior, specialized, and high-impact leadership roles. The search firm helps define the need, research the market, contact candidates, assess qualifications, and support the hiring decision.
Direct hire supports a wide range of permanent positions. Retained search provides a more focused process for critical senior roles that may require deeper research, confidentiality, and involvement from senior decision-makers.
Retained search may make sense for C-suite, vice president, director, and other roles that can affect company strategy, performance, culture, or value.
Yes. Trova can limit the information shared, work with an approved group of stakeholders, and approach candidates discreetly.
Timing depends on the position, location, required experience, compensation, interview process, and candidate market. Trova will provide updates as the search moves forward.
We combine market research, direct outreach, trusted referrals, and professional relationships built over decades.
We learn how the organization works and which values guide its decisions. Then, we ask candidates about real experiences to understand how they lead, communicate, and work with others.
Trova can work with boards, owners, executive teams, private equity firms, venture capital firms, and other approved stakeholders during the search.
Yes. Trova supports clients and candidates across the United States.
Yes. Trova can work alongside internal human resources, talent acquisition, executive leadership, and board stakeholders. We define responsibilities early so the process stays organized.
Find the Leadership Your Business Needs Next
Whether you are preparing for growth, replacing a key executive, supporting a portfolio company, or planning for succession, start by defining what the business needs from the role.
Trova will help you clarify the search, understand the candidate market, and identify executives who can move the organization forward.