Executive Search, Senior Associate

Senior Associate, Executive Search

Location: Los Angeles, four days per week in office

Compensation: Competitive base salary + performance bonus

About Tapio

Tapio is a specialist executive search and leadership advisory firm serving private equity investors and high-growth businesses across energy and digital infrastructure.

We partner with companies at critical stages of growth and transformation, helping them identify and attract the senior leaders capable of building teams, scaling platforms and creating long-term enterprise value.

Our work is concentrated at the executive level. We operate across retained C-suite and senior leadership mandates, combining deep market knowledge, thoughtful assessment and a highly engaged approach to every search.

The Opportunity

We are hiring a Senior Associate to join our executive search practice in Los Angeles.

This is an opportunity to work directly on retained VP-to-C-suite searches for private equity-backed growth platforms and other high-caliber businesses across the energy and infrastructure markets.

You will work closely with Tapio’s senior leadership and play a central role throughout the search process, from mapping markets and engaging senior executives to assessing candidates and helping manage searches through to completion.

The role is designed for someone who enjoys the intellectual challenge of executive search, takes pride in the quality of their work and wants greater exposure to senior candidates, business leaders and investors.

What You’ll Do

• Deliver candidate research, sourcing and engagement across retained executive searches
• Build a detailed understanding of target markets, companies and relevant leadership talent
• Develop and manage high-quality pipelines of passive senior executives
• Approach and engage VP-to-C-suite candidates with credibility and confidence
• Conduct structured candidate interviews and contribute to executive-level assessment
• Develop trusted relationships with candidates throughout the search process
• Partner closely with senior search leads to understand each mandate, define the search strategy and maintain momentum
• Produce clear, accurate candidate and market intelligence for internal and client discussions
• Help deliver a thoughtful, responsive and consistently high-quality candidate experience
• Contribute to the continued development of Tapio’s network and market knowledge

What We’re Looking For

• Experience within an executive search firm or recruitment agency, ideally delivering senior-level mandates
• A strong track record of identifying and engaging passive candidates
• The judgment and communication skills required to work credibly with senior executives
• Intellectual curiosity and a genuine interest in understanding companies, markets and leadership teams
• A structured, detail-oriented approach to managing searches and candidate information
• High standards, personal accountability and a strong sense of urgency
• Confidence operating in a performance-driven environment where quality and outcomes matter
• The ambition to develop into a well-rounded executive search professional
• Based in Los Angeles and able to work from our office four days per week

Experience within energy, infrastructure or private equity is valuable, but not essential. We are more interested in your ability to learn quickly, communicate effectively and execute consistently at a high level.

Why Join Tapio

You will gain meaningful exposure to retained executive search and work on some of the most consequential appointments a company can make.

As part of a growing specialist firm, you will have direct access to senior leadership, greater ownership of your work and a clearer view of how executive hiring decisions are made. You will build relationships with accomplished executives while developing a strong understanding of private equity-backed businesses and the energy and infrastructure markets.

For someone who wants to move beyond transactional recruitment and build a long-term career in executive search, Tapio offers a rare combination of responsibility, development and earning potential.