Executive Search

The right
leader
accelerates
everything.

Lumina Search Group places transformative executive talent in private equity-backed software companies — and in high-growth consumer and retail businesses. We work at the intersection of capital, technology, and leadership.

Begin a Search Our Expertise

"The difference between good and great leadership is measurable — in ARR, in retention, in multiple."

94%
Placement retention at 2 years
68
Day average time-to-close
$2B+
Portfolio value represented
300+
Searches completed
CEO Placement CRO Search CFO Advisory CTO Recruitment VP Engineering Chief Product Officer PE-Backed Software Growth Stage Platform Plays Buy & Build Consumer & Retail Chief Commercial Officer CEO Placement CRO Search CFO Advisory CTO Recruitment VP Engineering Chief Product Officer PE-Backed Software Growth Stage Platform Plays Buy & Build
Who We Are

Built for the
private equity
ecosystem.

Lumina Search Group was founded by practitioners who understand the demands of private equity–backed software businesses. We're not a generalist search firm that occasionally touches tech — this is our entire practice.

We know what it takes to hire for EBITDA targets, ARR acceleration, and value creation plans. Every candidate we present has been rigorously assessed through the lens of PE-grade performance expectations. Beyond software, we bring the same rigor to consumer and retail executive search — placing commercial leaders who can drive brand growth, omnichannel strategy, and operational scale.

01

PE-Native Perspective

We speak the language of sponsors, GPs, and portfolio operators. Our process aligns with hold periods, value creation plans, and exit timelines.

02

Software-Specific Network

A decade of relationships with executives across vertical SaaS, infrastructure, horizontal platforms, and data & analytics.

03

Rigorous Assessment

Structured competency interviews, behavioral modeling, and reference processes calibrated to PE performance benchmarks.

04

Discreet & Efficient

We close complex searches in 60–75 days on average — without disrupting your business or burning a market.

What We Do

Functional
specializations.

Chief Executive Officer

Identifying and placing CEOs who can operationalize a PE sponsor's thesis — from revenue acceleration to platform integration to exit-readiness.

C-Suite

Chief Revenue Officer

Revenue leaders who've scaled ARR in high-growth environments. We find CROs who can build repeatable GTM motion and accelerate net retention.

Go-to-Market

Chief Financial Officer

Finance executives fluent in PE reporting, SaaS metrics, and capital structure — built for board-level credibility and eventual exit processes.

Finance

Chief Technology Officer

Technical leaders who balance product velocity with scalable architecture — and understand what "PE-grade engineering" actually means in practice.

Technology

Chief Product Officer

Product executives who can align roadmap to business outcomes — not just features. Essential for platform strategy and M&A integration plays.

Product

VP-Level & Operating Partners

Senior functional leaders across Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Operations. Plus interim executive and operating partner mandates.

Senior Leadership
How We Work

A disciplined
search methodology.

Executive search for PE-backed companies demands more than a database. It demands a proprietary process calibrated to holding periods, investment theses, and board dynamics. Here's how we operate.

01

Sponsor & Management Alignment

We start by aligning with both the PE sponsor and management team on the ideal candidate profile, success metrics, and cultural fit. Misalignment here kills searches — we prevent it upfront.

02

Proprietary Market Mapping

We conduct a systematic mapping of the relevant talent universe — including passive, non-networked candidates who would never surface through referrals alone.

03

Structured Evaluation & Screening

Competency-based interviews, SaaS metric fluency assessments, and PE culture fit evaluation. We only advance candidates who can perform in a sponsor-backed environment.

04

Presentation & Selection

Curated slate of 3–4 finalists with detailed written assessments. We facilitate structured panel interviews and guide both sides through the decision process.

05

Reference Verification & Close

Deep reference checks, offer negotiation support, and a 90-day onboarding check-in. We stay involved until the executive is set up to succeed.

Roles We Place

From day one to
exit-ready.

Whether you've just closed the deal or you're 18 months from a process, we have the right profile for where you are in the hold period. We've placed executives at every stage of the PE lifecycle.

Chief Executive Officer
C-Suite
Chief Revenue Officer
C-Suite
Chief Technology Officer
C-Suite
Chief Product Officer
C-Suite
Chief Financial Officer
C-Suite
Chief Marketing Officer
C-Suite
Chief Customer Officer
C-Suite
Chief Operating Officer
C-Suite
VP of Sales
Senior Leadership
VP of Engineering
Senior Leadership
VP of Product
Senior Leadership
Operating Partner
Interim / Advisory
Software Verticals

Deep sector
knowledge.

Our Commitment
"We only work with PE-backed software companies. Not sometimes. Not mostly. Always."

This focus isn't a niche — it's a competitive advantage. Our entire network, methodology, and institutional knowledge has been built around one ecosystem. That means faster searches, better candidates, and longer-tenured placements.

We currently support over 40 portfolio companies across 15 PE sponsors, ranging from lower middle-market buyouts to growth equity investments.

Secondary Practice

Consumer & Retail
Executive Search.

Beyond our core PE-backed software practice, Lumina Search Group brings the same rigorous methodology to consumer brands and retail businesses — placing senior leaders who can navigate the demands of modern commerce, omnichannel strategy, and brand-driven growth.

Who We Serve

Consumer & Retail Companies

  • PE-backed consumer brands
  • Omnichannel & DTC retailers
  • Retail technology companies
  • E-commerce & marketplace platforms
  • Consumer packaged goods (CPG)
  • Luxury & specialty retail
  • Venture-backed consumer startups
Roles We Place

Consumer & Retail Leadership

  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Chief Commercial Officer
  • Chief Marketing Officer
  • Chief Merchandising Officer
  • Chief Digital Officer
  • VP of E-commerce & DTC
  • VP of Brand & Marketing
  • VP of Retail Operations
Our Perspective

The best consumer leaders are part merchant, part operator, part brand builder.

We assess consumer executives across three dimensions: commercial instinct, operational rigor, and the ability to build brands that sustain pricing power. In a PE-backed environment, those three qualities must coexist — and great candidates who excel at only one or two are rarely the right fit.

Our consumer practice draws on Nancy's deep network of retail and brand executives built over 27 years — and our shared fluency in the performance expectations of sponsor-backed businesses.

About the Founder
Nancy, Founder & CEO of Lumina Search Group

Nancy

Founder & CEO, Lumina Search Group

Emory University, B.A. 27+ Years in Executive Search

Built from
experience.

Nancy is a veteran talent executive with more than 27 years of experience at the intersection of high-growth technology and human capital. Over the course of her career, she has reviewed more than 4 million resumes, coordinated hundreds of thousands of interviews, and placed thousands of professionals across every level of an organization — from first hires to chief executives.

She founded Lumina Search Group to address a gap she observed repeatedly throughout her career: private equity and venture capital–backed software companies face uniquely high-stakes leadership decisions, yet are often underserved by generalist search firms that lack the technical fluency and PE ecosystem relationships to move with the speed and precision these environments demand.

Before founding Lumina, Nancy served as CEO of PathMatch, a digital career navigation platform that matched college students with modern career paths and connected employers with emerging talent at scale. Under her leadership, PathMatch developed proprietary matching technology that helped students identify in-demand career trajectories while enabling companies to build early-career talent pipelines and strengthen their employer brands with the next generation of professionals.

Prior to PathMatch, Nancy founded FILD, a technology-enabled recruiting firm that partnered with some of the most recognized names in tech — including Snap, Amazon, Warby Parker, and Netflix — to hire thousands of employees. FILD was acquired in 2018, a testament to the firm's operational excellence and the differentiated value of its approach.

Nancy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Music from Emory University.

4M+
Resumes Reviewed
27+
Years of Experience
2018
Successful Exit (FILD)
Get in Touch

Start a
conversation.

Whether you're a PE sponsor looking to upgrade portfolio leadership, or a software executive exploring your next opportunity — we'd like to hear from you.

Email hello@luminasearchgroup.com
Phone +1 (310) 867-4295
Location Los Angeles

Begin a Search Engagement