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Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Trusted by the nation's top private equity firms & Fortune 1000 companies.

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Leaders who move markets.

We identify transformational CEOs who align vision, execution, and value creation.

The CEO role is the cornerstone of organizational success: setting the vision, driving commercial growth, and ensuring operational excellence. Finding the right CEO requires a deep understanding of the demands of not only PE environments and objectives – speed, transformation, and measurable results – but also the unique culture, heritage, and subtleties of each operating company.

ECA brings a rigorous and bespoke, evidence-driven approach to each CEO search. Acting as a value-aligned advisor, we lead the process from crafting the nuanced narrative of the opportunity through to Day 1 on the job with a new transformational leader. ECA serves as a true thought partner to owners, investors, and board members, aligning leadership selection with value-creation theses and long-term growth goals.

Our team combines a deep understanding of private-equity dynamics with a proven record of CEO placements across growth, turnaround, and carve-out environments. We access off-market talent through an established network of thousands of PE-backed leaders and conduct every search with speed, rigor, and precision, delivering fully vetted candidates within two weeks. From aligning boards and sponsors on CEO criteria to facilitating negotiation and onboarding, ECA’s process secures leaders who drive performance, expand enterprise value, and accelerate exit success.

Our Areas of Expertise.

We deliver top executive talent and flexible consulting solutions across high-growth industries.

SECTORS

Private Equity Firms & Portcos

Private Equity Firms & Portcos

We match PE investors with leaders who unlock value.

Healthcare

Healthcare

ECA places leaders who drive growth, compliance, and better care.

Business Services

Business Services

ECA places leaders who unlock efficiency & growth in service models.

Industrials & Natural Resources

Industrials & Natural Resources

We find the savviest operators to optimize manufacturing businesses.

Consumer & Retail

Consumer & Retail

We identify executives who grow consumer brands and market presence.

Technology

Technology

From SaaS to AI, we recruit leaders driving innovation and scale.

Financial Services

Financial Services

ECA secures agile financial leaders to navigate shifting markets.

Meet your Practice Leads

Burton Francis

Burton Francis

Managing Director

Burt is a Managing Director at ECA Partners and leads the firm’s Private Equity Value Creation Practice. He partners with investors and boards to recruit CEOs who drive operational excellence, strategic growth, and value creation across mid-market and lower-mid-market portfolio companies. A former operator and business owner in manufacturing, Burt combines on-the-ground leadership experience with strategy expertise from Oliver Wyman’s PE Operations practice. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer at Boeing and General Dynamics. He holds a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, summa cum laude.

Dan Baker

Dan Baker

Senior Director

Dan is a Senior Director at ECA Partners and leads the firm’s CEO Practice, specializing in CEO executive search for private equity–backed companies. He partners with sponsors and boards on CEO succession, founder transitions, and portfolio company turnarounds – placing operators who scale revenue, professionalize teams, and drive EBITDA. A leader in ECA’s Value Creation Practice, Dan advises funds on CEO talent strategy. He holds degrees in Economics from Cambridge, Law from Duke, and a PhD from UC Berkeley, and is a licensed attorney in Washington State.

Evan Metzger, PhD

Evan Metzger, PhD

Project Manager

Evan is a Project Manager at ECA Partners specializing in CEO executive search for private-equity–backed companies. He partners with investors and boards to identify transformational leaders who accelerate growth, drive operational excellence, and maximize portfolio value. Evan combines deep knowledge of executive search with an understanding of private equity dynamics and leadership optimization. Before joining ECA, he earned a PhD in Islamic and Arabic Studies from UCLA, where he lectured in Near Eastern Languages and conducted research as a Fulbright-Hays Fellow in Cairo and Jerusalem.

Have a role you'd like to discuss?

Reach out. We’d be delighted to learn about your hiring goals.

Have a CEO role you’d like to discuss?

Reach out. We'd be delighted to learn about your hiring goals.

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