Berkeley Executive Search

Berkeley Executive Search (BES) is an executive search team that began at the University of California, Berkeley. We provide our services to the entire University of California (UC) system. As employees of the UC, our goal is to contribute to the higher education missions of teaching, research, and public service, which are shaped by discovery and knowledge advancement. We are driven by the spirit of California entrepreneurship and the UC principles of community. We understand that senior executives and leaders in higher education have the opportunity to directly impact campus communities and cultures and the effectiveness of their organizations in serving faculty, staff, and students. With that responsibility, BES is committed to listening and embodying the priorities of the hiring executive and their stakeholders as well as researching and searching for leaders possessing the expertise, transferable skills, and growth mindset in serving the campus and missions.

From our background with the UC, we bring a mixture of understanding of broad education institutional goals and needs, nuances of higher education organizational structures, and a commitment to the missions, values, and access to higher education. We possess experiences and expertise in the opportunities and challenges associated with searching for and recruiting senior level talent for a large, matrixed, research intensive academic campus in a variety of areas, functions, and roles. We are aware of the importance of building relationships with hiring authorities and various stakeholders associated with each search as well as in advising prospective candidates with the navigation of organizational complexities and their career goals. We work to ensure the strategic alignment between the hiring authority and organization with the individual who will bring value and leadership to their team, the organization, and the institution.

As each search is different, we partner and collaborate with executives, hiring teams and search committees with a broad range of perspectives to understand the function, the critical business needs, and the desired outcome and impact for the candidate(s). We engage with hiring authorities and their stakeholders to learn how best to partner & provide support. We research and learn about the organization and position, advise on the role and the search strategy, conduct extensive nationwide outreach to broaden and strengthen the pool, and manage the complex process steps to strive for alignment among the search participants for a positive and successful outcome. We work to include excellence and service in each of our searches. We understand complex higher education structures and their challenges and opportunities. We have demonstrated success in filling various senior level and challenging searches.