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 leaders have the opportunity to directly impact campus communities and cultures, as well as the effectiveness of their organizations in serving faculty, staff, and students. BES is committed to listening to and embodying the priorities of the hiring executive and their stakeholders, as well as researching and identifying leaders who possess the expertise, transferable skills, and growth mindset to serve the campus community and its missions.

From our background with the UC, we bring a mix of understanding of broad institutional goals and needs in education, the nuances of higher education organizational structures, and a commitment to the goals, values, and access to higher education. We possess experience and expertise with the opportunities and challenges of searching for and recruiting senior-level talent for a large, matrixed, research-intensive academic campus across a variety of areas, functions, and roles. We are aware of the importance of building relationships with hiring executives and other stakeholders associated with each search, as well as advising prospective candidates on how to navigate role and organizational complexities and align their career goals. We work to ensure strategic alignment among the people involved in and interested in these complex, sensitive processes.

As each search is different, we partner with hiring executives, hiring teams, and search advisory committees with a broad range of perspectives to understand the role and organization, critical goals and needs, and the desired outcome and impact for the candidate(s). We engage with and build relationships with hiring executives and their stakeholders to learn how best to partner, advise, & provide support. We research and learn about the organization and position, advise on the role and search strategy, conduct extensive outreach to broaden and strengthen the candidate pool, and manage the complex steps of the process to achieve alignment among search participants and achieve a positive, successful outcome. We strive to bring excellence, rigor, care, and thoughtfulness to each of our searches. We understand the complexity of the UC deeply and intimately, and we seek those with an authentic, clear understanding of these challenges and opportunities, and a desire to contribute. We have demonstrated success in filling various senior-level and challenging searches across various academic and administrative areas, and we continue to evolve with our entrepreneurial approach, adapting to repeat and new clients

Please contact James Kao regarding BES services: j.kao@berkeley.edu.