When a growing company needs to fill a senior leadership role, the stakes are too high for a rushed process. Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters at Onboard Recruiting Partners work exclusively on leadership and key functional searches, bringing structure, honest evaluation, and a genuine understanding of team dynamics to every engagement. The firm is headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and serves a national client base, including growth-stage companies that need to build or strengthen their leadership teams. In our experience, a focused, retained approach reduces time-to-fill and improves long-term retention by ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
A Retained Search Model Built Around the Right Hire
Most recruiting relationships are transactional. Onboard Recruiting Partners operates differently. As Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters, the firm uses a retained search model that creates mutual commitment between the firm and each client. That structure means every search is a dedicated engagement, not a race to fill a req. Founder Chris Masson brings more than twenty-five years of hands-on management experience from organizations such as Sherwin-Williams and AkzoNobel, along with his own entrepreneurial background. That operator’s perspective shapes how every search is framed, evaluated, and completed.
Because Chris personally leads every engagement, clients work directly with the expert they hired, not a junior account manager. That matters when the role being filled will affect the direction of the entire organization. Practitioners in this field often note that direct founder involvement boosts candidate quality and alignment with strategic goals.
What Sets Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters Apart
Many firms stop at resume screening. Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters at Onboard Recruiting Partners go further, evaluating leadership style, team fit, and cultural alignment before a candidate is ever presented. The goal is not to deliver a list of qualified names; it is to identify the specific person who will contribute meaningfully to Onboard Recruiting Partners’s trajectory.
This approach is especially valuable for companies in the fifty-to-five-hundred employee range that are scaling their teams and cannot afford the disruption of a misaligned hire. Founders, CEOs, and hiring leaders in that range often have limited internal HR bandwidth for senior-level sourcing. A structured retained search fills that gap with a process designed for precision, not volume.
Learn more about how Onboard Recruiting Partners approaches leadership search and what makes the retained model a more intentional path to a lasting hire.
Markets Onboard Recruiting Partners Serves
Onboard Recruiting Partners works with a range of company types that share a common need: building stronger leadership teams with purpose and clarity. The markets served include:
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Mid-Sized Companies: Organizations that have grown past the startup phase and need experienced leaders to run functions independently.
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Growth-Focused Organizations: Companies actively expanding their teams and needing hires who can grow alongside the business.
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Private Companies: Owner-led and family-owned businesses that want a thoughtful, low-disruption hiring process.
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Corporate Teams: Established companies with defined structures that need targeted functional leadership to fill gaps.
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Entrepreneurial Businesses: Founder-led organizations seeking senior talent who can operate with autonomy and accountability.
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Leadership-Driven Environments: Companies where culture and values are central to how the organization hires and operates.
Explore the full range of industries and functional areas Onboard Recruiting Partners serves to see where the firm’s search work is concentrated.
Positions Clients Hire with Confidence
Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters at Onboard Recruiting Partners focus on roles that carry meaningful organizational weight. The firm does not engage in high-volume or entry-level staffing. Every search involves a leadership or key functional position where the quality of the hire shapes how teams operate and how the business grows. Roles the firm regularly fills include:
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C-Suite
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Director of Human Resources
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Human Resources Manager
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Talent Acquisition Leader
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Marketing Director
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Brand Marketing Manager
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Engineering Manager
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Operations Manager
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Divisional Merchant Manager
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Category Manager / Buyer
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Regional Manager
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District Manager
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Store Manager
Start a More Intentional Search
Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters at Onboard Recruiting Partners begin every engagement with honest conversation, not a pitch. The first step is understanding where Onboard Recruiting Partners is headed, what the team needs, and what a successful hire looks like beyond a job description. That clarity drives better searches and produces hires that hold. In our experience, a well-defined target profile and committed process shorten time-to-fill and increase retention.
Employers looking to fill a critical leadership role can connect with Onboard Recruiting Partners through the employer contact page to begin that conversation. You can also follow the firm on LinkedIn for insights on leadership hiring and team building.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to work with Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters on a retained basis?
A retained search means the firm is exclusively committed to your search from the start. Unlike contingency recruiting, where multiple firms compete to place a candidate as fast as possible, retained search creates a structured, dedicated engagement. Onboard Recruiting Partners works through a defined process that includes deep discovery, careful candidate evaluation, and transparent communication throughout. The outcome is a hire made with confidence, not urgency.
What types of companies benefit most from working with Onboard Recruiting Partners?
The firm works best with growth-stage companies in the fifty-to-five-hundred employee range that need to build or strengthen their leadership teams. These are typically private companies, founder-led organizations, or mid-sized businesses that recognize the cost of a bad leadership hire and want a more intentional process. CEOs and founders who are personally involved in hiring decisions tend to find the most value in the retained model.
How is Onboard Recruiting Partners different from larger executive search firms?
As a boutique firm, Onboard Recruiting Partners has one key structural advantage: Chris Masson personally leads every search. Clients are not handed off to a team of junior researchers after the initial meeting. Every conversation, every candidate evaluation, and every recommendation comes from someone with over twenty-five years of direct management experience in corporate and entrepreneurial environments. That level of continuity and expertise is rarely available through larger search firms.
Which functional areas do Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters specialize in?
Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters at Onboard Recruiting Partners focus on leadership and key functional roles across human resources, marketing, engineering, operations, and merchant functions. Within each area, the firm fills a range of positions from director and manager-level roles to C-suite appointments. The firm does not conduct high-volume staffing or entry-level searches; every engagement is tied to a role with meaningful organizational impact.
How does Onboard Recruiting Partners evaluate cultural fit during a search?
Cultural fit is part of the evaluation framework from the beginning of every engagement, not an afterthought. Before presenting any candidates, Onboard Recruiting Partners invests time in understanding the client’s leadership style, team dynamics, and organizational values. Candidates are then assessed not only on their functional qualifications but on how their working style and leadership approach align with the specific environment they would be joining. This reduces the risk of misalignment and increases the likelihood that a hire will thrive long-term.
Does Onboard Recruiting Partners work with companies outside of the Chicago area?
Yes. While the page addresses Chicago Senior Leadership Team Recruiters specifically, Onboard Recruiting Partners is headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and serves a national client base. The firm works with growing companies across the United States, focusing on leadership and functional roles regardless of geography. If your organization is building out its leadership team anywhere in the country, Onboard Recruiting Partners is equipped to support that search.