Executive Search Lead
Payward, Inc. is the parent company and operating platform behind Kraken and a portfolio spanning trading, custody, payments, lending, tokenized assets, onchain finance, and benchmarks.
Funding history
Investors
Projects
About Payward, Inc.
Payward operates unified financial infrastructure across crypto and traditional markets, including shared liquidity, risk and margin systems, collateral and settlement, compliance, and licensing. Its first-party portfolio includes Kraken, Kraken Pro, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, CF Benchmarks, Reap, Krak, Kraken Prime, Kraken OTC, Kraken Custody, and Bitnomial.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will lead executive recruiting from mandate through close for C-level, board, VP+, and advisor roles. You will advise senior leaders, manage confidential searches and succession conversations, calibrate candidate shortlists, negotiate offers, and manage retained search-firm partnerships.
Requirements
- 6+ years of executive recruiting experience
- Ownership of VP, C-level, and board searches from mandate through close
- Executive-level closing and negotiation experience, including equity and compensation complexity
- Experience partnering with Compensation and Benefits and HR business partners
- Experience managing agencies and retained search firms
- Exceptional written and verbal English
- Ability to operate confidentially and manage sensitive executive searches
- Located in the San Francisco Bay Area
Responsibilities
- Lead executive recruiting end to end for C-level, board, VP+, and advisor mandates
- Partner with executive leaders on critical searches
- Manage confidential board and advisory searches
- Define executive hiring as a shared service across the platform
- Manage relationships with retained executive search firms
- Calibrate candidates against business strategy and advise on shortlists
- Lead executive-level closing, offer construction, and negotiations
Benefits
- Equity
- Bonus program
- Wellness allowance
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- 401(k)
