Private Equity Experience

• Partner to middle market and large cap private equity and growth equity firms across US & Canada, providing guidance around talent strategy across the full investment lifecycle—from pre-close diligence to post-close transformation and exit.
• Extensive experience building internal operating teams and placing C-suite and direct-report leadership in portfolio companies undergoing scale, carve-out, transformation or operational improvement.
• Trusted advisor to investment professionals and operating partners on leadership strategy, organizational design, and succession planning.
• Representative clients include Apollo, GTCR, BayPine, Hg, H.I.G. Capital, Francisco Partners, Recognize, and Accel-KKR.

Search & Advisory Focus

• Heads of Value Creation / Portfolio Operations
• Technology, Data, and Digital: CIO, CTO, CPO, CISO, Chief Data & Analytics Officer
• Finance & Accounting: CFO, Chief Accounting Officer, Controller, FP&A
• Go-To-Market: CRO, CMO, Revenue Operations
• Human Capital & Talent: CHRO, Chief People Officer, Talent Partner
• Generalist Operating Executives across transformation, integration, and performance improvement

Portfolio Company Leadership

• Roles: CIO, CTO, CPO, CISO, CDAO
• Levels: C-suite, direct reports (C-suite -1), and functional heads across Finance, Technology, Operations, and GTM
• Focused expertise in supporting leadership transitions during inflection points such as founder succession, carve-outs, or platform M&A

Career Highlights

• Helped Heads of Value Creation devise and implement strategies on how to best structure and operate their portfolio ops team
• Partners with multiple private equity firms to identify, engage, hire and retain their first Head of Value Creation
• Collaborated with Human Capital & Talent Operating Partners to address hiring challenges and opportunities across their portfolio
• Over a ~10-year span, Paul has established a trusted network of ~30,000 professionals who operate in the private equity ecosystem, focused on value creation
• Advisor to Retrained Search - a leading exec search learning and development platform with a mission of educating search professionals to be best in class.

Education & Credentials

<div class="credentials">Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Managing Performance, University of Leeds</div>

Private Equity Experience

• Partnered with 40+ PE and growth equity sponsors across the full deal lifecycle - from pre-close diligence to post-close value creation and exit.
• Deep expertise in building operating partner teams, value creation functions, and portfolio company leadership.
• Trusted advisor to investment teams and portfolio executives on organizational design, succession, and leadership strategy.

Search & Advisory Focus

• CxO: CTO, CIO, CFO, CPO, CRO, COO, CISO, Operating Partner, Head of Portfolio Operations
• Sectors: Software, SaaS, Tech-Enabled Services, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials
• Stages: Growth equity, buyout, carve-out, transformation

Career Highlights

• Leads client delivery and internal operations at Press & Associates, supporting PE and growth investors across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
• Former Director at Eastward Partners where he led senior-level searches in finance, technology, and operations.
• Deep expertise in building executive and operating teams scaling companies from ~$50M to $1B+ in enterprise value.
• Combines delivery execution with strategic advisory to help firms align leadership, succession, and value creation goals.

Education & Credentials

<div class="credentials">Master of Industrial Relations (MIR), Queen’s University</div>
<div class="credentials">Bachelor’s Degree, Criminal Justice and Public Policy, University of Guelph</div>
<div class="credentials">Graduate Certificate, Human Resources Management, Seneca Polytechnic</div>
<div class="credentials">Talent Optimizer Certification, The Predictive Index</div>

Private Equity Experience

• Works closely with senior partners on executive searches for middle-market and large-cap private equity clients across North America.
• Conducts detailed market mapping and candidate analysis to ensure each search is exhaustive, and the most suitable candidates are engaged and assessed objectively against the search criteria.
• Supports value creation team buildouts as well as high-impact leadership searches within portfolio organizations undergoing growth, transformation, or integration.

Search & Advisory Focus

• Roles: C-Suite, C-Minus-1, and Head Of across Finance, Investments, HR, Technology and Operations
• Sectors: Technology, Healthcare, Investments, Financial Services, Real Estate, Entertainment, and Manufacturing
• Stages: Growth, Mid-Market, Large Cap

Career Highlights

• 4+ years of experience in executive search, supporting mid- to senior-level recruitment across diverse industries.
• Experienced in research strategy, market intelligence, and candidate evaluation for complex mandates.
• Recognized for detail-oriented candidate reporting and high-touch communication with both clients and candidates.
• Provides consistent delivery support and talent insights across multi-sector leadership searches.

Education & Credentials

<div class="credentials">Advanced Diploma, Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources, George Brown College</div>