Executive search,
conducted by the
Founding Partner.
Every time.
"In a world where this space can feel commoditized, one differentiator is intellectual horsepower. Scott understands the client's business quickly and actually contributes to changing the thinking about what role is required."
Different where it matters.
Whiterock Partners is a boutique retained executive search firm. We work with VC, PE, and privately held technology companies on the searches that matter most: CEOs and the executives who report to them.
We are deliberately boutique. We take on a limited number of searches and never two that compete for the same candidate pool. Scott Uhrig is the Founder and only Partner, and he leads every search personally, from strategy through close.
The result is something the industry rarely produces: senior judgment, personally delivered, demonstrably accountable.
The only retained search firm in the market to guarantee its work in full.
No client has ever requested a refund or declined to pay our fee. The guarantee is offered not as a marketing claim, but as a structural commitment to the work.
We didn't set out to build a next-level candidate evaluation system as part of this engagement, but when that opportunity emerged, Scott jumped right in. It's going to have enormous value for our company.
The Founding Partner Does the Heavy Lifting
Search strategy, stakeholder interviews, market mapping, candidate identification, position description, in-depth interviews, scorecard design, interview synthesis: all conducted by Scott personally. The firm exists to deliver senior judgment, and senior judgment cannot be delegated.
A Limited Number of Searches
No more than four searches at any given time, and never two that compete for the same candidate pool. Many other firms run a dozen (or more) similar searches simultaneously, many competing for the same candidates. That creates a conflict of interest. Our limit exists to eliminate it entirely, and to ensure every engagement receives the depth of attention it requires.
Rigor Before Launch
Every search begins with two to three weeks of stakeholder interviews, role definition, scorecard design, and market mapping, before a single candidate is contacted. Clients consistently identify this as the most differentiated phase of our process.
Traditional Judgment, Modern Methodology
We pair 22 years of relationships and pattern recognition with the most advanced AI-enabled research, market mapping, and interview synthesis tools available.
Whiterock conducts retained C-suite and direct-report searches for VC, PE, and privately held technology companies. Recent placements span CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, GC, Business Unit Presidents, and Heads of Sales and Engineering across industrial SaaS, legal and education technology, infrastructure software, vertical SaaS, and tech-enabled services. Whiterock works at the inflection points where the right leader changes the trajectory, building exit-ready C-suites, placing first institutional executives behind founders, and partnering with sponsors and boards on the searches that define what comes next.
Two back-to-back C-suite mandates for Thoma Bravo and JMI Equity portfolio company. Whiterock placed the legal and financial leadership that brought the company to a $1.8B exit — Warburg Pincus acquiring a majority stake from Thoma Bravo in January 2026.
Pre-Series A messaging infrastructure company. Whiterock placed a former Twilio sales leader and a former NASDAQ-company COO/CTO — dramatically overqualified by conventional measures, which was exactly the point. Both joined to help Volt define a category.
Category leader in natural gas compressor optimization, backed by Resurgens Technology Partners. Whiterock solved a four-dimensional search brief — PE-backed SaaS CFO experience, deep oil & gas roots, Calgary location, and COO scope — landing a Globe and Mail Best Executives honoree.
One of the fastest-growing law firms in the US: 552 signed cases in 2021 to a projected 65,000 in 2025. Whiterock solved a five-constraint brief — legal services credibility, production-ops scale, founder-led environment, Columbus willingness, and mission alignment — without compromise.
Three placements over two years built the core leadership team that took TeleVet from a $5M Series A to Otto — a $48M-backed category leader with 600% customer growth and a full AI suite. The company came back to Whiterock for each successive search.
Two concurrent presidential searches for a $600M+ SLED advisory firm backed by The Vistria Group. $610M of P&L now sits under two Whiterock-placed presidents — 100% of company revenue — advancing a path to $1B+.
Scott founded Whiterock Partners in 2003. He began his recruiting career with TMP Worldwide
(the 3rd largest global search firm at the time) and was also a Partner with Connet &
Company (one of the preeminent Silicon Valley executive search firms of the early 2000s).
Scott spent three years as an Associate at McKinsey & Company prior to executive search,
and earlier in his career worked as a software engineer at Honeywell Aerospace and an
R&D Manager at GTE/Verizon.
He holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from the University of South Florida and completed
his PhD coursework while teaching as a full-time instructor; his MBA is from the University
of Texas. Scott is the author of two books (one on executive recruiting, one on executive
job search) and occasionally provides job search coaching to technology executives.
Tina has been with Whiterock for sixteen years. She and Scott previously worked
together at Connet & Company, one of the preeminent Silicon Valley executive
search firms of the early 2000s; before that, she was at Heidrick & Struggles.
Tina runs the top of the funnel on every engagement, managing initial outreach, phone screens, and scheduling for both candidates and clients. Candidates frequently cite the
consistency and responsiveness of working with her as a defining feature of the firm.
Travis leads technology strategy and AI-enabled research operations at Whiterock.
No other retained search firm at this level has a dedicated principal focused
exclusively on research infrastructure, candidate intelligence, and AI-assisted
synthesis; it is a structural advantage most firms cannot replicate.
His background spans management consulting, operations, and digital reputation
strategy for executives and organizations. He is the author of eleven books on
leadership and human potential, and thinks constantly about how technology helps
the right people find each other.
Most failed executive searches fail before sourcing even begins. The problem is that the spec was built around a person who doesn't exist at the compensation the company is offering — and nobody said so out loud.
Read →Studies put the executive failure rate between 56% and 81%. CEOs assume the problem is candidate selection. The research says otherwise: 93% of failed hires trace back to a job that was never well defined.
Read →Recruiters fill maybe 5% of all jobs. If your strategy is to send your resume to a bunch of them and wait, you're going to wait a long time. There's a better way.
Read →Bock's Apply Within is the best career guide written for early-to-mid career professionals applying through ATSs. If you're a C-level or VP-level exec at a PE- or VC-backed company, most of it inverts.
Read →The next leadership hire
is rarely the easy one.
If you're a VC, PE, or privately held technology company looking to fill a CEO, C-level, or VP-level role, reach out directly. If we're at capacity or the search isn't a fit, we'll say so clearly.
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