Ferryman Talent runs one search at a time for growth-stage companies across the Bay Area — senior operations and finance placements, billed per completed engagement, with written candidate scorecards and 90 days of onboarding support built in.
We work with founders, boards, and CEOs who are handing real authority to a new leader — the kind of hire that reshapes how a company runs. Every engagement is exclusive, priced as a flat fee, and closes with a shortlist you could hire twice.
Not sure which fits? Tell us the role
For the COO, VP of Operations, or Head of Ops who turns ambition into a working machine — supply, delivery, systems, and the people who run them. Includes intake, market map, four to six vetted finalists, and written scorecards.
For the CFO, VP of Finance, or Controller a board can lean on — fundraising, forecasting, and the rigor that survives diligence. The most thorough of our engagements, with reference-checked finalists and a hiring recommendation you can defend.
When the seat can't sit empty — a proven operator or finance lead placed for a defined stretch while the permanent search runs. Faster to shortlist, structured around your timeline, with a clear handover at the end.
Every finalist arrives rated against the scope we agreed — in plain language, not adjectives. It's the document your board actually reads.
You're billed for the engagement — the search, the scorecards, and onboarding support — not a percentage of the candidate's salary. The fee is fixed when we agree the scope, so a bigger comp package never means a bigger invoice. Payment is split across intake and the signed offer.
Most operations and finance searches reach a shortlist within four to six weeks of intake, with a signed offer typically inside ten. Interim placements move faster. We run one search per client at a time, so yours is never sitting behind three others.
Every permanent search carries a replacement commitment: if a placed leader leaves within the first six months, we re-run the search at no additional engagement fee. Our onboarding check-ins over the first 90 days exist to make sure that clause rarely gets used.
We're based in Pleasanton and know the East Bay and Silicon Valley talent market intimately, but we place remote and relocating leaders nationwide. Intake happens wherever suits you — our office, your boardroom, or a call.
one active search per client — from scope to signed offer.
Every shortlist arrives with scorecards — how each candidate rates against the scope we agreed, argued in full sentences. You hire on evidence, not a hunch and a warm introduction.
The offer signing isn't the finish line. For the first ninety days we run onboarding check-ins with the new leader and the team, so a good hire becomes a landed one.
— the founding principle at Ferryman Talenta résumé tells you where someone has been. a scorecard tells you whether they can take you where you're going.
Send the role, the stage you're at, and when the hire has to be in place. You'll hear back within one business day — usually with a first read on how the search would run and what it would cost. No form fields for a fee estimate you can't act on.