Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026
Top 25 Chief executive search firms based in San Francisco, United States
RevenueBase identified 178 chief executive search firms headquartered in San Francisco, United States as of September 2026 and tracks 1,681 professional contacts across them, including 572 with verified work emails. Across the United States, New York is the largest hub for this category (794 companies); San Francisco has 178.
This list covers chief executive search firms headquartered in San Francisco, United States, matched on what each company actually does as described in its own words. Ranked by team size, largest first. Every row shows the company's own description, its RevenueBase Smart Search rating, and when it was last checked. Data refreshed September 27, 2026.
Published by RevenueBase, a B2B data infrastructure company. This list was built with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search RevenueBase customers use to build their own targeted lists and unlock verified emails and direct dials at the companies on them. How these lists are built and judged.
The 25 largest chief executive search firms based in San Francisco, United States
Ranked by team size| # | Company | Contacts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 273 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Riviera Partners is a global executive recruiting firm specializing in Technology, Engineering, Product and Design leadership.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 2 | 75 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Do you need to hire exceptional talent?” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 3 | 53 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “SPMB is the #1 executive search firm serving the technology market and one of the largest independent retained search firms in the country.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 4 | 53 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “We build world-class executive and technical teams for companies catalyzing a decarbonized economy.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 5 | 51 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Today's economic climate requires talented professionals to drive and support critical business decisions.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 6 | 33 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The Cole Group is the world's top sales and marketing search firm, serving clients like OpenAI, Cursor, Lovable, Clay, Kalshi, Vercel, Lambda, Vanta, Cribl, Figma, Doordash…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 7 | 29 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Maven Recruiting Group specializes in recruiting Executive Assistants, administrative, operations, and Human Resources professionals to the Bay Area’s most prominent Executives…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 8 | 28 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Candidate Labs is a modern search firm built by a repeat VC-backed entrepreneur who's personally done the founder journey twice.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 9 | 25 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Innovations is a leading West Coast Recruiting firm.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 10 | 21 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “We work with YC and a16z founders on the hires that matter most: the ones where getting it wrong costs months of runway.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 11 | 20 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Rich Talent Group partners with today’s most innovative companies-from high-growth to Fortune 500-to build transformative leadership teams and Board of Directors that help change…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 12 | 18 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Carpe Diem Global Partners is a Leadership Advisory Firm organized around three pillars, delivering a range of leadership services to the Board and C-suite.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 13 | 18 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “PeopleConnect is a full-service executive search firm specializing in the high tech, clean tech, and scientific industries.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 14 | 17 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Hunter SF brings over three decades of combined experience to recruiting.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 15 | 16 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Nosal Partners is now NGS Global.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 16 | 15 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “We recruit and support leaders who strengthen nonprofits.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 17 | 15 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Founded in 1969 Pathways Personnel uses its strong nation wide network of legal and corporate professionals built from our stable and continuous presence in the employment…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 18 | 14 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “GROUPE INSEARCH, INC.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 19 | 14 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “VIEW our OPEN JOBS at: BURKE + CO.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 20 | 13 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Ormsby Park is a national retained executive search firm focused exclusively on the financial officer market.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 21 | 13 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Loring Group is a retained executive search firm led by former industry executives.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 22 | 12 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Aperture is a go-to-market focused executive search firm practicing leadership hiring as a craft-where trust is built through deep understanding and every search is an act of…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 23 | 11 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Westfield Consulting Partners aims to transform recruitment through specialized focus and innovative approaches.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 24 | 11 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Impact Search is an executive search firm based in San Francisco focused on engineering, product and design leadership for venture backed software companies.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 25 | 11 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Building Great Companies.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 27, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
RevenueBase Smart Search
RevenueBase Smart Search assesses information from a company’s LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website, and other publicly available sources. It uses that information to rate how closely the company relates to this list’s category: chief executive search firms. Every row carries its rating and the description the rating was read from, so each one can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Strong evidence
- The company's own public description of its business names chief executive search firms.
- Partial evidence
- Its own public description names part of chief executive search firms, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
- Indirect evidence
- The description shown does not name chief executive search firms. The match rests on the rest of the company's public profile rather than the one sentence quoted here, so this is the rating to check first.
RevenueBase Smart Search is how these lists are built: RevenueBase's data engine and AI assemble the companies that match a category defined in a user's own words, so a list can be about what companies actually do rather than about whichever industry code they were filed under.
Showing 25 of 178 chief executive search firms based in San Francisco, United States
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Chief executive search firms based in San Francisco, United States at a glance
As of Sep 27, 2026Companies by employee count
Email recency for this list is measured across the whole United States list rather than for San Francisco, so it is reported there. Company counts and contact totals on this page are exact for San Francisco, over 178 companies.
How this list was built
Company categories are rarely black and white. RevenueBase reads each company's own description of its business to decide whether it belongs among chief executive search firms, so some rows will be adjacent to the category rather than pure plays. The description and RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row are there so you can check each match yourself.
- Source
- The RevenueBase company graph: 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts resolved from primary sources, queried with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search available to every RevenueBase user.
- What qualifies
- Companies headquartered in San Francisco, United States whose own description of what they do matches “chief executive search firms”. Matching reads each company's description, not its industry code or its name.
- RevenueBase Smart Search
- RevenueBase Smart Search is how this list is assembled and how each row is rated. RevenueBase's data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to a category defined in a user's own words. Each row is rated strong evidence (its own description names chief executive search firms), partial evidence (it names part of the category) or indirect evidence (the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile). The description supporting each rating is quoted on the row.
- What we exclude
- Companies whose own description does not clearly place them among chief executive search firms, and records with no verified work email. Companies headquartered outside San Francisco are excluded even when they keep an office there.
- Match quality
- In blind human judging of this matching method, 86% of matched companies were on target. Expect roughly 1 in 7 rows to be adjacent to the category rather than a pure play. Every row shows the company's own description and its RevenueBase Smart Search rating so you can judge each match yourself. Read the full methodology: how the lists are built, how the judging worked, and what the figure means.
- Ranking
- Team size, largest first: companies are ordered by the number of professionals RevenueBase tracks at each one. Employee ranges shown are reported bands, for context.
- Verification
- Every listed company carries at least one verified work email, 572 across the full list. Contacts re-verify on a rolling cadence, and each contact's own verification date is shown inside RevenueBase.
- Refresh
- This page's figures were pulled from the company graph on September 27, 2026. Lists refresh periodically as the graph is re-checked.
- Corrections
- Wrong category, wrong headquarters, or a company that has closed? Use “Report an issue” on any row. Reports go to the RevenueBase Data Team and feed back into the company graph.
Chief executive search firms by metro in the United States
- Chief executive search firms in New York794
- Chief executive search firms in Chicago312
- Chief executive search firms in Atlanta268
- Chief executive search firms in Los Angeles240
- Chief executive search firms in Houston238
- Chief executive search firms in Dallas234
- Chief executive search firms in Austin159
- Chief executive search firms in Boston141
- Chief executive search firms in Denver118
- Chief executive search firms in Miami116
- Chief executive search firms in Charlotte112
- Chief executive search firms in San Diego112
- Chief executive search firms in Tampa90
- Chief executive search firms in Phoenix89
- Chief executive search firms in Washington89
- Chief executive search firms in Minneapolis78
- Chief executive search firms in Orlando72
- Chief executive search firms in Seattle71
- Chief executive search firms in Philadelphia65
- Chief executive search firms in Nashville61
- Chief executive search firms in Irvine58
- Chief executive search firms in Scottsdale57
- Chief executive search firms in Wilmington52
- Chief executive search firms in Cleveland51
- Chief executive search firms in Pittsburgh49
- Chief executive search firms in Raleigh48
- Chief executive search firms in Cincinnati46
- Chief executive search firms in New York City46
- Chief executive search firms in Boca Raton45
- Chief executive search firms in Columbus44
- Chief executive search firms in Plano43
- Chief executive search firms in Indianapolis38
- Chief executive search firms in Las Vegas38
- Chief executive search firms in Jacksonville37
- Chief executive search firms in Portland37
- Chief executive search firms in San Antonio37
- Chief executive search firms in Omaha36
- Chief executive search firms in Fort Lauderdale34
- Chief executive search firms in Greenville34
- Chief executive search firms in Arlington33
- Chief executive search firms in Sarasota31
- Chief executive search firms in St. Louis28
- Chief executive search firms in Alpharetta27
- Chief executive search firms in Frisco27
- Chief executive search firms in Rochester27
- Chief executive search firms in Fort Worth26
- Chief executive search firms in Overland Park25
- Chief executive search firms in Richmond25
Frequently asked
What is RevenueBase Smart Search?
RevenueBase Smart Search is how RevenueBase decides which companies belong on this list and how strongly each one fits. Its data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to the category the list is about. Each row is rated strong evidence when the company's own description names chief executive search firms, partial evidence when it names part of the category, and indirect evidence when the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile.
How many chief executive search firms are there based in San Francisco, United States?
RevenueBase identified 178 chief executive search firms headquartered in San Francisco, United States as of September 2026, matched on each company's own description of what it does rather than its industry code.
What is the largest company on this list?
Riviera Partners, headquartered in San Francisco, tops this list with the largest team on record.
Which city in the United States has the most chief executive search firms?
New York leads the United States with 794 headquartered companies, followed by Chicago (312) and Atlanta (268). San Francisco has 178.
How do I get contact information for these companies?
A free RevenueBase account lets you run this exact search and work the top results, verified emails and direct dials included. Upgrading unlocks all 572 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 178 companies.
How current is this list?
The list refreshes periodically as the company graph is re-checked. This page's figures were pulled on September 27, 2026.
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About this data
RevenueBase is a B2B data infrastructure company. Its company graph covers 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts, with emails verified on a rolling cadence rather than scraped once and left to decay. These company lists are generated directly from that graph with RevenueBase Smart Search, the same natural-language company search every RevenueBase user has: describe a market in plain words, get the companies that match, and add verified emails and direct dials for the people at them. It is the same data that powers RevenueBase's B2B data products, and a free account includes 500 credits to start. How these lists are built and judged.
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