Operating partner recruitment
Operating partner recruitment
Rainmakrr searches for operating partners: the operators a private equity firm puts alongside its deal team to improve the companies it owns.
We search for generalist operating partners and specialists in commercial, operations, digital, finance and talent.
- Value creation leads
- Functional specialists
- Portfolio talent heads
- Run by Fractional Quest Ltd
How a search runswhat we undertake
- 01BriefThe seat, the fund or company stage, and what the hire must deliverCall
- 02MapThe firms, funds and companies where that experience sitsResearch
- 03ApproachConfidential conversations with people who fit the briefOutreach
- 04ShortlistAssessed candidates, with references we take ourselvesReport
- 05OfferInterviews, offer and the notice period, managed to a start dateClose
First step15 min call
01/ models
Four ways funds use operating partners
There is no single operating partner role.
Pick a model to see what the hire looks like.
FORMER CEOS
The generalist operating partner
Often a former chief executive who sits on portfolio boards, coaches management and steps in when a plan goes off track.
SPECIALISTS
The functional specialist
A specialist in pricing, procurement, digital, data or finance who runs programmes across several companies.
PEOPLE
The head of portfolio talent
Runs leadership assessment at the deal and leadership hiring across the portfolio, often alongside external search firms such as ours.
NOT EMPLOYED
Senior advisers and executive networks
Some funds keep a network of senior advisers on retainer instead of employed operating partners.
Advisers often take chair or non-executive seats on portfolio boards.
02/ when
When a fund adds operating partners
Common triggers for a first or additional operating hire.
Which sounds like you?
A bigger portfolio means more companies to support than the deal team can cover.
- → A generalist operating partner
- → A head of portfolio talent
The fund sees the same opportunity across its portfolio, such as pricing or procurement.
- → A functional specialist
- → A programme run across several companies
A portfolio company is behind plan and needs operating support quickly.
- → An operating partner on the board
- → Interim leadership via Fractional Quest
03/ the brief
Brief an operating partner search
Settle these before approaching candidates.
0 of 8 ready
04/ guide
Hiring an operating partner
Operating partners sit between the deal team and management.
The best candidates have run businesses or functions themselves and can work through influence as well as authority.
Acquisitions are a common lever: the Private Equity Reporting Group found that 65% of the portfolio companies it covers have made net bolt-on acquisitions (PERG, December 2025).
For a survey of what private equity investors say they do to create value, see Gompers, Kaplan and Mukharlyamov’s NBER working paper 21133.
Reference points
Industry bodies such as the UK Private Capital (formerly the BVCA), Invest Europe and ILPA publish material on how private equity firms create value and report it to investors.
Operating partners who sit on portfolio boards owe the general duties of directors under the Companies Act 2006.
The Institute of Directors publishes guidance on board roles and director development.
05/ questions
Questions, answered
An operating partner works with a private equity firm’s portfolio companies to deliver the value creation plan, often from a board seat.
Sometimes.
Some are employees of the management company, and others are advisers retained by the fund.
Most have led businesses or functions, often in companies backed by private equity.
Some come from consulting firms with private equity practices.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to talk through the hire
Tell us the seat, the fund or company, and the timing. We set out how we would run the search.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the search
- 03A written search plan after the call
- 04Permanent, interim and fractional briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
06/ sources
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page.