Executive search for electrical engineering

VP-level and C-suite leaders for semiconductor, power systems, industrial controls, and advanced manufacturing, executives who can run your business and understand your technology.

Start a search See our process

An electrical single-line schematic unrolled on a desk, annotated in pencil and red pen

The challenge

The talent shortage is real. The leadership shortage is worse.

Every electrical engineering company knows the talent market is tight. Fewer talk about the leadership market being tighter still. In engineering, credibility is earned in the first technical conversation or it's never earned at all, a generalist can read a resume but can't tell a leader who scaled a 200mm operation from one who launched a 300mm greenfield. We recruit inside this space.

Leaders who pair deep technical fluency with real business judgment
Executives who have scaled capital-intensive builds, fabs, power systems, EPC
Operators who deliver yield, throughput, and quality at scale

Roles we place

The seats that decide the roadmap

VPVP of EngineeringOwns the technology roadmap, team structure, and execution cadence for the entire engineering organization.

VPVP of OperationsTurns engineering capability into production reality, yield, throughput, equipment utilization.

CTOChief Technology OfficerThe bridge between R&D and the market; turns technical capability into competitive advantage.

COOChief Operating OfficerIntegrates manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and engineering into one coherent operation.

CFOChief Financial OfficerUnderstands long investment cycles, equipment depreciation, government incentives, and heavy working-capital demands.

PEPrincipal Engineer / FellowCarries VP-level authority, sets the technical standard and makes the architecture decisions others build on.

GMGeneral ManagerRuns an engineering-driven business unit with full P&L, balancing the business and the technology at once.

PltPlant Manager / Site LeaderAccountable for a facility's safety, yield, quality, and throughput, and the culture that sustains performance.

An electrical fabrication shop: switchgear enclosures open for wiring, terminal blocks and tools on a workbench

The opportunity

The semiconductor & gigafab opportunity

The U.S. is in the middle of the largest semiconductor buildout in a generation, over $200 billion in new fabs, expansions, and advanced packaging underway or committed. That wave will require thousands of senior technical and operational leaders over the next decade.

We place the leaders who decide whether a multi-billion-dollar investment delivers on its thesis or burns capital short of yield targets. The number of people who have actually done this before is smaller than most realize, finding them takes a firm that knows where they are and what moves them.

Verticals

The verticals we serve

Electrical engineering isn't one industry. The leadership profile for a semiconductor manufacturer is different from a power-distribution company or an automation firm. We know the differences because we work inside them.

Semiconductor manufacturing, fabs, advanced packaging, test and assembly; billion-dollar capital budgets and yield management.
Power systems & electrical infrastructure, transformers, switchgear, substations, and grid-scale delivery riding the energy-transition and data-center boom.
Industrial controls & automation, PLCs, industrial IoT, motion control, and the integrators who connect them.
Advanced manufacturing & EPC, the firms that build the facilities, managing large capital projects and complex subcontractor networks.
Defense & aerospace electronics, radar, avionics, and satcom, with clearance eligibility and government-contracting fluency.

Why it matters

Why engineering-specific search matters

You can tell immediately whether a recruiter understands engineering by the questions they ask. A generalist asks about "leadership experience." We ask about the difference between leading a design team and a manufacturing team, about specific process nodes, about how a candidate handled a yield excursion on a committed product.

We were built to serve industries where technical credibility is the price of admission, every candidate we present has been evaluated for the ability to lead in the specific environment you're building.

How it works

A search built to stick

Most placements fail in the first 90 days. Our process is designed to prevent that.

STEP 01

The Bullseye Meeting

Every stakeholder in the room, role, comp, success criteria, cultural profile, and decision authority defined before we go to market.

STEP 02

Mapped search

We approach proven leaders directly, including the ones who aren't looking, not a job-board cast.

STEP 03

Mutual-fit assessment

Capability, character, and cultural fit vetted in person, on both sides of the table.

STEP 04

Onboard & follow through

We stay involved through the first 90 days to make the placement land.

As a smaller firm without a dedicated HR team, finding top engineering talent can feel like an uphill battle, especially since most great engineers aren't actively looking to make a change. FireSeeds stepped in and made the process seamless. They identified high-quality candidates who were likely happy where they were, screened those who showed interest, and even provided interview notes that made our conversations easy and productive.

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Ready to find your next leader?

Tell us about the seat you need to fill. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right team to fill it.

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