We don’t fill seats. We place the 1 in 4.
Sales, marketing, finance & operations leaders who drive double-digit growth year after year — mapped through original research, vetted until only 1 in 4 candidates presented remains, and retained at 95% year after year. Exclusively these disciplines since 2002.
- Retention
- 95%
- year after year
- Hire rate
- 1 in 4
- candidates presented
- Reviews
- 4.9/536
- 100% CEO approval
- 12,678
- followers · network
This search, end to end
120 mapped → 32 assessed → 8 shortlisted → 2 finalists
1 hire per 4 presented — industry average is 1 in 8.
The record — every figure with methodology
Audited annually · client-verified95%
Retention rate
Placements still in role, year after year. Method: 30/90/180/365-day tracking.
1 in 4
Candidates hired
1 hire per 4 presented vs. 1 in 8 industry norm. Method: thorough internal evaluation before presentation.
4.9
Rating · 536 reviews
4.9 based on 536 verified client & candidate reviews · 100% CEO approval on Indeed.
22+
Years · est. 2002
Founded 2002, Chicago → Tampa. 19 employees, $1.7M revenue. SIC 7361 · NAICS 561312.
12,678
LinkedIn followers
A relationships-first network, not a resume database. Passive, quota-carrying leaders.
22
Placements archived
Recognizable names — Nix United, Kore.ai, PGA Tour, WERMA-USA — below in full archive.
Signature instrument · The Sales Hiring ROI Navigator
Configure your mandate. Watch your search get built — live.
Set specialty, budget, role and model. The navigator re-maps our placement archive, rebuilds the candidate funnel, redraws the quality radar and re-prices your hiring model — the same proprietary process refined over two decades.
Talent map — where your leader is hiding
X: comp band · Y: sales-complexity score · dot = archived placement
22 mapped · tap a dot
No archived placements in this exact slice.
Original research maps this segment fresh on engagement — widen one filter to see the nearest archived evidence.
The talent map couldn’t load.
Placement data failed to render. Reload the instrument, or call the confidential line at +1 (866) 487-4156.
Search timeline — Executive Search
7 weeks to offer · 12-mo follow-up
Candidate pool — the 1-in-4 funnel
Currently-employed, quota-carrying, double-digit growers. Not job-board actives.
Quality radar — Composite lens
Median shortlist score across five vetted dimensions.
Approach metrics · vs. industry
95%
Retention
vs. 65% industry*
1:4
Hire ratio
vs. 1:8 industry*
4.9
536 reviews
100% CEO approval
*Industry norms: APA & retained-search benchmarks. Naviga figures audited against placement tracking ledger, 2002–2025.
Est.
2002
Team
19
12,678
Hiring model — live pricing
$150K comp basisFees modeled on selected comp midpoint · internal time @ $75/hr. Full configurator with your real numbers below in RPO vs. Direct Hire.
Recent placements matching this mandate
No exact archive match for this slice.
Fresh mapping on engagement covers it — or widen a filter.
Take the math with you — free
Loading your mandate…
Request Confidential ConsultationThe approach · Boutique flexibility, Big-Firm results
Not for everyone. For the right-fit employer.
We invest deeply in the project-engagement phase — learning your business goals, your team, the position inside out — until we can surface the values, culture fit and long-term potential that drive 1 in 4 hired and 95% retention. The Big-5 — Korn Ferry, Spencer Stuart, Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds, Egon Zehnder — sell you a brand and staff you with a junior associate. We sell you a result and hand you the people who’ve done this since 2002.
“We deliver. They talk.”
For employers
Exclusive & retained search success
A true extension of your team. Every partnership customized; every candidate through thorough internal evaluation before presentation. Deep talent-acquisition expertise, industry insight, white-glove service.
For professionals
The Informed Candidate Approach
Beyond the standard JD: a transparent, comprehensive view — in-depth detail on the client’s business, the opportunity, strategic goals, vision and hiring managers. Pursue the right move confidently, deliberately.
Built for business-critical roles
Leadership & individual contributor
Sincere enthusiasm attracts candidates. Transparent, responsive, confidential — a limited project load means genuine attention on every mandate.
Core service · Executive search, direct hire, temp staffing, RPO, managed payroll
What does the empty seat actually cost? Run the number.
Before you decide how to search, price the vacancy. This is the same arithmetic we walk VPs of Sales through in the first call.
Sales Hiring ROI Calculator
Free · one-step toolCost of vacancy
$360K
quota slippage + commission loss
A bad sales hire costs
$720K
$300K base + 35% of quota*
Break-even on fee
38 days
retained fee vs. recovered revenue
Method: vacancy cost = 50% of monthly quota attainment × months + commission loss. Bad-hire baseline $300K (recruiting + ramp + morale + board friction) + 35% of annual quota. *Synthetic model, industry midpoints — your mandate gets real numbers.
Executive & retained search
Business-critical leadership, exclusively
VP Sales, CRO, Marketing Directors, Finance & Operations leaders. Proprietary process refined over two decades — the slate arrives vetted, referenced and pre-closed.
Typical mandate · $150–250K · 6–7 weeks
Direct hire
Mid-to-senior, permanent
Managers and senior ICs across Sales, Marketing, Finance & Accounting, Operations.
RPO & managed payroll
Whole-lifecycle partnerships
We run the recruitment function; you keep the culture. Contingent workforce covered.
Why it works — the proprietary filter
- 01 Skillsets, leadership style, industry experience mapped first
- 02 Profiling precise, targeted, tailored to where they prosper
- 03 Credible network + trustworthy advisers in all phases
- 04 Hands-on, custom, personal — boutique by design
Hiring model decision · configurator
Retained search, RPO, or temp? Let your numbers decide.
Three ways to buy recruiting. Only one of them compounds. Feed the configurator your team size, hiring velocity and comp — it prices all three and makes the call.
| Model | Cost / hire | Time to hire | Quality | 12-mo retention | Verdict |
|---|
Loading recommendation…
Engage
Strategy
Vet
Offer
12-mo track
The archive · Results that speak themselves
Extraordinary sales leaders, placed — the ledger.
Every row is a mandate closed. Filter it the way you’d interrogate any search firm’s track record.
| Client | Role | Leader placed | Year | Specialty | Budget | Location |
|---|
No records match that combination.
The archive covers Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations and Global mandates from 2008–2025. Clear a filter — or request the confidential ledger for your exact segment.
Open mandates · updated weekly
Active searches — confidential, current, real.
For professionals: this is the Informed Candidate Approach in action — every listing comes with the client’s business context, strategic goals and hiring-manager picture on the first call.
No open mandates in this specialty this week.
Searches open and close fast — 1 in 4 presented means slates move. Submit your resume confidentially and you’re in the next mapping pass.
Submit My Resume ConfidentiallyFocus, not everything · national sales & marketing recruitment since day one
Eight specialties. Zero generalism.
Proprietary process · refined over two decades
Six steps. Seven weeks. One hire who stays.
You approve once a week. We do everything else — mapping, outreach, vetting, referencing, closing, and the 12-month retention track behind the 95%.
Est. 2002 · Chicago → Tampa
The bench · 19 specialists, zero junior-associate bait-and-switch
The person who sells you is the person who searches.
Chief Talent Officer across Marketing, Sales, Operations and Leadership — North America reach, worldwide domestic brands. Before founding Naviga in 2002: Senior Corporate Recruiter at UScellular, Corporate Recruiter at Westell Technologies, Senior Manager of European Recruiting at Daleen Technologies (expat, Amsterdam), Unisource Systems and Caring Brands International. Twenty-plus years of corporate hiring landscape, lived from inside the corporation.
Off the clock: Tampa Bay boating, strength training, husband and three daughters. On the clock: personally accountable for every retained mandate.
The number we answer to
2002
Twenty-plus years doing Sales, Marketing, Finance & Operations — and nothing else.
95%
retention, year after year
1 in 4
candidates presented, hired
4.9
536 reviews · 100% CEO approval
12,678
LinkedIn network · relationships, not resumes
“Nine months of generic resumes before we called Naviga. They presented four people — we hired the second one, and she’s driven double-digit growth two years running.”
“Our previous firm sent 40 resumes. Naviga sent four dossiers — each one could have done the job. That’s the difference between a database and a search.”
“Confidentiality held, the board never got nervous, and the hire cleared the 90-day mark still accelerating. We’ve retained them for three searches since.”
Community impact
Empowering U.S. Special Operations Forces into civilian careers — executive coaching, resume refinement, military-to-corporate translation and direct introductions to employers who value veteran talent.
History
Founded in Chicago by Kathleen Steffey, corporate recruiter turned solo-preneur. The professional-yet-agile approach spread nationally, then globally — each team member trained to the same core principles since 2002.
Values
IntegrityHonestyEthics
Sincere enthusiasm attracts candidates. Transparency keeps them. Confidentiality protects everyone.
Request confidential consultation · response within 24 hours
Hire the sales leader who drives double-digit growth — before your next board meeting.
Tell us the mandate confidentially. Kathleen or a senior recruiter responds within 24 hours with an honest read: whether we’re the right fit, what the search looks like, and what it costs if you wait.