Top Credit Union Search Firm

Cowen Partners Credit Union Executive Search

 

Cowen Partners is a national executive search and consulting firm. Our credit union clients typically have assets between $1 and $15 billion. Successful placements span the entire C-Suite (CEO, COO, CFO, CHRO, CLO, CMO, CTO, etc.) and include VP and director level leadership roles. Cowen Partners Executive Search has been featured in Forbes, the Credit Union Times, Inc., and SHRM’s HR Today.

Fill Your Role In The Next 6 Weeks

What role do you need filled? Do you need:

• A CEO with the talent to guide your growth no matter where the economy goes?
• A modern CFO who can manage accounting, finance, and ALM?
• A CTO to transform your organization?
• A CMO to lead your marketing team?
• A Chief Lending Officer to break your most ambitious growth targets?
• A VP to head up your talent acquisition and recruiting?

Interested in learning more? Let’s talk. Our partner-owned model is the guarantee you need to get the credit union executive you need. We deliver on our guarantee by matching an experienced senior partner to every engagement, from the first call to final placement. Start the journey to find & place your next executive by filling out the contact form.

Cowen Partners Defines a Great Credit Union CEO

It takes an exceptional person to lead an institution that truly belongs to its members.

What makes a great credit union CEO? The answer is not as simple as you might think – it’s not just about having the right skill set or experience. As with any business, a CEO has to have the necessary technical expertise and understanding of the business at hand. But beyond that, what really sets them apart from their peers is another matter.

It takes an exceptional person to lead an institution that truly belongs to its members. A great credit union CEO is someone who understands that their role is not to impose their vision on an organization, but rather to solicit input from the various stakeholders within the organization and empower key players to lead in their own areas.

The Great CEO Vs. The Great Communicator

Ask various people what makes an effective company executive, and you’ll hear a lot of different answers. But there are two basic types of great credit union CEOs: The Great CEO and The Great Communicator.

The Great CEO is good with numbers, knows how to manage operations and has a keen sense of strategy. He or she is also a good communicator who can sell that strategy to the board and credit union members, as well as motivate employees to execute it while keeping them happy and productive.

The Great Communicator is not necessarily the financial whiz that The Great CEO can be. This type of CEO knows how to present a positive public image for the credit union, and how to promote membership growth through community involvement, social media and other channels that reach out to potential members.

Both types of leaders can be effective, but they must work with their team members in unique ways to achieve the same goals. For example, a CEO without a strong background in finance may rely on the CFO to help them guide the organization. READ MORE HERE

Cowen Partners Defines The Modern Credit Union CFO

A successful CFO candidate synthesizes old-school accounting with new-age technologies to successfully lead the CU toward a better bottom line. By Shawn Cole

With increased market volatility and advancing digital infrastructures appearing across all industries, credit unions, traditionally regional and relatively conservative financial institutions, are emerging as one of the most transitional and rapidly-evolving subsets of the financial sector. Their risk-averse, nonprofit statuses have steadily deteriorated in the face of changing consumer behavior and digitally-driven global economies. Credit unions need to be as adaptable and innovative as their commercial bank counterparts to retain a stable position in the marketplace and survive the onslaught of economic shifts.

The demands of the credit union CFO, therefore, have modernized alongside the broader organization. Finding the right candidate for the job has become increasingly difficult.

In this new dawn of 21st-century credit unions, a CFO must embrace many dichotomies at once: The spirit of local, small business and the competition of global economic marketplaces; data-driven examinations of financial risks and creative strategy development; specialized financial expertise and a broad understanding of an entire operation. A successful, modern credit union CFO synthesizes old-school accounting with new-age technologies to actively lead the institution, both internally and externally, toward a better bottom line and more lucrative position in the marketplace. READ MORE HERE