The Executive’s Advocate™.
A New York firm representing a small number of senior operators for a select set of private companies, family offices, and growth-stage firms. Bespoke representation and permanent placement. Personal, from first call to signed offer.
We represent the operator.
Most firms in this category work for the board. They are paid by the buyer to fill the chair fast. We invert that. Northgate™ works for the operator, who is the rarer asset and the one whose career carries the longest tail.
The work is bespoke representation and permanent placement. Not interim. Not fractional. A partner leads the conversation from the first private call to the signed offer, and your name does not leave this office without your written sign-off.
We represent operators across the arc of their careers, from senior division presidents to chief executives of private and family-owned businesses.
The first conversation is private. There is no obligation on either side.
Where we work.
The ownership structures we know from the inside. Privately held, family-governed, or sponsor-backed: rooms where the operator answers to owners, not analysts, and the hire cannot be wrong.
- i Private Companies
- ii Family-Owned Businesses
- iii Private Equity Sponsors
- iv Family Offices
- v Founder-Led Companies
- vi Growth-Stage Firms
- vii Holding Companies
What we practice.
Everything the firm takes on arrives as one of these engagements. Each is personal, runs in confidence, and moves on the search’s own clock.
- Permanent Search
- Confidential, personally led searches for chief executives, presidents, COOs, CFOs, and division leaders of private companies. Each engagement is bespoke; none are accelerated to fit a sponsor’s quarter.
- Leadership Assessment
- Structured evaluation of finalists and internal succession candidates. Used during active searches to surface fit beyond the resume, and engaged stand-alone by boards and family offices.
- Succession Planning
- Multi-year advisory engagements for private and family-owned businesses facing leadership transition. Internal pipeline development, external benchmarking, and a written succession point of view before a chair opens.
- Board & Trustee Advisory
- Composition guidance for private and family-owned company boards seeking operating talent at the director level. Confidential introductions to operators whose authority matches the governance need.
The fields we work in.
The disciplines where we spend most of our hours. If your work sits adjacent to this list, write anyway. The door is the same.
- Chief Executives
- Private companies, Family-owned operating businesses
- Presidents & Chief Operating Officers
- Multi-business holdings, Single platforms
- Chief Financial Officers
- Pre-IPO, Sponsor-backed
- Family Office Principals
- Direct investing, Operating leadership
- Sponsor-Backed Portfolio Leaders
- Private equity, Growth equity
- Founder-Led Companies
- Pre and post Series C
- Consumer & Direct-to-Consumer
- Brand, Retail
- Industrials & Manufacturing
- Operations, Supply chain
- Technology & Vertical Software
- Enterprise, SaaS
- Specialty Finance & Wealth
- Asset management, Platforms
When you are ready to make a move,
you need the right people in your corner.