Executive Search
By Market
Retained executive search and integrated staffing across six practices. We place presidents, provosts, chief nursing officers, CFOs, city managers, and interim leaders, nationally and internationally, all vetted to one standard.
Presidents, provosts, deans, financial aid, and faculty searches. Our founding and largest market, with 500+ schools engaged.
How a search works
Hiring? Start a search.
Tell us about your open leadership role and we will scope a retained search, usually with finalists in three to five weeks.
Start a searchLooking for a role? See open positions.
Browse current openings across higher education, healthcare, financial services, and government, or submit your resume for future searches.
Or browse sample job descriptions
View open rolesExecutive Search Services for Four Core Industries
Excelon Associates is a retained executive search firm founded in 2007 that provides executive search services for higher education institutions, healthcare organizations, financial services firms, and government agencies. The firm is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, with additional offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Florida, and places candidates throughout the United States and internationally. Excelon also provides temporary and contract staffing across all four sectors.
Recruitment is not a one-size-fits-all service, and we built this firm around that conviction. Instead of covering every industry at surface depth, we concentrate our executive search services on four sectors where we hold large active candidate networks and genuine subject-matter expertise. Each market on this page links to a dedicated practice page with full role lists and engagement details. For industry-wide data on fees, timelines, and placement outcomes, see our executive search benchmarks.
The Markets We Recruit In
Six practices, each with its own dedicated page, role lists, and recruiters who work that market full time. Select a market to go deeper.
Higher Education
Presidents, provosts, deans, financial aid, and faculty searches across universities, community colleges, trade schools, and K-12.
Healthcare
CNOs, CMOs, clinical education, and simulation leadership for hospitals, health systems, and healthcare education programs.
Financial Services
CFOs, private equity, portfolio managers, and crypto talent for funds, banks, and blockchain organizations.
Government
Leadership and technical talent for city, county, and state agencies, engaged through standard procurement vehicles.
Temporary Staffing
Interim, contract, and temp-to-perm roles across all four sectors, vetted to the same standard as our permanent searches.
International Recruitment
Cross-border searches and campus leadership placements across the UK and Europe, the Gulf and GCC, MENA, and South Asia.
What Is Retained Executive Search?
Retained executive search is a recruitment model in which an organization hires a search firm on an exclusive, committed basis to fill a senior leadership position. The firm conducts proactive, research-driven outreach to qualified candidates, including those not actively job hunting, and manages the entire process from position profiling through final negotiation. This differs from contingent recruiting, where multiple agencies compete to submit resumes and are paid only if their candidate is hired.
Most Excelon Associates engagements follow the retained model, with a candidate slate in three to five weeks. For the right opportunity we are happy to discuss contingency-based arrangements. See how the two models compare in our retained vs contingent search guide, and the full pricing breakdown in our executive search fees guide.
Start a Retained SearchWhich Industries Do Our Executive Search Services Cover?
Excelon Associates operates five practice areas: four core industry verticals plus an integrated temporary staffing division. Higher education is our founding and largest market. Select a practice to see the roles we most frequently place.
Higher Education Recruitment
Our founding and largest market, with more than 500 schools engaged and one of the industry's largest candidate networks. We place academic and administrative leaders at universities, community colleges, trade schools, and K-12 organizations across the U.S. and internationally.
Disciplines: nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, business, computer science, engineering, blockchain / Web3, allied health, social work, criminal justice.
Explore Higher Education RecruitmentHealthcare Recruitment
Clinical and operational leaders for hospital systems, academic medical centers, outpatient networks, and healthcare education programs, with deep familiarity in CAPTE, ARC-PA, and CCNE accreditation requirements.
Accreditation expertise: CAPTE, ARC-PA, and CCNE standards across acute care, outpatient, and specialty settings.
Explore Healthcare RecruitmentFinancial Services Recruitment
Senior finance and digital-asset talent for private equity firms, venture capital funds, investment banks, wealth management firms, and blockchain organizations. The practice is led by an active equity and options trader, so candidate conversations happen at a peer level.
Coverage: traditional finance plus emerging Web3, DeFi, and tokenized asset platforms.
Explore Financial Services RecruitmentGovernment Recruitment
We recruit leadership and technical talent for county, city, and state government agencies nationwide. Our coverage includes workforce development and technical training leadership funded under WIOA and Perkins, along with the administrative and operational roles that keep agencies running.
Levels served: county, city, and state government agencies nationwide.
Explore Government RecruitmentTemporary Staffing
Flexible temporary, contract, and temp-to-perm recruitment across all four core sectors, from interim leadership coverage to project-based professionals. Fully integrated with our permanent search infrastructure, so vetting and quality standards are identical.
Engagement types: contract, short-term, interim, and temp-to-perm across every market we serve.
Explore Temporary StaffingWhy Choose a Specialist Executive Search Firm?
Generalist recruiters work from job boards and resume databases. Specialist firms work from relationships. After nearly two decades focused on the same four sectors, Excelon Associates knows the candidates in these markets before a search begins: who is ready to move, what compensation actually closes an offer, and which credentials a hiring committee will scrutinize.
We Speak Committee
In higher education, we understand how accreditation cycles shape faculty and leadership searches, from the regional accreditors that oversee America's colleges and universities, including NECHE, MSCHE, the Higher Learning Commission, SACSCOC, and WSCUC, to programmatic standards such as AACSB for business, ABET for engineering and computing, CCNE and ACEN for nursing, CSWE for social work, and CAPTE and ARC-PA for clinical programs.
Practitioners in the Room
In financial services, our practice lead trades equities and options, so candidate conversations happen at a peer level. In government, we recruit for city, state, and county agencies and understand how their hiring rules and procurement timelines differ from the private sector. Meet the team.
500+ Institutions Since 2007
With more than 500 institutions engaged since 2007 and 45 combined years of recruiting experience, that depth is why clients return search after search.
Vetted Once, Everywhere
Retained search, contingency, or temporary staffing, every candidate clears the same screening bar: in-depth interviews, reference checks, and skills verification, whichever market and engagement model the role calls for.
Institutional-Grade Credentials
Excelon Associates holds the GSA Human Capital Multiple Award Schedule under contract 47QREA22D000A, with NAICS codes 561320 and 561330, which lets federal, state, and local agencies engage the firm through an established procurement vehicle. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Florida, the firm carries active DUNS and CAGE identifiers and a 5.0 Google rating across all four service markets.
What a Live Search Looks Like
Every search we run is published, promoted across our network, and fully indexed on Google at no extra cost to clients. The cards below are recent campaigns from across all of our markets. Each one opens the live LinkedIn post it represents.
What Results Do Clients and Candidates Report?
Excelon Associates holds a 5.0 rating on Google from clients and candidates across all four service markets: higher education, healthcare, financial services, and government. Read the full set of verified reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Read our Google ReviewsFrequently Asked Questions
Ready to Start a Search?
Excelon Associates has provided executive search services in higher education, healthcare, financial services, and government since 2007. Tell us about your open role and a team member will follow up within one business day.