Director, Global Executive & Strategic Recruiting

Director, Global Executive & Strategic Recruiting

Location: Remote, United States or Everett, WA
Reports to: Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition

The Opportunity

Fortive is looking for a Director, Global Executive & Strategic Recruiting to lead and elevate our approach to executive and strategic hiring across Fortive and our portfolio of operating companies (10) globally.

This is a unique opportunity for an accomplished executive recruiting leader to build a best-in-class internal executive search capability that combines the rigor, market intelligence, and candidate experience of a leading retained search firm with the business connectivity and long-term talent perspective of an in-house function.

You’ll lead a team of executive recruiting professionals while personally partnering with senior leaders on some of our most critical leadership searches. More than filling roles, you’ll help shape how we identify, assess, attract, and build relationships with exceptional leadership talent around the world.

If you are energized by executive search, talent intelligence, building high-performing teams, and serving as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, this is an opportunity to make a significant enterprise-wide impact.

What You’ll Do

Lead & Build Our Executive Search Capability

• Lead Fortive’s global executive and strategic recruiting function across the enterprise and our operating companies.
• Build, coach, and develop a high-performing team of executive recruiters, researchers, and recruiting support professionals.
• Develop a scalable internal executive search model that delivers the rigor, quality, market expertise, and candidate experience expected from leading retained search firms.
• Establish executive recruiting playbooks, sourcing methodologies, talent mapping strategies, assessment frameworks, and search best practices.
• Personally lead a portfolio of high-impact executive and strategic searches.

Advise Senior Leaders

• Partner with executive leaders, operating company presidents, HR leaders, and hiring managers to define leadership needs and translate business priorities into effective search strategies.
• Serve as a trusted talent advisor, bringing forward market intelligence, competitive insights, talent perspectives, and recommendations that enable stronger hiring decisions.
• Help leaders define success profiles and clarify the capabilities and experiences required for critical leadership positions.
• Lead candidate calibration, stakeholder alignment, and executive debrief discussions.
• Use data and talent intelligence to constructively challenge assumptions and create greater clarity around hiring decisions.

Build Leadership Pipelines for the Future

• Develop proactive external leadership pipelines aligned with succession priorities, critical capability gaps, and future business needs.
• Partner closely with Talent Management, workforce planning, and HR leadership to connect external talent intelligence with long-term leadership and organizational needs.
• Build sustainable talent communities and market maps across critical functions and geographies.

Modernize Executive Recruiting

• Establish meaningful metrics and reporting that provide visibility into search effectiveness, talent markets, stakeholder experience, and recruiting outcomes.
• Explore and leverage AI, talent intelligence platforms, CRM technology, sourcing tools, and recruiting analytics to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of executive search.
• Continuously improve executive recruiting processes, technology, governance, and operating practices.
• Strategically manage external executive search partners, determining when outside support is appropriate based on capacity, specialization, confidentiality, or market requirements.
• Expand Fortive’s internal search capabilities while reducing unnecessary reliance on external executive search firms.

What You’ll Bring

• 10+ years of progressive experience in executive recruiting, executive search, talent acquisition, or leadership hiring.
• 5+ years of experience leading an executive recruiting, executive search, or talent acquisition team.
• Demonstrated success recruiting Director, Vice President, General Manager, and executive-level talent across multiple functions.
• Experience advising senior executives and HR leaders on complex, high-impact talent decisions.
• Deep expertise in executive search strategy, talent mapping, market intelligence, research, sourcing, candidate assessment, and executive engagement.
• Experience leading sensitive and confidential executive searches from initial strategy through offer acceptance.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to influence, advise, and appropriately challenge senior stakeholders.
• Experience recruiting across functional areas such as Commercial, Sales, Marketing, Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Human Resources.
• Experience using talent intelligence platforms, CRM technology, sourcing tools, AI-enabled recruiting solutions, and recruiting analytics.
• Strong written, verbal, and executive-level presentation skills.
• Experience within a retained executive search firm and/or an in-house executive recruiting function.
• Experience supporting global organizations and leadership hiring across North America, EMEA, and APAC is preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience preferred.

Why This Role Matters

The leaders we hire today will shape Fortive’s businesses for years to come. This role has the opportunity to create an executive recruiting capability that goes beyond individual searches, building the talent intelligence, external leadership pipelines, search discipline, and trusted partnerships that help the organization anticipate its leadership needs.

You’ll have the opportunity to build the function, influence enterprise talent strategy, advise senior leaders, develop a talented team, and personally lead some of Fortive’s most important leadership searches.