Boutique Sales Search & Talent Advisory
We don't just fill roles. We decode them — identifying the precise commercial talent that moves revenue, builds culture, and scales with you.
Cypher Search is a boutique recruiting firm built exclusively around sales talent. We operate as a retained partner — not a transactional vendor — which means we invest fully in understanding your business, your team, and what elite performance actually looks like in your environment.
Every search is evaluated across six competency dimensions. Every candidate is assessed for emotional intelligence. Every engagement is backed by a 90-day guarantee.
Explore our methodology →Dedicated focus, full accountability, and a true advisory relationship from engagement through placement.
Pipeline Generation, Discovery, Commercial Acumen, Communication, Coachability, Process Discipline — assessed on every candidate.
We assess key EQ skills for success in role — giving you data most firms simply aren't qualified to provide.
Fee based on OTE — aligning our incentives with the caliber of talent we deliver.
If your new hire doesn't meet performance expectations within 90 days, we re-engage at no additional cost.
Every engagement is led by a founder with 11+ years in enterprise sales and 300+ hires made. No hand-offs.
For Hiring Companies
Vetted, EQ-assessed sales talent — fast, precise, and guaranteed.
For Sales Professionals
No spray and pray. Real advocacy with companies worth joining.
We don't blast your opening to a database and hope. We run a deliberate, structured search — and we stand behind every placement.
Every candidate we present is evaluated across six core competency dimensions — built on the experience of 300+ hires and 1,000+ interviews.
How they find and create opportunity — outbound discipline, prospecting rigor, territory thinking.
Their ability to ask the right questions, listen actively, and connect pain to solution.
Business and financial fluency — can they speak to ROI, navigate procurement, and protect margin?
How they show up — verbal clarity, executive presence, written communication, adaptability.
Their orientation toward feedback, learning, and continuous improvement — a long-term performance signal.
CRM hygiene, forecasting accuracy, pipeline management — the operational habits of consistent performers.
As an EQ-i 2.0 Certified Coach, I evaluate the emotional intelligence competencies most predictive of success in your role — through structured behavioral interviewing designed around a validated EQ framework. You get expert findings, not just a gut check.
We work exclusively retained — dedicated focus, full accountability, and a true advisory relationship from role scoping through offer close.
We start by deeply understanding your business, team, and what elite performance actually looks like in your environment. No assumptions. No job description copy-paste.
Ideal Candidate Profile built with you.
Market mapping, targeted outreach, and full six-dimension competency evaluation on every candidate — including EQ-i 2.0 assessment. You receive a curated shortlist, not a stack of resumes.
Interview prep and debrief support included.
We stay in the deal through offer acceptance — advising on compensation structuring, candidate management, and counter-offer navigation. Every placement backed by a 90-day guarantee.
Re-engagement at no cost if needed.
We work with a curated pool of high-performing sales professionals and represent them with the same rigor we bring to every client search.
For senior sales professionals actively in search. We represent you directly to our client network, prep you for every stage, and advocate through offer.
By application. Placement fee paid by hiring company — no cost to candidates.
A focused 60-minute engagement to pressure-test your positioning, review your resume and LinkedIn, and map your job search strategy against the current market.
Available to all sales professionals. Nominal fee applies.
Targeted preparation for high-stakes interviews — mock discovery calls, executive presence coaching, compensation negotiation strategy.
Standalone or as part of the Represented program.
Every retained search placement is backed by our 90-day guarantee. If your new hire doesn't meet performance expectations within 90 days, we re-engage at no additional cost.
We're confident because we're thorough. But we believe a placement guarantee should be a standard, not a differentiator.
"I've been on both sides of the table — carrying a quota and building the team."
Cypher Search exists because I've lived the problem it solves. I've spent over a decade as a quota carrier — including years at LinkedIn selling Talent and Learning Solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients, and consulting with HR organizations to help them become more effective and efficient in their workforce planning, hiring, and onboarding initiatives. I know what it takes to build pipeline, run a complex deal, and sustain performance under pressure.
I've also spent years as a full-cycle in-house recruiter — building and evaluating teams from the inside, making 300+ hires across functional areas, and conducting 1,000+ interviews. And as a Senior Talent Management Consultant, I've advised global sales organizations on hiring strategy, team development, and organizational effectiveness. Most third-party recruiters have never sat on the hiring side. I have — and that perspective shapes every search I run.
Cypher Search is the intersection of those careers. Built by someone who has done the job, understands what elite looks like from the inside, and has the recruiting infrastructure to find it.
Contingency recruiting creates misaligned incentives. Speed over quality. Volume over fit. I've seen what that costs a company — in bad hires, in culture damage, in lost revenue.
The retained model exists because I believe the search process itself deserves investment. When I take on an engagement, I own it completely — from role scoping to offer acceptance.
As an EQ-i 2.0 Certified Coach, I evaluate the emotional intelligence competencies most predictive of success in your role — through structured behavioral interviewing designed around a validated EQ framework. You get expert findings, not just a gut check.
Full-cycle enterprise SaaS sales at LinkedIn, managing a portfolio of enterprise and mid-market accounts. Consistent quota overachiever. Rookie of the Year. MVP of Mid-Market Central.
Advised LinkedIn's global sales organization on talent strategy — supporting hiring frameworks, sales team development, and organizational effectiveness. A direct bridge between enterprise sales expertise and talent advisory practice.
300+ hires made across functional areas. 1,000+ interviews conducted. Built hiring systems, evaluation frameworks, and the instincts that form the backbone of Cypher Search's methodology.
7+ years in automotive OEM sales, employed by industry leaders including Continental and Minth Group, closing up to $300M in annual recurring revenue. Deep commercial acumen across complex B2B environments.
Boutique Sales Search & Talent Advisory. Retained model. Six-dimension evaluation. EQ assessment. 90-day guarantee. Chicago-based, national reach.
Whether you're a hiring company ready to start a search or a sales professional looking for your next move — this is where it starts.
Direct Contact
Location
Chicago, Illinois
National reach.
Response Time
All inquiries responded to within one business day. For urgent searches, note it in your message.
Introductory call to understand your situation and determine fit.
Discovery — we dig into your role, team, culture, and ideal profile.
Engagement scoping and retained agreement.
Search begins. Updates on a cadence that works for you.