Membership

Acertitude's Consumer & Industrial Practices Expand with Two New Principals

Acertitude, the executive search firm committed to unleashing human potential, today announced two new principals, promoting Max Stubenvoll in its Consumer practice and hiring Heather Kivett in its Industrial practice. 

These strategic additions come as the Consumer and Industrial practices continue to grow by double digits, experiencing a 48 percent uptick in 2020 despite pandemic headwinds. Much of the growth can be attributed to heightened demand from private equity firms focused on the consumer and industrial sectors. The team is delivering evermore portfolio company CEOs, CFOs, COOs, supply chain officers, and transformation and restructuring officers.

To support the accelerating need for these practices’ executive search and pre-deal services, Max and Heather will serve as trusted advisors to clients on projects and provide leadership and guidance to delivery teams. They will also continue to foster lifelong client relationships to expand the firm’s impact and mission to unleash human potential.

Max Stubenvoll

Max was promoted to principal after consistently demonstrating execution excellence over seven months, earning the trust of clients, candidates, and colleagues. He first joined Acertitude as a senior associate in March 2021.

Prior, he spent close to four years as a consultant in Skillcapital’s Consumer and Business Services practice. There, he also led executive search, pre-deal advisory, and origination projects for leading private equity firms and portfolio companies. 

Max previously served on the Deals Strategy Team at PwC, undertaking both buy and sell-side due diligence for private equity clients predominantly in the Consumer and TMT verticals. Earlier in his career, Max worked as head of sales at a FinTech start-up. 

“We are growing fast, and Max has been – and continues to be – critical in powering our growth and delivery of extraordinary leaders,” said Kevin O’Neill, co-founder and managing partner at Acertitude. “Beyond that though, Max’s incredible drive, enthusiasm, and work ethic truly stand out. We couldn’t be more thrilled to support him as he moves into the principal role and takes on more responsibilities.”

Max earned a B.S. in Chemistry and Management from Imperial College London.

Heather Kivett

Heather joins Acertitude as a principal specializing in the industrial sector. She brings strong capabilities recruiting for c-level roles, with a particular knack for operations, supply chain, and engineering. 

Heather’s rich experience includes two decades as an executive search professional and operations leader. Before Acertitude, Heather spent seven years as an associate practice leader at a boutique executive search firm. There, she focused on industrial and consumer manufacturing and private equity. 

Her earlier career was spent leading a training and development firm. She applies these same skills today to the coaching and development of Acertitude’s analysts and associates. 

“We are excited to have a such a distinguished executive search professional like Heather join us and help our clients find brilliant leaders who can transform and grow their organizations,” said O’Neill. “She’ll also serve as a critical resource to our fantastic team of researchers, helping with mentoring, learning, and development.”

Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in business management and finance from Guilford College.

Connect with Acertitude