Jeff has a storied career navigating multiple areas of the business world. He started off working as a manufacturing representative for his family business. For years, he worked alongside his brothers — but eventually, personal matters spurred his move to New York City.

There, he became an associate at Morgan Stanley’s Real Estate Investment Bank after working for two years in support of Corporate Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions. After serving in that role for three years, he elected to try something new and became a business journalist at the Economist Intelligence Unit — finding new ways to translate his experience into articles and case studies on global financing, economic trends, and best-in-class business operations. 

“I’ve learned a lot about how financial services work and banking in the business world — I decided that I could write, report, and explain how it all works,” Jeff said. “I could put subjects or issues into their real-world use and context.” 

Though he enjoyed the camaraderie of journalism, Jeff felt the need to revert to a more financially sustainable career. After getting married, Jeff transitioned back into real estate investment banking with Chemical Bank and later worked for JP Morgan Chase Bank. Yet, his eyes were always open for the next interesting and challenging opportunity.

The 1990s saw the dawn of the internet and, in tandem, rising demand for recruiting. A former colleague of Jeff’s saw a potential fit between recruiting and Jeff’s knowledge of financial services. He referred a job opportunity in search to Jeff with the belief that Jeff’s engaging personality, creative problem-solving, and research skills would enable him to be a successful financial recruiter. Although financial services recruiting hadn’t been on Jeff’s radar as a career option, he was attracted to the opportunity to be the person organizations lean on to find outstanding talent and leaders. 

“I could see the value in what recruiters do from a cost-efficiency perspective,” Jeff said. “But I also understood the value of working with someone who had a good understanding of your business and industry.”

He gradually developed search experience from multiple positions in recruiting firms, including serving as a search and research manager for TMP Executive Search, a senior associate at Ray & Berndtson, and a manager of research and recruiting for Egon Zehnder. Eventually, Jeff became a principal at Mueller & Associates in the firm’s Financial Services Practice. There, he worked closely with Mueller’s COO, Deb Kaufmann. 

The pair worked together for a few years before he set off to work for himself. Independently, he built a strong reputation as a capable healthcare consulting recruiter. In 2008, Deb reconnected with Jeff and proposed they work together — so he joined her new firm, Ksquared Search, as a financial services recruiter. Though he was Deb’s first employee, Jeff was confident they would be successful and Ksquared would soon expand its business and team.

“It was and remains a very natural fit and complementary working relationship,” Jeff said. “We leveraged each other’s strengths efficiently to execute our mandates successfully. That strong working relationship and track record of success drove the growth of the firm.”

Together, they built relationships with foundational clients in the banking sphere and further grew the firm’s financial services practice. Jeff recommended their next hire, Vicky Brooks, to expand the team — and the rest is history. 

Today, Jeff Minich is an invaluable leader of the Ksquared team. His residual knowledge of the financial and executive search industries has played a critical role in the firm’s growth — enabling Jeff to build a robust Financial Service Practice and Diversity Practice. He emphasizes his knowledge of the business world continually helps the firm reach new heights of success.

“At this point, after 27 years of recruiting, I believe I do bring deep knowledge of and experience in the process of recruiting,” Jeff said. 

Jeff feels his role as a financial recruiter is to prompt in-depth discussions about candidate experience, skills, and accomplishments and to ask probing questions about personal goals. He also believes there’s no substitute for talking to client hiring managers to learn about their values and objectives, and to understand company culture and organizational and market challenges. Each successful search and placement requires foundational knowledge and understanding of client needs and objectives, and Jeff is always happy to learn from his clients. 

Jeff Minich primarily works with our longstanding clients, such as American Express and other financial institutions. However, our seamlessly integrated team is always ready to work with and for new clients, regardless of industry. We embrace the challenge of finding talented leaders who will be a good fit for your culture and professional requirements. 
Need an innovative financial leader for your organization? Contact Ksquared Search for financial services recruitment today.