Executive Search Success Story: Placing a Chief Technology Officer to Re-Platform the Product and Rebuild Engineering for a Private-Equity-Backed Vertical Software Company

How JRG Partners executed a confidential North American executive search that equipped a private-equity-backed vertical software company with a Chief Technology Officer and engineering leadership required to migrate a legacy on-premise product to a modern cloud platform, rebuild an engineering organization with high attrition, accelerate release velocity, and deliver the product roadmap underwriting the sponsor’s investment thesis.

The Challenge

A private equity sponsor had acquired a vertical software company with a dominant position in a regulated industry, but the product remained largely on-premise with a monolithic architecture, cloud migration had stalled, and customers were beginning to evaluate cloud-native competitors. Engineering attrition exceeded 35%, release cycles stretched to quarters, and the incumbent CTO, a long-tenured architect of the legacy platform, had resisted change. The investment thesis depended on a cloud transition that would expand margins and defend the customer base. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the value-creation plan:

• A legacy on-premise, monolithic product with a stalled cloud migration and emerging cloud-native competitors
• Engineering attrition above 35% with key knowledge concentrated in a few long-tenured engineers
• Release cycles measured in quarters with quality issues at each release
• An incumbent CTO aligned with the legacy architecture and resistant to re-platforming
• Customers evaluating alternatives as cloud capabilities lagged
• Sponsor margin and growth thesis dependent on a successful cloud transition

Recognizing that the transition required a modern software CTO, the CEO and sponsor engaged JRG Partners for a confidential search to replace the incumbent with a Chief Technology Officer, supported by a VP of Engineering and a VP of Product & Platform Architecture. The company required an executive search partner with deep software expertise, the discretion to manage a confidential replacement, and access to technology leaders who had re-platformed legacy products under private equity ownership.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

CIO and CTO Search Specialization

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice for Chief Technology Officer searches, with a proven methodology for evaluating candidates on architecture and re-platforming leadership, engineering organization building, delivery velocity and quality, and alignment with commercial and investor objectives.

Private Equity Software Experience

Our team has extensive experience serving software-focused private equity sponsors, with a clear understanding of technical due diligence, cloud transition economics, and the CTO profile that supports value creation and exit.

Confidential Replacement Discipline

Our firm has extensive experience managing discreet executive replacements, protecting the organization, the incumbent, and customer relationships throughout the process.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Technology & Engineering Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, sponsor operating partners, and product leadership to review platform architecture, migration status, engineering health and attrition, release performance, and customer risk. This review defined a CTO profile combining cloud re-platforming leadership, engineering rebuild, and private equity alignment.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting chief technology officers and senior engineering leaders at public and private-equity-backed software companies who had led documented legacy-to-cloud re-platformings. Over 295 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Confidential Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of migrating monolithic products to modern cloud architectures while maintaining customer continuity, rebuilding engineering organizations and reducing attrition, accelerating release velocity, and operating under private equity ownership. Outreach was conducted under strict confidentiality. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented a re-platforming and engineering rebuild plan to the CEO and sponsor, completed structured leadership and technical assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified migration, engineering, and delivery outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 295+ software technology and engineering executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Placed a re-platforming CTO in 46 days through a confidential replacement.
• Migrated more than 60% of customers to a modern cloud platform within two years.
• Reduced engineering attrition from above 35% to under 12%.
• Moved from quarterly releases to continuous delivery with defects cut by more than half.
• Expanded cloud gross margins and positioned the company for exit.