Placing Leaders

at the intersection of strategy and analytics

Placing Leaders

at the intersection of strategy and analytics

Who We Are

Lingua Franca is a boutique retained search firm that places experienced candidates in strategic and analytic roles. We are Financial Services veterans with decades of executive, analytic and advisory experience with firms serving Consumers and Small Businesses. This practical experience gives us insight, connections and expertise that differentiate us from other search firms.

Focus and Functional Areas

We place candidates in organizations that value the differential insight from data-driven decision making. These vary from established Fortune 100 companies, midsize companies and startups across Financial Services, hospitality and more. We have a national footprint and a high touch process for critical senior hires.

We place in the areas of P&L leadership, analytics, credit risk and risk management, strategy, data and decision science, marketing, finance, digital, and operations.

Why We Founded Lingua Franca

We hear common pain points from companies trying to navigate the ecosystem of strategic analytics in search of great talent. We built Lingua Franca specifically to address these pain points with a better approach.

… solve the pain points and you get a successful hire

Our approach is custom designed to solve for common recruiting pain points

Better Scoping

Insight

Our engagements begin with a deep dive into your business to understand your current state, future goals and how new talent will figure into that journey. Lingua Franca helps you to craft roles that will allow new talent to have the maximum impact.

Better Sourcing

Connections

We draw on an exclusive candidate network built over the last 20+ years to identify exceptionally qualified people to fill these positions. We can speak to candidates with a refreshing level of knowledge about what the roles truly entail because we have direct experience in the industry. This shared experience and common language enables us to engage the best passive candidates to take the next step forward.

Better Screening

Expertise

Our process assesses key competencies, subject matter expertise and organizational fit. We have a unique perspective on how the art and science of strategy and analytics blend together to drive value. This expertise allows us to differentiate and balance your needs in a role between judgment, experience, and raw quantitative horsepower. We develop custom interviews for every role that can separate candidates that may appear similar, but possess subtle differences that can mean the difference between an ideal fit and a bad hire.

Our approach is custom designed to provide solutions for common recruiting pain points

Better Scoping

Insight

Our engagements begin with a deep dive into your business to understand your current state, future goals and how new talent will figure into that journey. Lingua Franca helps you to craft roles that will allow new talent to have the maximum impact.

Better Sourcing

Connections

We draw on an exclusive candidate network built over the last 20+ years to identify exceptionally qualified people to fill these positions. We can speak to candidates with a refreshing level of knowledge about what the roles truly entail because we have direct experience in the industry. This shared experience and common language enables us to engage the best passive candidates to take the next step forward.

Better Screening

Expertise

Our approach assesses key competencies, subject matter expertise and organizational fit. We have a unique perspective on how the art and science of strategy and analytics blend together to drive value. This expertise allows us to differentiate and balance your needs in a role between judgment, experience, and raw quantitative horsepower. We develop custom interviews for every role that can separate candidates that may appear similar, but possess subtle differences that can mean the difference between an ideal fit and a bad hire.

A custom solution leads to better outcomes.

We translate company needs to candidate desires, with roles designed to attract star candidates.
More about our approach

Search Stats

Typical time for LF to engage hired candidate: 9 days after search launch

We work quickly to engage top talent.

Typical time for candidate to accept offer: 80 days after search launch

Our industry expertise means a faster search process.

Typical number of client interviews per search: 3

Our process values your time. You need to meet fewer candidates to find a great fit.

Search Stats

Typical time for LF to engage hired candidate: 9 days after search launch

We work quickly to engage top talent.

Typical time for candidate to accept offer: 80 days after search launch

Our industry expertise means a faster search process.

Typical number of client interviews per search: 3

Our process values your time. You need to meet fewer candidates to find a great fit.

Meet Our Leadership Team

Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore

Chief Executive Officer

Kathleen has 20 years of experience in Financial Services and Fintech in leadership roles across American Express, Capital One, PayPal and startups Raise and Flexa.  She’s spent time across strategy, operations and P&L leadership roles on both the merchant and consumer sides of payments and has deep expertise in consumer credit.

Brian Lawton

President

Before coming to search, Brian spent nearly 20 years at Capital One in various P&L ownership and strategic leadership roles in customer acquisition, marketing, customer and portfolio management, underwriting, operations, risk management and corporate training. He also has consulted for Private Equity, Regional Banks and Fintechs.

Jared Oren

Vice President

Jared is a seasoned professional with extensive executive search experience placing candidates in finance, risk, data governance and other areas.  He joined Lingua Franca from the Financial Services Practice of Heidrick & Struggles.  His previous experience includes working in the Office of Government Relations for Accenture.

Drew Messmer

Director

Drew’s search career has spanned across executive and professional placements in finance, accounting and several other areas.  He joined Lingua Franca from Korn Ferry and in prior roles has worked for other search firms, as an in-house recruiter and ran his own search business.

Meet Our Leadership Team

Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore

Chief Executive Officer

Kathleen has 20 years of experience in Financial Services and Fintech in leadership roles across American Express, Capital One, PayPal and startups Raise and Flexa.  She’s spent time across strategy, operations and P&L leadership roles on both the merchant and consumer sides of payments and has deep expertise in consumer credit.

Brian Lawton

President

Before coming to search, Brian spent nearly 20 years at Capital One in various P&L ownership and strategic leadership roles in customer acquisition, marketing, customer and portfolio management, underwriting, operations, risk management and corporate training. He also has consulted for Private Equity, Regional Banks and Fintechs.

Jared Oren

Vice President

Jared is a seasoned professional with extensive executive search experience placing candidates in finance, risk, data governance and other areas.  He joined Lingua Franca from the Financial Services Practice of Heidrick & Struggles.  His previous experience includes working in the Office of Government Relations for Accenture.

Drew Messmer

Director

Drew’s search career has spanned across executive and professional placements in finance, accounting and several other areas.  He joined Lingua Franca from Korn Ferry and in prior roles has worked for other search firms, as an in-house recruiter and ran his own search business.

More about our team

Our Partners

QED is a leading Venture Capital firm investing in high-growth businesses that use information to compete, with nearly 100 deals, including early investments in Credit Karma, GreenSky, Klarna, Avant, Prosper, SoFi, and more.

AQN is an international consultancy that delivers value to firms across the lending spectrum. Since 2016, we’ve blended data science, strategy, and industry expertise to give our clients a competitive advantage.