Executive Search · Finance · Banking · Trading · DFW & National

I only work in markets
I understand.

Bryan Fletcher places finance and accounting professionals from manager to CFO — the core of what I do. I also bring specialized depth in financial services, banking, trading, and energy that most finance recruiters simply can't offer. DFW-based. Nationally active. Every search handled personally.

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32+
Companies Served
10+
Yrs in Finance
6+
Yrs in Search
CFO Search Controller Placement FP&A Leadership SBA Business Development VP Finance Prop Trading Professionals Director of Accounting ETRM Specialists Internal Audit Private Credit Finance Manager Energy Trading Tax Manager Employer of Record    CFO Search Controller Placement FP&A Leadership SBA Business Development VP Finance Prop Trading Professionals Director of Accounting ETRM Specialists Internal Audit Private Credit Finance Manager Energy Trading Tax Manager Employer of Record

"Most recruiters learn about your world from job descriptions.
I learned mine from working in it — and recruiting exclusively within it for years."

That distinction matters. It changes every intake call, every screen, and every candidate you receive — and it's why clients keep coming back for searches in markets where most recruiters wouldn't know where to start.

Core Practice

Finance & Accounting
is what I do most.

Finance and accounting is where I've spent the most time, placed the most people, and built the deepest client relationships. Over six-plus years I've worked searches across the full CFO organization — from Finance Managers and Senior Accountants up through Controllers, VPs of Finance, and CFOs — for companies ranging from growth-stage startups to established mid-market firms across multiple industries.

Most of my finance and accounting clients have come back for multiple searches. That's not an accident. It's what happens when a recruiter understands the function they're recruiting for — not just the job title.

Every search includes the same process: a deep intake conversation, active outreach to passive candidates in my network, rigorous vetting, and the Fletcher Candidate Brief — a plain-English write-up on every candidate I submit, covering technical depth, leadership indicators, compensation context, and a direct recommendation. You know who you're meeting before the first call.

Volume of placements
More successful finance and accounting placements than any other vertical — built across six-plus years of active searching, not just occasional forays into the function.
Full seniority range
I've placed across every level of the CFO organization — manager through C-suite — which means I understand how roles connect and what good looks like at each level.
Repeat client relationships
The majority of my finance searches come from clients who've hired through me before. Repeat business in recruiting is a direct signal of candidate quality and search execution.
The Fletcher Candidate Brief
Every submission includes a detailed write-up — not a forwarded resume. Hiring executives consistently cite the briefs as a reason they come back. It's the standard on every search, not an upgrade.
Seniority Range — Full CFO Organization
CFO
Strategic finance leadership. P&L ownership, board-level communication, capital structure, M&A, and investor relations.
C-Suite
VP of Finance
Senior finance leadership. FP&A oversight, business partnering, financial strategy, and often CFO succession track.
VP Level
Controller
Accounting leadership. Financial reporting, close process, technical accounting, compliance, and team management.
Director / Sr. Manager
Director of FP&A
Planning and analysis leadership. Forecasting, budgeting, scenario modeling, and strategic business partnership.
Director Level
Finance & Accounting Manager
Functional management. Team leadership, process ownership, and the bridge between individual contributors and senior leadership.
Manager Level
Sr. Financial Analyst / Sr. Accountant
High-impact individual contributors. Often the most difficult profiles to find — strong technical skills, low ego, high output.
Senior IC
Industries I've Placed In
Technology & SaaS Financial Services Energy & Oil and Gas Private Equity & Fund Management Real Estate & CRE Manufacturing Professional Services Healthcare Commodities & Trading Insurance Banking & Lending Growth-Stage & Venture-Backed
Specialized Practices

Where I go
further than most.

These two practices extend into markets most finance recruiters can't credibly operate in. They're built on years of recruiting exclusively within each vertical — not borrowed from a job description.

01
Financial Services & Banking
For Chief Lending Officers, Regional Presidents, and banking executives building production and credit teams
Years of recruiting inside banking, private credit, SBA lending, and specialty finance have built a network and market knowledge that generalist firms don't have. From SBA production teams and credit analysts to private credit associates, bank CFOs, and chief lending officers — I know what hiring executives in this space are actually evaluating, and I screen for it accordingly.
SBA BDO SBA Underwriter Credit Analyst Private Credit Associate Bank CFO Chief Lending Officer Loan Originator CRE Underwriter Relationship Manager Portfolio Manager
Fluency built through years of active recruiting inside banking, private credit, and SBA lending — not borrowed from a job description.
02
Trading, Energy & Prop Firms
For COOs, Heads of Trading, and operations leaders at trading firms, prop shops, and energy companies
A practice built through years of recruiting for prop trading firms, FX operations, and energy trading and risk management environments — alongside my own background as a sell-side FX professional. I've also done serious quantitative research myself, including time-series analysis of historical futures data to build systematic, rules-based strategies — which means I understand what a quant or systematic trader actually does, not just what their resume says. I know the difference between a funded trader and a discretionary desk, what an ETRM implementation actually requires, and how to find trading professionals in markets where everyone already knows everyone.
FX Trader Prop Trader Trading Operations Risk Manager ETRM Specialist Energy Credit Risk Trade Settlements Quantitative Analyst Trading Technology
Sell-side FX background, systematic strategy research, and active recruiting relationships inside prop firms and ETRM environments.
My Edge

What separates this from every
other recruiter you've tried.

01
You work with me. Start to finish.
You hire Bryan Fletcher and Bryan Fletcher works your search. No handoff, no junior associate running screens in the background, no bait-and-switch after the kickoff call. Every conversation, every screen, every candidate brief comes from the same person who took your intake call.
02
Real market knowledge. Honestly earned.
A decade on the sell-side in spot FX and fund management across seven asset classes. In banking, trading, and private credit — fluency built through years of recruiting exclusively in those markets. I know who the top performers are, what good looks like, and what your hiring manager is actually going to ask.
03
The Fletcher Candidate Brief.
I don't send resumes. Every candidate submission includes a plain-English write-up: production metrics or technical depth, leadership indicators, compensation context, and a direct recommendation. You know exactly who you're meeting — and why — before the first call.
04
Three serious candidates, not thirty mediocre ones.
Spray-and-pray is what happens when a recruiter doesn't understand the role well enough to screen for it. I don't submit a candidate until I'd stake my reputation on them. Fewer submissions, higher close rates, no noise.
05
Finance is the foundation. The other verticals are the edge.
Most firms either do finance or they do something niche. I've built deep recruiting experience in finance and accounting first — and then extended that into banking, trading, and energy. That combination is rare and it's not an accident.
06
I finish what I start.
I take on fewer searches than most because I work them harder. When I commit to a search, it gets completed — with the same urgency and quality on week six as week one. No searches deprioritized, no clients left wondering where things stand.
Services

How I can help.

Every engagement is handled personally. The model adjusts to what you actually need.

Executive Search
My flagship offering. A retained-quality search process: deep intake, active market mapping, rigorous vetting, and the Fletcher Candidate Brief on every submission. I work a small number of searches at a time so none gets deprioritized. Permanent, direct-hire placements across all practice areas.
Temporary & Contract Staffing
When you need coverage fast — a controller on an interim basis, an analyst for a project, or a specialist while a permanent search runs — I can place vetted contract professionals quickly from my active network. No compromises on quality because the timeline is short.
Employer of Record & Payroll
Hiring in a new state, bringing on a contractor, or navigating a cross-border engagement? I offer EOR and payroll services so you can move fast without standing up new HR infrastructure. Particularly useful for international firms hiring U.S.-based talent.
The Process

From intake to offer.
No surprises along the way.

1
Deep Intake
Not a form — a real conversation. I want to understand the role technically, culturally, and strategically before making a single outreach call.
2
Active Market Mapping
Direct outreach to passive candidates in my network. I target people who are performing well — not just those who happen to be looking.
3
The Candidate Brief
Multi-stage vetting followed by the Fletcher Candidate Brief: a plain-English assessment of each finalist before you spend an hour of your time.
4
Close & Transition
Active management through offer, counter-offer, and resignation. I stay involved until day one — not just until you say yes.
Client Testimonials

What clients say.

"

I have not been able to stump him yet in dozens of searches over 6+ years working with him. He is unmatched in how quickly he turns around high-quality candidates with detailed write-ups on each which make it easy to quickly identify which I want to interview most. Bryan keeps at it too; he never stops screening and presenting the best candidates until the search is complete. I highly recommend Fletcher Search to any busy hiring executive who needs high quality with speed and who is tired of the spray-and-pray approach of most recruiters.

Richard Bayyouk
Director, Financial Services · MMC Group
"

I have had the pleasure of working with Bryan on multiple occasions over the last few years. Bryan has consistently and quickly produced top-quality prospects in a very competitive hiring environment. To take this further, I am willing to speak as a reference anytime to people especially if they seem on the fence.

Adam Rice
CFO · SWK Holdings
Insights

From the desk of
Fletcher Search.

Market observations, hiring guides, and plain-English advice from six-plus years of finance and accounting search.

Financial Services · SBA Lending
What to Look for When Hiring an SBA Business Development Officer
Production numbers tell part of the story. Here's what CLOs and Regional Presidents should actually be evaluating — and why most SBA BDO searches go wrong before they start.
Read Article →
Finance & Accounting
How to Hire a Controller for a Mid-Market Company
The Controller role has evolved. It's no longer just a technical accounting hire — and treating it like one is the most common mistake mid-market CFOs make in the search process.
Read Article →
Finance & Accounting · DFW Market
Finance and Accounting Recruiting in Dallas-Fort Worth — What's Different
DFW isn't just a big talent market — it's a specific one. What's working, what isn't, and what hiring executives in North Texas need to know right now.
Read Article →
Bryan Fletcher — Fletcher Search
About Bryan Fletcher

I've been in the room.

I spent a decade in financial services before recruiting — on the sell-side in spot FX and as a fund manager across seven asset classes. I understand markets, risk, and the kind of financial judgment that separates real performers from people who interview well.

I started Fletcher Search to work directly with clients and candidates — not to build a firm and step away from the work. Six years and 32+ companies later, I still personally work every search.

Finance and accounting is the core of what I do — the function where I've placed the most people, built the deepest relationships, and developed the most market knowledge. The specialized practices in banking, trading, and energy came from years of recruiting exclusively within those markets, developing fluency that most finance recruiters simply don't have.

If you're a CLO trying to find a genuine top-producing SBA BDO, a prop firm COO looking for trading operations talent, or a CFO upgrading your FP&A team — the conversation will feel different from the first call.

32+
Companies Served
6+
Years in Search
10+
Years in Finance
7
Asset Classes

Markets I've worked in or recruited exclusively within

Spot FX · Sell-Side Fund Management SBA Lending Prop Trading FX Brokerage Operations Energy Trading & ETRM Private Credit Community Banking
Get In Touch

Ready to find
the right person?

Whether you're filling a critical seat, building a team, or looking for a specific professional in a specialized market — reach out directly. I personally respond to every inquiry, usually the same business day.

Dallas–Fort Worth, TX · Nationally Active
linkedin.com/in/bryanfletcher01

Financial Services · SBA Lending

What to Look for When Hiring an SBA Business Development Officer

By Bryan Fletcher · Fletcher Search · Dallas–Fort Worth

Most SBA BDO searches start in the wrong place. A CLO posts the role, gets a stack of resumes from candidates who all claim strong production, and ends up scheduling interviews based on whoever sounds most confident on the phone. Six months later, the hire isn't performing — and the search starts over.

I've placed SBA BDOs at banks ranging from community lenders to national SBA programs. The difference between a search that works and one that doesn't usually comes down to a few things that aren't on any resume.

Production numbers alone don't tell the story

A BDO who closed $40MM last year at a bank with a strong credit team, a fast underwriting process, and an existing referral network is a fundamentally different animal from one who closed $40MM building a program from scratch. Both look the same on paper. They are not the same hire.

The first question I ask every SBA BDO candidate isn't how much they produced — it's what their support infrastructure looked like. How long did credit take? Did they have a dedicated underwriter? How established was their referral base when they started? The answers tell you whether the production was earned or inherited.

Credit authority matters more than most banks realize

A BDO with former credit authority understands the deal from both sides. They know how underwriters think, they know which deals are worth pushing and which aren't, and they don't waste your credit team's time on deals that were never going to close. When I'm representing a candidate with credit authority in their background, that's one of the first things I tell the hiring executive — because it changes how you use that person.

Geography and vertical concentration is a real risk

Some BDOs have production that looks national but is actually concentrated in one geography, one industry, or one referral source. If that source dries up — or doesn't follow them to your bank — the production doesn't come with them. Ask specifically: where did your deals come from? What percentage came from your top three referral sources? What happens to those relationships if you move?

What you're actually trying to find

The BDO you want has genuine production across multiple geographies and industries, understands the credit side well enough to self-qualify deals before they go to underwriting, has referral relationships that are personal rather than institutional, and has been tested in an environment that wasn't already set up for them to succeed.

Those candidates exist. They're just not the ones who apply to job postings.

Looking to hire an SBA BDO or build out a lending team? Let's talk.

Get In Touch
Finance & Accounting

How to Hire a Controller for a Mid-Market Company

By Bryan Fletcher · Fletcher Search · Dallas–Fort Worth

The Controller hire is one of the most consequential decisions a mid-market CFO makes — and one of the most commonly mishandled. Not because CFOs don't understand the role, but because the role itself has changed significantly, and most search processes haven't caught up.

The Controller of 2025 is not the same job it was ten years ago. Technical accounting proficiency is still table stakes. But the companies that make great Controller hires are looking for something more — and the ones that make bad hires are usually looking for the wrong thing entirely.

The mistake most mid-market companies make

The most common Controller search failure I see is a CFO who defines the role entirely around the close process and financial reporting — and then wonders six months later why their new Controller can't lead the team, communicate upward, or think beyond the month-end checklist.

Technical accounting skill is necessary but not sufficient. A Controller at a mid-market company is a leader first. They own a team, they set a tone, and they are often the primary interface between accounting and the rest of the business. Hiring purely for technical depth and underweighting leadership almost always ends in a re-hire within two years.

What the intake conversation should actually cover

When I take a Controller search, I spend more time on context than most recruiters spend on the entire intake. What's the relationship between the Controller and CFO meant to look like — tactical executor or strategic partner? What does the team look like and what kind of manager does it need? Is this a process improvement hire, a scale hire, or a replacement? What does the outgoing Controller's departure tell you about what went wrong?

Those questions change the candidate profile completely. A Controller hired to stabilize a messy close process needs different skills than one hired to build infrastructure for a company heading toward a transaction.

Where to actually find good Controllers

The best Controllers at mid-market companies are almost never actively looking. They're performing well in their current role, they're not on job boards, and they won't respond to a LinkedIn InMail from a recruiter they've never heard of. They come from networks — from conversations with people who know who the strong performers are in a given market.

In DFW specifically, I've found that the strongest mid-market Controller candidates come from three places: Big 4 alumni who made the jump to industry five to eight years ago and are ready for more ownership, Controllers at slightly smaller companies who are ready to step up in complexity, and strong Assistant Controllers who are being underutilized where they are.

The brief matters as much as the search

A CFO's time is limited. The best thing I can do in a Controller search isn't just find strong candidates — it's make the evaluation process efficient. Every candidate I submit comes with a detailed write-up covering technical background, leadership profile, compensation expectations, and a plain-English recommendation. By the time you're on the phone with a finalist, you already know why they're worth your hour.

Hiring a Controller or upgrading your accounting leadership? Let's talk.

Get In Touch
Finance & Accounting · DFW Market

Finance and Accounting Recruiting in Dallas-Fort Worth — What's Different

By Bryan Fletcher · Fletcher Search · Dallas–Fort Worth

Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the most active finance and accounting hiring markets in the country — and one of the most misunderstood by recruiters who don't actually work here. Having spent my entire recruiting career in this market, there are a few things I've learned that don't show up in national hiring guides.

The talent pool is deep but not always visible

DFW has an enormous concentration of finance and accounting talent — driven by decades of corporate relocations, a strong regional banking presence, and a thriving mid-market business community. The Plano-Frisco corridor alone has more finance and accounting professionals per square mile than most people outside Texas realize.

But the strongest candidates in this market are not on job boards. They're entrenched in their companies, they're not updating their LinkedIn profiles, and they're not responding to cold InMails. The only way to reach them is through relationships — which takes years to build and can't be replicated by a national firm parachuting in for a search.

Compensation has moved faster than most job postings acknowledge

One of the most consistent reasons DFW searches stall is that the hiring company's compensation expectations haven't kept pace with what the market actually pays. The cost of living advantage that used to make Texas salaries look competitive has narrowed significantly over the last several years — and candidates know it.

A CFO who pegs their Controller search at what they paid three years ago will lose good candidates at the offer stage. I spend time on compensation benchmarking early in every search specifically to prevent this — because a failed offer is the most expensive outcome in recruiting.

The relocation dynamic is real and it cuts both ways

DFW continues to attract significant corporate relocations, which creates both opportunity and competition. On the opportunity side, executives relocating with their companies often bring strong credentials and are open to exploring the local market. On the competition side, those same relocations bring large HR teams and internal recruiters who are actively poaching local talent.

For mid-market companies without dedicated talent acquisition resources, this creates a genuine disadvantage if you're not moving quickly. The best candidates in DFW right now are fielding multiple conversations. Speed and decisiveness in the process matters more than it used to.

The personal attention gap is significant

What I hear most consistently from CFOs and VPs of Finance in DFW is that they've had disappointing experiences with large national search firms — strong pitch, weak execution, junior associate running the actual search. The mid-market in particular is underserved by firms that prioritize large retained engagements.

That gap is where I operate. Every search I take in DFW gets worked personally, with the same market knowledge and candidate network I've been building in this specific metro for six-plus years.

Building a finance team in DFW? Let's talk about what the market looks like right now.

Get In Touch