Hiring the right CEO is one of the most important appointments a Private Equity firm can make.

The CEO is ultimately responsible for setting the direction of the business, building the leadership team and executing the value creation plan.

At Raw Selection, we specialise in hiring executives into Private Equity-backed businesses. When assessing CEOs, we look beyond job titles and years of experience. We want evidence that an executive has delivered the results and developed the capabilities required for the specific investment.

Here are some of the key traits and experiences we look for:

• Proven revenue growth: Evidence they have grown revenue previously, with a clear understanding of how they personally contributed to that growth.
• Proven EBITDA growth: They should be able to demonstrate measurable EBITDA improvement and explain the actions behind it.
• Organic growth experience: Growth should not rely entirely on acquisitions.
• M&A experience: Where relevant to the investment thesis, they should understand how to execute acquisitions successfully.
• Exit experience: Ideally, they have experienced a successful exit and can clearly explain their personal involvement.
• Private Equity-backed experience: They understand the pace, accountability and expectations that come with PE ownership.
• Value creation experience: They can point to specific initiatives they personally drove that increased the value of a business.
• Defines and executes strategy: A great CEO does not simply create a vision. They can translate it into execution.
• Servant leadership: They understand that leadership is not simply about authority. Their role is to enable the organisation to perform.
• Culture building: They can deliberately shape the culture required to deliver the plan.
• Constraint-focused: They can identify what is actually preventing the business from growing and concentrate resources on solving it.
• Talent development: They improve the people around them rather than simply replacing them.
• Builds high-performing executive teams: They know how to assess, hire and develop an executive leadership team.
• Commercial acumen: They understand customers, markets, pricing and the commercial drivers of the business.
• Financial acumen: They understand how operational decisions translate into financial performance.
• Data-driven decision-making: They use meaningful data to make better decisions rather than relying entirely on instinct.
• Thinks like an investor: They understand how decisions ultimately affect enterprise value and the investment case.
• Change and transformation leadership: They can lead an organisation through the level of change often required under PE ownership.
• World-class company experience: Experience within a blue-chip or world-class organisation can provide exposure to high standards, processes and operating disciplines.

These criteria should not simply become boxes to tick on a CV.

The important part is establishing how well the CEO has demonstrated each trait, what they personally did and whether that experience transfers to the specific challenges facing your portfolio company.

For a deeper breakdown, including how we assess these traits when interviewing CEOs, watch the full video: