Jason Baumgarten helps organizations across industries to find and assess CEOs who drive results and inspire senior leadership teams to perform at the highest levels. He also works with boards on director recruitment, CEO succession and identifying next-generation leadership.

Jason believes there’s a huge opportunity to unlock the potential of top talent to drive differentiated returns. He helps companies from startups to multibillion-dollar global enterprises recruit CEOs, board directors, COOs and other C-level leaders who will have a lasting impact on their organizations. Jason is the Head of our Global Board and CEO Practice and leads our sustainability efforts at Spencer Stuart. He is also a former member of the firm’s Operating Committee. In addition, Jason is active in the Seattle nonprofit community and currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Islandwood.

Expertise

Jason works across industries and specializes in:

  • CEO search
  • CEO succession
  • Boards of directors

 

Additional expertise in:

  • Enterprise technology
  • Software
  • Big data
  • Consumer internet
  • E-commerce
  • COOs and presidents
  • Chief product officers
  • Chief data officers
  • Venture partners
  • Operating partners
  • Heads of strategy

 

Recent work

  • Led more than 250 CEO and board transitions
  • Helped many founders with their succession and transition plans
  • Worked with new CEOs to improve top team effectiveness and culture alignment
  • Led a pioneering diversity initiative for a Fortune 200 company including rebuilding their board into one of the highest performing and most diverse boards

Previous Experience

  • Associate principal and a leader in the technology, media and service operations practices at McKinsey & Company
  • Program manager at Microsoft

Education

  • M.B.A. from Stanford University
  • B.A. in economics from Vassar College

Practice Areas