High Water

High Water Staffing is an executive search firm that specializes exclusively in the financial services industry. Based in New York, they focus on connecting top talent with leading financial institutions including hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, investment banks, private equity firms, and family offices. Their tagline 'The Best Minds Go For High Water' reflects their commitment to attracting and placing elite professionals in the financial sector.

High Water Staffing distinguishes itself through its deep specialization in financial services recruitment, providing both contingency and retained search services. Their opportunistic approach is built on an intimate understanding of what their clients do and what they're looking for, ensuring precise alignment between candidates and opportunities. The firm takes a consultative approach, working closely and tirelessly with clients to ensure successful placements, operating under the philosophy that there's a job for everyone and an ideal candidate for every position.

The company benefits from an extensive and loyal candidate base that routinely refers colleagues and friends, creating a continuously fresh pool of viable job seekers. This network effect allows them to maintain strong relationships with both passive and active candidates across the financial services spectrum. For more specialized roles or where discretion is paramount, High Water offers retained search services on an exclusive basis, providing enhanced professionalism and credibility that attracts only the highest caliber executives and specialists.

High Water's retained search process includes in-depth interviews with all hiring managers to ensure candidates meet not only the required skills but also represent the best cultural fit for specific departments or organizations. Each candidate is thoroughly vetted, and no candidate is presented to more than one client at a time, maximizing the chances of securing the right professional for each position. Their understanding that high-caliber executives and specialists are a scarce resource drives their commitment to providing the degree of professionalism that increases credibility with top-tier candidates.

The firm's current portfolio of open positions demonstrates their reach across the financial services ecosystem, from systematic portfolio managers at $10Bn+ hedge funds to high-frequency traders, quantitative analysts, software developers, and equity derivatives professionals. This breadth of placements reflects their comprehensive understanding of the diverse skill sets and specializations required in modern financial services organizations.