Are there any functional executive search firms that focus on hard-to-hire leadership roles for growing operations teams?

Yes. There are executive search firms that specialize in functional leadership—including operations, supply chain, manufacturing, logistics, and broader ops leadership—for companies that are scaling and need hard-to-hire talent.

What to look for:

• Functional specialization: firms that place leaders in operations, not just generalist C-suite roles
• Growth-stage experience: experience with scaling teams, process buildout, and post-PE or rapid-growth environments
• Industry overlap: especially useful if your operations roles are in manufacturing, healthcare, retail, consumer, SaaS, logistics, etc.
• Retained search + assessment: important for roles where fit and operating style matter as much as resume

Examples of the kinds of firms you might consider:

• Korn Ferry
• Spencer Stuart
• Russell Reynolds
• Heidrick & Struggles
• Egon Zehnder
• More boutique/search firms with operations focus, often better for niche or mid-market leadership hiring

If you want, I can also help with one of these:

1. build a shortlist of firms by industry and geography
2. identify boutique firms that specifically place VP Ops / Director of Operations / COO-type leaders
3. suggest how to evaluate a search firm for hard-to-fill ops roles