The right talent for the right role
Experienced-based recruiting solutions that enable organizations to optimize performance and sustain long-term growth.
Talent Insights Delivered
Talent Insights Delivered
What is CV?
Clear Vision: Before we even start digging for the right talent for you, we partner with you to develop a clear vision of your wants and needs. Let’s not waste time; let’s be crystal clear on what you seek in your next great leader.
Curriculum Vitae (CV): a document that describes an individual’s qualifications and career history. (from Britannica.com)
Yes, working with CV Executive Search, you will see plenty of Curriculum vitae, or resumes. That is part of what we do. But what else is CV?
Core Values: This one is simple:
1) Hard Work
2) Integrity and honesty
3) Only excellence will do
Creating Value: At every step of the process, CV Executive Search creates value for your organization. We leverage our expansive network and conduct exhaustive research. We spend countless hours talking with and evaluating prospects against your needs, and we present detailed assessments and manage your interview and offer process, ensuring you get the right solution. Our process saves you hours of work, creating value by adding expertise and insight to the process.
CV: It’s Cotton-Valle. It’s who we are.
It’s what we do.
C-Suite leaders set the tone and drive the organization's strategic vision. We have experience in identifying, assessing, and negotiating with exceptional leaders who are looking for the next step in their careers. Whether it be in financial services or the non-profit sector, we find the leaders who drive your business to new levels of success.
Senior-Level Roles are the doers. The ones who translate the strategic vision into tactical successes. We know these people. We understand how crucial they are to success, and we track industry trends to ensure we are up to date.
Functional Areas of Expertise include C-Suite, Wealth Management, Product Management, Risk and Compliance, Accounting, Human Resources, Legal, Sales and Marketing, Fundraising, and Program Administrators.
Our Focus
How We Deliver Talent That Sticks
1) Align on what good looks like: Our kickoff meeting involves listening to your concerns, your experience in past searches, and your needs, both now and in the future. Through strategic conversations with leadership, we define the role, consult on the interview process, and ensure alignment from Day 1.
2) Build the right search universe: We don't post and pray. By leveraging our expansive network and a thorough research process, we proactively recruit a strong, diverse set of candidates that align with your needs.
3) Deliver the right candidate: We only present the candidates who meet your requirements, and we personally screen and interview each and every one of them. We shepherd the process from beginning to offer and provide guidance through every step in between.
Derek Cotton, Managing Partner - Los Angeles, CA
Derek Cotton is a veteran talent acquisition leader with more than twenty years of experience building recruiting organizations for some of the most respected names in financial services. Based in Los Angeles, he brings deep expertise in advisor and executive recruiting across wealth management, banking, insurance, and investment management.
During his seven-year tenure as Talent Acquisition Manager at Capital Group | American Funds, Derek led recruiting for advisor, investment, and enterprise leadership roles, partnering closely with senior business heads to shape national hiring strategies and strengthen leadership pipelines. Earlier, as Head of Talent Acquisition at Farmers Insurance, he directed a 30-plus-person team responsible for enterprise-wide recruitment, advisor development, and leadership succession.
Derek began his career as a financial advisor with Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, grounding his recruiting work in a firsthand understanding of client-advisor dynamics and the performance culture of financial institutions. His background also includes experience with Egon Zehnder International, Century Group, and Robert Half, where he honed a retained-search discipline that now defines his consultative approach.
Derek has also been involved with several non-profit organizations for over 15 years and has extensive Board experience. As the Treasurer for the United States Fencing Association, he helped guide that organization through financially challenging times and served on the committee to recruit and hire the new Executive Director. He was a Founding Board member of the Southern California Diversity Network, where he helped recruit additional Board members and grew the organization from the ground up. Derek has also served as a member of the Board for the Southern California Leadership Network, the Posse Foundation, and the Cal State LA College of Natural Sciences, advising on governance, fundraising, and human resources.
A lifelong competitor, Derek has represented the United States in the Olympic sport of fencing, serving as a US Olympic referee and international commission member.
He earned his International MBA from Pepperdine University and his BA in Economics from San Diego State University. He is based in Los Angeles, California.
Meet Derek
Meet Tom
Tom Valle, Managing Partner - Boston, MA
Tom Valle, with over 25 years of experience in the retainer-based search industry, has led executive search assignments across the Financial Services sector, including in Wealth Management, Banking, Asset Management, Investments, and Insurance. Additionally, Tom has managed senior-level projects for healthcare, life sciences, and non-profit organizations across multiple functional areas, always helping clients to recruit excellent leaders who demonstrate strong IQ and EQ.
Tom’s professional search experience has spanned decades of work in boutique firms; he began his search career with J. Robert Scott, the retained executive search subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, where he functioned as a player-coach, personally leading searches while hiring, training, and directing in-house research and recruiting teams.
Tom has consistently worked to improve his community and served as Deputy Chief Secretary and Senior Advisor to then-Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci. He also served as Governor Cellucci’s Campaign Manager and as Deputy Campaign Manager for both former Massachusetts Governor William F. Weld and former Massachusetts Governor and U.S. Senator Mitt Romney. Tom also founded and led his own political consulting and public relations firm.
Tom’s civic dedication is also reflected in his service as a Foundation Board Member and Corporator for Emerson Health, and he also serves on the Career Advisory Networks of both Bowdoin College and Boston University, as well as on the Board of Directors of a Boston-area not-for-profit organization. He has lectured at the University of Southern California, Boston University, and Clark University on a variety of topics, including Compensation Negotiations. He is the author of an Executive Report on Employment Negotiations that was published by Aspatore Books.
A graduate of Bowdoin College (AB with Honors in Philosophy), Tom also received an MBA in Finance with High Honors from Boston University.
Meet Molly
Molly Moen, Non-profit Search Support - Los Angeles, CA
Molly brings more than 25 years of operations and leadership experience in Los Angeles’ non-profit sector in support of CV Executive Search’s non-profit practice. She is passionate about helping organizations build the capacity and staffing they need to achieve their missions and support their communities.
Molly has spent the past four years as a mission-based consultant, providing fundraising, organizational, and systems change, and leadership development support to non-profit, philanthropic, and governmental organizations – including serving as interim Development support during periods of transition. She has also held senior leadership positions at both Chrysalis and Downtown Women’s Center, where she was responsible for staffing and leading teams; led fundraising, communications, and advocacy efforts; guided strategic work on mission, vision, values, intended impact, and theory of change; provided oversight for fiscal and human resources management; led Board development work; and more, ensuring the funds, staffing, and strategic capacity for dramatic organizational growth.
Molly holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Wells College and a Master’s in International Business from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School.
