Furst
Furst Group is a retained executive search firm exclusively serving U.S. healthcare and life sciences organizations, providing C-suite, board, and senior leadership placements alongside integrated leadership development, coaching, and succession services via its companion company NuBrick Partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersRockford, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Furst does
Furst Group, operating through its legal entity Management Partners, Inc., is a retained executive search firm founded in 1984 and headquartered in Rockford, Illinois. It serves exclusively the U.S. healthcare and life sciences market, performing C-suite, board, and senior leadership placements for hospital systems, payers, life sciences companies, academic medical centers, hospices, healthcare associations, and private-equity-backed healthcare businesses. Its core product is retained search engagements delivered via a consultative enterprise sales motion, complemented by integrated leadership development, executive coaching, and succession services delivered through its 2015-spun-off companion company NuBrick Partners.
The firm's underlying technology is a methodology-driven, human-delivered assessment and transition support stack rather than a software platform. Key proprietary components include the SuccessPath executive transition methodology (extending engagement six months post-placement), the Professional Assessment Algorithm (a four-factor candidate-fit framework), and the NuBrick Partners Assessment Suite that integrates psychologists and executive coaches into search processes. The firm has no API, no commercial software product, and no disclosed AI models.
Commercially, Furst Group earns professional-services fees on retained executive search engagements plus project-based fees for leadership development and board advisory work. Pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed; engagements are structured as multi-year contracts with billing tied to scope and complexity. Distribution is direct enterprise only: the firm engages boards, CEOs, and search committees of healthcare organizations with no channel, self-serve, or marketplace model. Geographic footprint is U.S.-domiciled with on-demand international reach through the IIC Partners global network. Per the firm, it is private, founder-owned under Chairman Bob Clarke and CEO Sherrie Barch, with no institutional capital, no public listing, and no subsidiaries beyond NuBrick Partners.
Furst firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Furst
- Legal name
- Management Partners, Inc.
- Website
- https://furstgroup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Furst Group is a retained executive search firm exclusively serving U.S. healthcare and life sciences organizations, providing C-suite, board, and senior leadership placements alongside integrated leadership development, coaching, and succession services via its companion company NuBrick Partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Furst industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Executive Search Services
- NAICS
- Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Healthcare & Life Sciences Leadership Search (BPACAAAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search (BPACAAAK), Public Sector, Education & Nonprofit Leadership Search (BPACAAAI)
Keywords
Where Furst is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rockford
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Furst business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Retained Executive Search: Retained search fees for C-suite, board, and senior executive placements across healthcare organizations. Engagement-based model with process extending six months post-placement for transition support.
- Leadership Development Services: Integrated talent management services including executive team performance, individual leadership development, new leader installation, succession management, and accelerated physician executive leadership through NuBrick Partners.
- Board Advisory Services: Board composition, governance guidance, new member acquisition dynamics, and culture advisory services for publicly traded and non-profit organization boards.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Retained Executive Search - Custom engagement based on role complexity and scope |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Furst product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Furst Group is a retained executive search firm exclusively focused on healthcare and life sciences, providing C-suite, board, and senior leadership placements for hospitals, health systems, payers, life sciences companies, and private equity portfolio companies. The firm also delivers integrated leadership development, executive coaching, succession management, and board advisory services through its companion company NuBrick Partners, with a differentiated SuccessPath methodology that extends structured transition support six months beyond placement.
Product overview
Furst Group is a retained executive search firm exclusively focused on healthcare and life sciences, operating as part of Management Partners, Inc. (MPI). The company offers a portfolio of interconnected talent solutions centered on executive search services complemented by leadership development offerings through its companion company NuBrick Partners. The core Executive Search practice is organized into specialized vertical segments covering Healthcare Providers, Healthcare Payers, Hospice and Post-Acute Services, Healthcare Services and Technology, Life Sciences, Associations and Foundations, Academic Healthcare, and Private Equity. Supporting these search services are proprietary methodologies including SuccessPath for executive transition support and the Professional Assessment Algorithm for talent evaluation. NuBrick Partners extends the offering into leadership development, executive coaching, team performance optimization, succession management, and physician executive leadership programs. The company has also spun off NuBrick Partners (2015) as a separate leadership consulting entity, maintaining collaborative relationships for integrated client engagements.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- NuBrick Partners: Leadership development, executive coaching, organizational development, and team performance consulting services for healthcare organizations
Products and services
- Executive Search Retained executive search services for healthcare organizations, specializing in C-suite, board, and senior leadership placements across providers, payers, and life sciences sectors.
- Leadership Development Comprehensive leadership development offerings including executive team performance, executive coaching, new leader installation, succession management, and accelerated physician executive leadership programs, delivered through the companion NuBrick Partners brand.
- Board Advisory Board-level advisory services including board composition guidance, governance consulting, new member acquisition dynamics, and culture assessment for both publicly traded and non-profit healthcare organizations.
- Healthcare Providers Search Specialized executive search for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, integrated delivery networks, physician practices, faith-based hospitals, and post-acute care organizations.
- Healthcare Payers and Insurance Search Executive search services for health insurers, managed care organizations, government programs (Medicare/Medicaid), and value-based care focused health plans.
- Hospice and Post-Acute Services Search Specialized executive recruitment for hospice, palliative care, home health, skilled nursing, and end-of-life care organizations at national and regional levels.
- Healthcare Services and Technology Search Executive search for pharmaceutical management, disease management, data and EMR services, medical devices, and other healthcare technology and services companies.
- Life Sciences Search Executive search for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device companies, contract research organizations (CROs), and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs).
- Healthcare Associations and Foundations Search Executive search for healthcare professional associations, membership organizations, accrediting bodies, and foundations serving the healthcare industry.
- Academic Healthcare Search Executive search for academic medical centers, health science centers, medical schools, research institutions, focusing on chancellors, deans, department chairs, and clinical leadership positions.
- Private Equity Search Executive search services for private equity and venture capital-backed healthcare portfolio companies, focusing on leaders who can deliver rapid impact and manage hypergrowth or turnaround situations.
- NuBrick Partners Leadership development and talent management companion company providing executive coaching, team performance consulting, succession management, and leadership assessment services, integrated with Furst Group search engagements.
Quantifiable outcome
- 94 Client NPS and 97 Candidate NPS demonstrating exceptional satisfaction
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Furst
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Furst technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Furst partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- NuBrick PartnerscoreNuBrick Partners is a companion company within the Furst Group family providing leadership development, executive coaching, organizational development, and talent assessment services. Spun off from Furst Group in 2015 as a full-fledged company. Furst Group and NuBrick Partners work seamlessly together on engagements, with NuBrick's psychologists and consultants integrated into executive search processes to provide data-driven talent assessments, leadership capability evaluation, and organizational alignment analysis. The relationship provides clients with integrated talent lifecycle solutions from recruitment through development.
- IIC PartnerscoreFurst Group is a member of IIC Partners, a global association of executive search firms ranked among the top ten retained executive search groups in the world. The partnership enables Furst Group to access executive search capabilities across all industries and regions globally, calling upon partner firms when needed for cross-industry or international recruiting. IIC Partners has offices across Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA regions including Chicago, New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Sydney, and Shanghai.
- MPI (Management Partners, Inc.)coreFurst Group is an MPI Company. Management Partners, Inc. (MPI) is the parent organization that owns Furst Group and provides the organizational structure for the integrated talent management companies. MPI encompasses both Furst Group (executive search) and NuBrick Partners (leadership development) under one corporate umbrella.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Furst competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- WittKieffer: WittKieffer is one of the most prominent healthcare-exclusive executive search firms, placing C-suite and senior leaders across providers, payers, life sciences, and academic medicine. It is the closest head-to-head competitor to Furst Group given the shared vertical specialization and similar client mix.
- Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm whose Executive Search segment competes with Furst for C-suite healthcare placements. Its broader RPO and consulting portfolio and scale-based pricing offer an alternative for large health systems and payers.
- Heidrick & Struggles: Heidrick & Struggles is a global executive search firm with a dedicated Healthcare & Life Sciences practice competing for C-suite and board engagements with Furst across providers, payers, and biopharma.
- Diversified Search: Diversified Search is a US executive search firm with a dedicated Health & Sciences practice, competing directly with Furst across providers, payers, and life sciences verticals for senior leadership placements.
- Spencer Stuart: Spencer Stuart is a leading global executive search firm with a substantial healthcare practice serving health systems, payers, and life sciences organizations. While broader in scope than Furst, it competes directly for CEO, COO, and board-level healthcare mandates.
- Egon Zehnder: Egon Zehnder is a global executive search and leadership advisory firm with an active healthcare practice serving providers, payers, and life sciences. It overlaps with Furst in retained C-suite search and increasingly in leadership advisory.
- Russell Reynolds Associates: Russell Reynolds Associates is a global executive search firm with a strong healthcare practice serving health systems, payers, and life sciences organizations, competing directly for senior executive and board placements.
- AMN Healthcare Leadership Solutions (formerly B.E. Smith): B.E. Smith (now part of AMN Healthcare) is a healthcare-specialized executive search and interim leadership firm serving hospitals, health systems, and post-acute organizations, directly comparable to Furst's Provider-focused retained search practice.
Regional players
- Isaacson, Miller: Isaacson, Miller is an executive search firm specializing in senior leadership for higher education, academic medicine, healthcare associations, and nonprofit organizations, overlapping with Furst's Academic Healthcare and Associations practice areas.
Emerging players
- Park Square Executive Search: Park Square Executive Search focuses on healthcare and private equity-backed healthcare portfolio companies, placing C-suite and operating partner leaders. It overlaps with Furst's PE practice but operates at a smaller scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Furst social profiles
Digital presenceFurst financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Furst leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Furst subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Furst funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Furst M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Furst
What does Furst do?
Furst Group is a retained executive search firm exclusively focused on healthcare and life sciences, providing C-suite, board, and senior leadership placements for hospitals, health systems, payers, life sciences companies, and private equity portfolio companies. The firm also delivers integrated leadership development, executive coaching, succession management, and board advisory services through its companion company NuBrick Partners, with a differentiated SuccessPath methodology that extends structured transition support six months beyond placement.
Is Furst a public or private company?
Furst is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Furst founded?
Furst was founded in 1984. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Furst based?
Furst is headquartered in Rockford, United States, in the North America region.
How does Furst make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Retained Executive Search is the primary driver. The others are leadership Development Services and board Advisory Services.
Who are Furst's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are WittKieffer, Korn Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles, Diversified Search, Spencer Stuart, Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds Associates and AMN Healthcare Leadership Solutions (formerly B.E. Smith). Isaacson, Miller is listed as a regional player. Park Square Executive Search is listed as an emerging player.
Does Furst have an API?
No public API is recorded for Furst.
What industry is Furst in?
Furst's product category is Executive Search Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAAAE, Healthcare & Life Sciences Leadership Search, with a secondary code of BPACAAAK, Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search. Its NAICS code is 561312 and its SIC code is 8742.