Executive Search · Cleveland · Worldwide
Erin Merker is a Global Managing Partner at DHR Global. CEOs, CHROs and private equity partners call us when a role is senior, sensitive or has already outlasted two job postings and a well-meaning referral program.
Offices Across North America, Latin America, Europe And Asia Pacific
Forbes America's Best Executive Recruiting Firms · Inc. Best Workplaces
Expertise
Our practice is led by a formally trained HR professional. Erin can interview a Head of Total Rewards on deferred comp design and a plant manager on OEE in the same afternoon, then tell you which one will thrive in your culture.
The practice Erin built her name on, and still the heart of ours. Senior HR leaders who can run the people agenda and hold their own with the CFO.
CHRO · CPO · VP HR · Head of Total Rewards · Compensation & Benefits · Executive CompensationFinance leaders for companies in motion: new ownership, a carve-out, an ERP rollout or a board that wants better numbers sooner.
CFO · Chief Accounting Officer · Controller · VP FP&AOperations executives and site leaders who can take over a plant, steady a workforce and move the metrics, often where the talent pool is a short list.
COO · VP Operations · Site Leader · Plant Manager · Engineering & Procurement LeadershipRevenue leaders with a record you can verify, assessed on how they build teams as well as how they close.
CRO · VP Sales · Regional Sales LeadershipLeaders who own the systems finance and HR run on, and who can keep an implementation from becoming a cautionary tale.
Enterprise Applications Leadership · SAP Leadership · HRIS LeadershipLeadership hires matched to the investment thesis and the hold period, delivered at the pace a deal team expects.
PortCo C-suite · CFO · CHRO · Operating Leadership · Multi-search buildsConfidential search
Replacing an incumbent, planning a succession or building a team before an announcement all call for discretion. We approach candidates directly, describe the opportunity without naming your company and reveal details only when you approve.
About Erin Merker
Erin Merker came to executive search from the inside of HR. She holds a degree in Business Management and Labor Relations with an emphasis in Human Resources, earned HR Management and Leadership certifications from Cornell University, and is a licensed DiSC trainer and consultant. That training is why every search we run starts with your organization (its structure, its compensation philosophy, its culture and the decisions the new leader will own) before a single candidate is called.
Before joining DHR Global, Erin spent more than a decade in leadership at a national talent advisory firm, rising to President and Chief Operating Officer. Running a business shaped how she recruits for one. She knows what an empty leadership seat costs every week it stays open, and she knows the difference between a résumé that looks right and a leader who will be right.
Clients call Erin their unicorn hunter. Our team takes it as a job description.
Today she is a Global Managing Partner and Executive Committee member at DHR Global, where she leads her own practice: a team of recruiters, researchers and coordinators focused on C-suite and executive searches for public companies, private enterprises and private equity firms across North America, South America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Every engagement is concierge by design, with one accountable partner, a process built around your goals, and candid counsel on compensation, market data and organizational structure along the way.
Erin lives in Greater Cleveland with her husband and son. She is a strategic partner first and a recruiter second, and she will tell you so if a search isn't the right answer.
Organizations We Have Partnered With
Pepsi Verizon Whirlpool Google BP Comcast Kraft US Foods Raytheon Johns Hopkins University
Along with a long list of private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
Our Search Team
Erin personally leads every engagement and builds the team around it. Our practice brings together recruiters, researchers and administrative support, backed by DHR Global specialists selected for the industry, function and geography your role demands.
No two searches get the same team. We assemble ours around your role, your market and the outcome you need, and Erin stays your single point of contact throughout.
Build My Search TeamApproach
Every engagement starts with what success looks like at 90 days, one year and five years. Competency and culture scorecards are built at launch and sharpened with your feedback, so every candidate is measured against the same evidence.
Meet the stakeholders, assess the organization and its culture, and agree on the competencies that matter.
Map the market and recruit passive talent. Regular calibration keeps the search pointed at the right people.
Competency-based interviews, behavioral assessment and detailed referencing on every candidate presented.
Finalist debriefs, offer negotiation and candidate counseling through acceptance and onboarding.
Every candidate is fully assessed in every model; only the timing changes. Timelines are typical, never guaranteed.
Questions
Short answers to the questions that come up in nearly every first conversation.
Erin Merker is a Global Managing Partner at DHR Global, based in Cleveland, Ohio. She and her team lead confidential searches for C-suite and executive leaders in HR, Total Rewards, Finance, sales and operations, and take on the hardest-to-fill mid-level leadership roles as well, for public, private and private equity backed companies in the United States and abroad.
C-suite and executive roles come first: CEO successors, CHROs, CFOs and the SVPs and VPs who lead functions, regions and P&Ls. We also take on hard-to-fill director, mid-level and emerging leadership roles, typically with base salaries of $95,000 and above.
Every engagement is bespoke. One accountable partner leads your search from kickoff to onboarding, every candidate we present is fully assessed against the competencies and culture we agree on together, and our team is assembled around your role, your market and your timeline. We are always open to creative solutions when a search calls for them.
We agree together on who knows about the search, how the role is described to candidates and when your company name is revealed. Candidates are approached directly and screened before any identifying details are shared. Please keep confidential details out of a first email; a short note asking for a call is enough.
It depends on the role, location and how quickly your team makes decisions. In the standard model, a first slate of three to five fully assessed candidates typically arrives in about three to five weeks, and expedited options are available. Anyone who guarantees a fill date is selling something other than search.
Every engagement is tailored to the role and the outcome you need. Pricing for individual roles, multi-role projects and master service agreements is available upon request, along with project-based pricing. We start by understanding the role and what the vacancy is costing you, then recommend the approach that fits.
Yes. Erin and our team have placed leaders across North America, South America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, supported by DHR Global colleagues on the ground in each region.
Quarterly hiring & leadership intelligence
Where talent meets trends. Each edition tracks hiring demand, organizational change and the executive moves that signal what comes next, written for CEOs, CHROs and the boards they answer to.
Q3 2026 · Special CEO & CHRO Edition
A selective market of rewards and precision-based hiring. Demand is concentrated, not absent, and leadership risk is visible before requisitions go public. This edition maps both.
If a leadership question comes up while you read, we are one email away.
Open The Q3 2026 ReportArchive
Previous editions are open to everyone. Browse the trends we called and see how they played out.
Hiring highlights and job growth data, with the industries leading U.S. openings.
Mid-year hiring demand and the leadership signals behind it.
First-quarter hiring trends and where demand started to shift.
Year-end hiring data and the outlook heading into 2025.
Want each new edition the week it publishes? Unlock the latest report above and keep the subscription box checked.
SubscribeStart a conversation
A few lines on the role, location and timing is plenty. If the search is confidential, just say so and ask for a call.
Exploring your next role? Our team recruits on behalf of hiring organizations. The best way to be considered for current and future searches is to connect with Erin on LinkedIn with a short note about your background. Connect on LinkedIn
