Origin Staffing - Thoughts on Recruitment
Recruiting for Public Accounting: Why a Senior/Manager-Level Audit Search Required Flexibility | Search Agency Case Study
Executive Summary
Origin Staffing was engaged to fill an urgent Senior-level Financial Institutions audit role within a growing public accounting platform expanding its Boston-area presence. The hire was driven by growth and needed to be completed ahead of busy season, leaving little margin for ramp-up or misalignment.
The client’s focus on small and mid-sized banks and credit unions significantly narrowed the candidate pool and excluded Big 4 and large-bank audit backgrounds. While the work itself aligned with a strong Senior profile, Origin Staffing identified that top-tier Seniors in public accounting do not move laterally without real advancement.
Origin Staffing partnered with the firm to redesign the opportunity, flexing the role to Supervisor to provide increased compensation, management exposure, and a clearer path to Manager. The search closed ahead of busy season, delivering immediate impact and long-term leadership upside.
Role Context and Why This Hire Mattered
The search originated as a Senior-level Financial Institutions audit hire driven by growth following an acquisition. As the firm expanded its presence in the Boston market, it needed additional coverage to support a specialized portfolio of community banks and credit unions.
This was not a backfill or a long-term pipeline hire. Busy season was approaching, and the firm needed someone who could step in quickly, own client relationships, and support leadership without extensive onboarding or oversight.
The initial assumption was reasonable. A strong Senior with the right financial institutions background could perform the work. Origin Staffing was brought in to validate that assumption against real market behavior and execute the search quickly without sacrificing quality.
Why Public Accounting to Public Accounting Searches Are So Difficult
Public accounting to public accounting recruiting presents a unique challenge, particularly at the Senior level.
Most qualified Seniors are already doing well. They are trusted, compensated competitively, and progressing toward promotion within their firms. Leaving that environment introduces uncertainty around workload, culture, expectations, and timing of advancement.
In this case, the challenge was amplified by technical specificity. The firm required direct experience auditing small and mid-sized financial institutions, including familiarity with regulatory expectations, loan portfolio considerations, and risk frameworks specific to community banks and credit unions. As outlined in AICPA guidance on audits of financial institutions, these environments require hands-on audit ownership and judgment that does not always translate from larger-bank or Big 4 audit models.
Experience with large national banks or global financial services clients was not transferable. Big 4 backgrounds were intentionally excluded. The result was a narrow market of capable candidates who were technically qualified but not easily motivated to make a move without clear upside.
Origin Staffing Intake and Calibration – Educating for Agility Under Time Pressure
Early intake conversations focused on urgency and execution. The firm needed a Senior who could take ownership of financial institutions audits and be productive immediately.
As Origin Staffing engaged the market, an important reality became clear. The challenge was not whether Seniors could do the work. It was whether the right Seniors would move.
High-performing Seniors evaluate opportunities carefully. A lateral title move, even to a larger platform, rarely justifies the risk of leaving a firm where they are already progressing. Candidates are sophisticated. Titles alone are not enough.
Origin Staffing worked closely with the firm to reframe the conversation. In a compressed search window, success depends on prioritizing the right person, not waiting for perfect alignment across background, years, title, and availability. Flexibility was not about lowering the bar. It was about designing an opportunity that made professional and economic sense.
The firm could not go lighter. They needed someone already leading audits. What they could do was remain flexible on how the opportunity was structured and presented.
Market Mapping – Finding the Right Seniors, Not More Resumes
Origin Staffing focused exclusively on candidates from smaller and mid-sized public accounting firms with established financial institutions practices serving community banks and credit unions.
These firms tend to mirror the operating realities described by the FDIC’s community banking resources where auditors are closer to management teams, involved earlier in risk assessment, and expected to operate proactively rather than within rigid, siloed structures.
Backgrounds intentionally screened out included:
- Big 4 financial services audit professionals
- Auditors focused primarily on large national or global banks
- Generalist auditors without sustained financial institutions exposure
This disciplined approach reduced volume but increased signal. It also reinforced a consistent insight. The strongest Seniors in this niche were already succeeding and had options. Attracting them required more than speed.
Screening for Proof-of-Fit – Understanding How Candidates Actually Operate
Rather than screening for titles, Origin Staffing evaluated how candidates actually functioned in their roles.
Screening conversations focused on:
- Running community bank audits from planning through issuance
- Supervising staff and managing review cycles during busy season
- Communicating effectively with bank management teams
- Balancing execution with leadership responsibilities
- Thinking proactively rather than reactively under time pressure
These competencies align closely with regulatory expectations outlined by both the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for credit unions and broader audit quality standards enforced across regulated financial institutions.
One candidate consistently stood out. While formally titled as a Senior, this individual described operating with greater responsibility, leading engagements, and mentoring staff in a way that aligned naturally with a Supervisor role.
Shortlist Evaluation – Designing Real Progress, Not a Lateral Move
As the search progressed, Origin Staffing did not struggle to identify technically capable Senior-level candidates. The challenge was designing an opportunity that represented real advancement.
Candidates compared the role against a clear alternative: remain at a smaller firm as a Senior, complete remaining CPA requirements, and pursue promotion to Manager later. Without meaningful progression, the risk of changing firms was difficult to justify.
In partnership with the firm, Origin Staffing helped reshape the opportunity. Elevating the role to Supervisor introduced tangible benefits – increased compensation, earlier people management exposure, greater visibility, and responsibility. Most importantly, it created a clearer and faster path to Manager while completing the CPA.
This was not a cosmetic title change. It was a structural improvement that transformed the opportunity from a lateral move into a strategic step forward.
Interview Feedback Loop – Reinforcing the Strategic Shift
The interview process consisted of two structured rounds with recruiting leadership and managing directors. Feedback consistently highlighted the candidate’s articulation of financial institutions nuance, leadership presence, and readiness for expanded responsibility.
As interviews progressed, confidence increased that the Supervisor-level framing accurately reflected both the opportunity and the candidate’s operating model. This alignment mirrors the emphasis on judgment, supervision, and audit ownership emphasized by PCAOB audit quality standards particularly in complex or highly regulated environments.
The earlier education around flexibility was reinforced through performance rather than assumption.
Offer Design and Closing – Making the Move Worthwhile
Offer discussions centered on alignment and transparency.
The Supervisor role was positioned as a step forward, not just a different seat. Origin Staffing managed communication and timing carefully to ensure the candidate felt informed and supported rather than pressured. Considerations around transition, growth, and long-term trajectory were addressed openly.
The search closed ahead of busy season, reducing execution risk and providing the firm with immediate leadership capacity at a critical moment.
What Firms Can Learn From This Search
- Strong Seniors do not make lateral moves without real advancement.
- Titles alone do not motivate high-quality public accounting talent.
- Flexibility under time pressure improves outcomes without lowering standards.
- Recruiting success depends on designing the right opportunity, not just filling the role.
- Market education is critical when urgency and specificity collide.
FAQ
Why are public accounting to public accounting searches difficult?
Most candidates already in public accounting are stable, progressing, and risk-aware. Without a clear step forward, lateral moves rarely make sense.
Why didn’t Big 4 candidates fit this search?
Large-bank audit experience does not translate directly to the operational and client-facing demands of community banks and credit unions.
Why was the role elevated from Senior to Supervisor?
To provide real advancement – including compensation, management exposure, and a clearer path to Manager – not because the work itself required a higher level.
How does Origin Staffing add value beyond sourcing?
Through market education, opportunity design, technical screening, and close management under time pressure.
Call to Action
If it’s helpful to talk through a current hire, you can reach us via Contact Us, and follow updates on the Origin Staffing LinkedIn company page.
This search was led by Brian Henry – Recruiting Manager at Origin Staffing.