We're pleased to announce a partnership with GRAYFIELDS Executive Partnerships, the boutique search firm that has been placing senior risk, compliance and governance leaders since 2012.
In short
Firms hire a Head of Risk and then discover the tooling is still spreadsheets. That is the moment both of us are useful. GRAYFIELDS finds the people. Initia gives them the platform.
- GRAYFIELDS - exclusive search for (non)executive and senior GRC appointments.
- Initia - the risk and compliance platform the new hire can actually run.
- The model - referral both ways, not a delivery or reseller arrangement.
This is a referral and network partnership. You can see the public partner profile on our GRAYFIELDS partner page.
Who GRAYFIELDS Is
GRAYFIELDS sits between retained-only houses and specialist contingent recruiters. Managing Director Chris Fields has worked the risk and regulatory market since 2012. The firm covers risk management, operational resilience, compliance, financial crime and data protection, from FTSE-listed groups to scale-ups, with its own market maps behind every search.
Since 2012 it has placed Chief Risk, Compliance and Governance leaders at firms including LV, Vitality and Canada Life. Search work is strengthened by Non-Executive Advisor Serena Joseph, an approved SMF holder who provides independent assessments in line with SM&CR standards.
Chris is also publishing on how the CRO role is changing. Start with Chief Risk Officer: 2030 on the GRAYFIELDS site.
Why This Partnership
A senior risk hire walking into Excel, inbox trails and a register nobody trusts is a familiar failure mode. The appointment was the right one. The operating environment was not. That is expensive for the firm and unfair on the person who just took the job.
GRAYFIELDS already sees that gap when it maps a risk function. Initia already sees the other side: firms that need a Head of Risk, a CRO or a compliance lead because the work has outgrown the people and the tooling at the same time. Introducing each other is the obvious move.
The split is deliberate. GRAYFIELDS does not implement software. Initia does not run executive search. Each firm does the job it is actually good at, and refers when the other half of the work shows up. See what makes a great compliance hire and how to create real risk ownership.
How to Work with Either Firm
If you are hiring a senior risk, compliance or governance leader, start with grayfields.co. If the person you are hiring, or the function you already have, still runs on spreadsheets, book a conversation with Initia or read the partner profile at Initia Risk partners.