Fort Lauderdale Executive Search & Interim Resources

In 1984, Mr. Sadaka started StevenDouglas in Miami after gaining experience in Public Accounting and seeing a need for highly qualified talent in the region. Since then, the firm has grown into one of the nation’s leading boutique Executive Search and Interim Resources firms, serving as a recognized leader in identifying and providing access to top talent for clients across various industries and geographies. The firm has expanded from its headquarters in South Florida to include in excess of 20 offices across the U.S., as well as a presence in Latin America and Canada. StevenDouglas has garnered various awards, including being recognized as a Top 25 Executive Search firm by Hunt Scanlon, one of America’s Best Recruiting firms by Forbes, and one of the fastest growing private companies by Inc Magazine for an impressive 5 straight years.

As Founder & Chairman, Steve Sadaka focuses on continuing the firm’s growth strategy and nurturing the company’s great culture and business relationships that he’s cultivated for decades. His commitment to his staff is that they look forward to coming to work every day and make more money than they have ever made. This unique workplace culture and dynamic leadership has produced an environment that is supportive, encouraging and truly cares about others, resulting in one of the highest average employee tenures in the industry.

Mr. Sadaka is on the board of the Jason Taylor Foundation, is a former board member of Kids in Distress, contributes annually to Make-A-Wish and Broward Partnership for the Homeless as well as a major donor to his religious organization. He also endowed a lifetime scholarship fund for his Alma Mater, the University of Florida, where he graduated with a degree in Accounting. Steve began his career in the Audit practice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and is a non-practicing CPA.

Mr. Kalisher began his executive search career in 1982 in New York City where he placed IT professionals with Fortune 500 clients including many of Wall Street’s largest companies.

Steve relocated to Ft. Lauderdale and joined StevenDouglas in 1993 where he has been servicing clients locally and nationwide by providing them with permanent and temporary IT staffing solutions. After playing a significant role in building and running the IT search practice for StevenDouglas, Steve now serves as an Advisor, Ambassador, and Consultant Emeritus to the firm.

With over 20 years of experience in Executive Search, Elizabeth Jacobs, is a recognized expert in Chief Financial Officer search and leads the Finance, Accounting, and Human Resources search divisions as Executive Vice President at StevenDouglas. Elizabeth started with the firm in 2002, and since that time has substantially grown the Finance and Accounting Search practice first throughout Florida, and then expanded the practice nationally.

Elizabeth has been honored as one of South Florida’s top 25 Most Influential Business Women by the South Florida Business Journal. She enjoys working closely with clients, helping them explore their current and future hiring needs, as well as identifying individuals that will thrive within their culture. Her practice is focused on providing financial executives for emerging middle market to Fortune 500 companies. The Finance & Accounting practice specialties include general accounting, financial reporting, finance, treasury, tax and audit searches from mid-level management to C-level executives.

Before joining StevenDouglas, Elizabeth managed two branch offices for an international search firm for four years. Prior to entering the search industry, she worked for Morgan Stanley for seven years in the areas of corporate tax, investment banking and corporate accounting.

Elizabeth is active with a number of non-profit organizations. Most notably, she has helped raise over $2 million for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital chairing the Diamond Angel’s Gala. Additionally, she serves on the board of the South Florida Business Forum, and stays active with the Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Women’s Executive Leadership (WEL), and the United Way Women’s Leadership Program.

Elizabeth earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University, became a CPA in NY, and then completed her MBA from Fordham University.

Having spent the majority of his career in professional services, Mr. Hafetz has built a strong reputation for his uncompromising client service orientation. His long-lasting business relationships, coupled with his Big 4 background and knowledge of project-based professional services gives him the credibility that has enabled him to recruit top-tier talent to join the StevenDouglas team.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Dan spent 10 years in progressive accounting, human resources and recruiting positions. Most recently he was a Client Services Director, responsible for building the South Florida office of a global project-based professional services firm. His role encompassed management of the associate base, service to existing clients, proactive recruitment of accomplished professionals and management of project resource allocation.

Dan’s career started in public accounting with the Philadelphia office of Coopers & Lybrand, where he supervised financial and operational audits in a variety of industries. He received both his Bachelors of Science and Masters degrees in Accounting from the Pennsylvania State University.

Jamie Javorsky brings over 15 years of client development, recruiting and executive management experience in the South Florida market. He began his career working with a billion dollar international recruiting firm where he quickly grew into the role of recruiting manager and managed a large team. After that, Jamie became Managing Partner of a boutique recruiting firm for ten years before joining StevenDouglas in his current role.

Jamie’s clients range from small/mid-size companies and emerging/Pre-IPO firms to Fortune 100 companies. He believes that the key to success in recruiting is developing long term relationships and providing his clients and candidates with first class service. Furthermore, he prides himself in customizing solutions to meet his clients’ varying needs while delivering best-in-class candidates. He has placed IT professionals ranging from desktop technicians to Chief Information Officers.

He has spent the last twenty years coaching and mentoring children in both baseball and football.

With over 20 years of wealth management and private client investment and service experience, Mr. McGahey has utilized his invaluable experience and expertise in international sales, commodity, index and currency trading firms to conduct extraordinarily effective searches for senior level financial and wealth management clients and candidates across the United States.

He and his group work closely with prestigious clients such as Bessemer Trust, Bernstein Global Wealth Management and BNY Mellon Wealth Management. These firms, among others, have come to rely on Michael to successfully attract the highest quality investment and wealth management professionals.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Michael was the Vice President and COO of the GLM Group of Companies, Inc. Michael was born in Toronto, Canada and has resided in the U.S. since 1993.

Alan Berger has spent over 25 years focusing on the employment lifecycle with significant experience in Staffing & Recruitment, Employee Screening, Career Management and Organizational Development all in the South Florida market. Alan’s practice encompasses all aspects of Human Resources search as he has proven to successfully place top talent at all levels for emerging and mid-size to Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, in his role as Vice President, Alan is a client service and business development ambassador of the firm across all of our service lines.

Alan’s accomplishments include running one of the premier background screening firms in Florida for over 15 years and successfully selling it to an industry leading Fortune 500 firm. After the sale, he spent over 5 years with a start-up Professional Recruiting firm and helped to build and grow the Human Resources practice as well as the overall firm. After another successful exit, Alan was a Vice President for the world’s largest Career and Talent Management organization. Berger originally began his working life as an Air Traffic Controller spending seven years in the profession before leaving Miami Center to begin his business career.

He currently is active with a number of organizations and serves on the Boards of the Greater Miami and Weston Chambers of Commerce. He is also very active with the West Broward YMCA’s Father Daughter Group Y-Princess having recently completed his term as Chair and serves on the YMCA of Greater Miami’s Board Development Committee. He also Chairs the Executive Re-Employment & Outplacement Task Force for the Miami Chamber. From 2001 to 2006 he served as a State elected official on the Board of the Hamal Community Development District and was Chairman for four years.

Berger’s previous awards include Price Waterhouse/South Florida Business Journal’s Up and Comer of the Year in Management, Miami-Dade County BCE Employer of the Year, Weston Chamber’s Person of the Year and Small Business of the Year

Juan Moreno leads our Latin American Executive Search practice, providing clients with quick access to in-country talent in Latin America across different industries including: manufacturing, natural resources/mining, banking and wealth management, and power/alternative energy. He’s an expert in International employment needs, specializing in expatriate placements as well as successfully recruiting Heads of Latin America that are based in the USA and Canada.

Juan brings significant experience in recruiting and executive search in Latin America and Europe, where he built successful management teams in IT, Operations, Finance, Marketing and Government Relations. Many of these roles were based in remote locations where finding the ideal candidate was a challenge, but Juan’s proven process and diligence consistently delivered great results.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Juan spent 7 years as a Principal and Latin America practice leader for one of Canada’s largest executive search firms. There he developed an in-depth knowledge of the issues affecting Latin America and established strong community ties. He also learned more of the vital role that culture plays in building successful organizations in different countries. This experience, and his focus on the region, gives Juan a competitive advantage when recruiting management teams for a wide variety of companies.

Juan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Finance and a MBA from Florida International University.

Mia is highly skilled in the areas of corporate and field employee retention, having gained extensive experience in Human Resources and recruiting roles since 1993. As Vice President of Human Resources, she is responsible for all of the human resources functions for StevenDouglas including benefits strategy, employee relations, and leadership development. In her role working with field associates, she focuses on guiding them through the unique on-boarding and requisite business processes associated with our project business model.

Ms. Rottman began her career at Deloitte & Touche LLP where she spent eight years developing campus recruiting programs for the Florida region including training and new hire orientations. Ms. Rottman originally joined StevenDouglas in 2003 as an Accounting & Finance recruiter and subsequently left to pursue a career in Human Resources. Ms. Rottman has managed the human resources and recruiting functions in multiple industries which include service, technology, healthcare and accounting.

Ms. Rottman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Masters in Human Resource Management from Nova Southeastern University. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the HR Certification Institute (HRCI).

Kari Benson has spent more than 13 years building long-term client relationships and as a result has been highly successful in the areas of business development, recruiting, and executive search. Her expert ability to source and assess talent has enabled Kari to provide clients with the resources they need to successfully carry out key internal initiatives that produce a clear bottom-line impact.

As a member of the StevenDouglas Project Resources Division, Kari focuses primarily on providing experienced project professionals that assist clients in the areas of finance and accounting, audit and compliance, human resources, and information technology. Kari serves both public and private companies effectively by utilizing her broad-based business experience to properly assess a client’s needs and bring them the appropriate resources to meet their objectives.

Before joining StevenDouglas, Kari held various progressive management roles with a Fortune 500 recruiting firm. During her tenure she was the recipient of numerous awards in which she was recognized for both performance and excellence. As Managing Director for the Miami locations, she was among the top 10% nationwide in an organization with over 10,000 employees.

Kari earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Information Management from the University of North Dakota. Throughout her career, Kari has been active in Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Inc. and Susan G.Komen Fight for the Cure. She is also one of the founders of the first kickball league in Miami. Her hobbies include freelance photography which has earned her five 1st place awards from the Florida Press Association.

Mr. Synkowicz has been in the recruiting industry since 1999, with a focus on finance and accounting search in the South Florida region. His practice spans from staff-level accounting and finance professionals to controllers and CFOs across all industries.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Alan worked for 10 years as a Sr. Recruiting Manager for a Fortune 500 recruiting firm. Before entering executive search, Alan worked in Corporate Accounting for 3 large publicly-traded corporations in the Manufacturing/Distribution, Construction, and Hospitality industries. Alan graduated from University of Florida’s Fisher School of Accounting with his B.S. in Accounting.

Alan is currently on the Board of Directors of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Brian Piccolo Chapter. Additionally, Alan has been a very active public speaker for the AICPA, FICPA, FAU (Accounting Students Association), Northwood University (Accounting Student Association), ASWA, and IMA. He has sat on the Advisory Board of both Northwood University and Palm Beach Community College’s Accounting and Business programs, and he regularly volunteers with the Broward Partnership for the Homeless and the Frankie Foundation (a NFP that is committed to providing Automatic External Defibrillator’s (AED’s) in parks and athletic fields throughout South Florida).

Jennifer Cobaugh has spent over fifteen years providing senior level IT talent to the South Florida marketplace. Her commitment to building strong business relationships and pairing clients with high caliber candidates have been key to her success in the IT staffing industry. As a senior member of the IT Staffing Practice, Jennifer focuses on providing her clients with top level IT talent on a contract and contract to hire basis.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Jennifer spent fourteen years of high growth and achievement with a premier IT staff augmentation firm. Commencing her career on the recruiting side of the business, she rapidly progressed into business development and full lifecycle client management. In doing so she created, developed and optimized the business potential of high value, strategic relationships and partnerships with CIO’s, VP’s and Senior IT Client Management in the delivery, fulfillment, service and support of complex IT resource needs. She has excelled throughout her career at exceeding her clients’ expectations in delivering the highest level of service and support, backed by unmatched integrity and professionalism.

Jennifer has been active in local networking groups as a board member of itSMF – South Florida chapter and participant in groups such as PMI, SFTA, and WITI. Throughout the years she has been involved in various local charitable organizations and most recently generously donates her time to the Broward Partnership for the Homeless.

Matt Johnson has been in the Information Technology Staff Augmentation and Permanent Placement industry since 1997. Matt takes great pride in his effective capability to manage both the clients and candidates expectations through the employment placement lifecycle. Throughout the tenure of his career, Matt has been responsible for recruiting tier one IT professionals and has married their skills to technical requirements with Fortune 500 and mid size corporations throughout the state of Florida and on a national level.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Matt had progressive leadership roles within a couple of dynamic technology consulting and staffing firms in the local south Florida market. It was during this time that Matt honed his skills and commitment to connecting quality technical talent with superior employment opportunities.

Matt earned his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Business Management from Northwood University. Matt is involved with local and international ministries, nonprofit organizations and charities including 4Kids of South Florida, Sheridan House Family Ministries, Juna Amagara Ministries, LifeNet4Families, and The United Way.

Michael Cappiello is a Director of Client Service specializing in technology staffing. He brings over 8 years of industry experience having worked on both sides of the business including a very accomplished recruiting career which transitioned into a successful business development career servicing clients all over South Florida.

Prior to joining StevenDouglas, Michael worked for two of the largest staffing and consulting firms in the country and most recently helped launch a startup boutique firm establishing them in the local market. He was responsible for building the recruitment team there as well as distinguishing the company presence through delivering top resources to clients in the region. Michael has developed a great reputation and deep relationships with his clients through his ability to truly recognize a clients’ needs from a 360 degree approach which includes understanding not only their technology footprint but also the company roadmap and group culture which can sometimes be equally important.

Michael earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Florida State University. He is very involved in the local technology community including the South Florida PMI Chapter where he is on the board as VP of Marketing. He is also an active participant with TDWI, IIBA and the CIO Council to name a few.

Leigh Flanders Cassett is Managing Director, Finance and Accounting Search at StevenDouglas, focusing on the South Florida market. She joined the Finance & Accounting Search Division of StevenDouglas in the beginning of 2012 and quickly became a top producer. She joined us from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Miami, and is a licensed CPA in the State of Florida. As she is a Big 4 alumni, she can easily relate to, and assist, those looking to make a transition from public into the private sector. She assists those with Corporate Accounting, Finance, Tax, Treasury and Audit backgrounds find their next opportunity in the ever-changing job market. Leigh’s enthusiasm and understanding nature contribute to her keen identification of both candidate and client needs, and her familiarity with the accounting field helps her to easily match skill-sets with positions. She prides herself on relationship building and has become a trusted advisor for many South Florida companies and finance/accounting professionals, alike. In 2023, Leigh was promoted to Managing Director to help manage and develop the South Florida Finance and Accounting Search team.

Leigh graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Masters of Accounting from the University of Florida. In addition, she has been actively involved in various charitable organizations including the United Way’s Reading Pals and Camillus House.

Jaime joined StevenDouglas in June of 2012. She is responsible for supporting various facets of the search process including company identification, name generation, candidate assessment and candidate development. Jaime spent seven years at StevenDouglas focusing primarily in the Wealth Management Industry. In September of 2019 she joined our Sales, Marketing, and Operations team. She generally works on retained searches aimed at delivering mid management to executive level talent to various organizations including small to Fortune 500 companies.

Throughout the years Jaime has been involved in various local charitable organizations including the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation and The United Way.

Amanda is a passionate advocate for people, talent, and Human Resources. With an impressive career spanning over 15 years in Talent Acquisition, she has been a key partner to C-suite executives at the national level, driving the recruitment and selection of top talent for numerous organizations.

Her journey in HR began as a corporate HR Generalist, and she soon embarked on a pivotal career move to establish and lead the Talent Acquisition department for a national outsourcing startup. Her track record of accomplishments led her to StevenDouglas in 2013, where she has played an integral role in the expansion and success of their Human Resources Search Division.

Today, Amanda is recognized as a leading national HR search expert, harnessing her industry insights and extensive professional network to successfully place leadership-level HR professionals. Her skills, wealth of experience, and unwavering commitment to excellence position her as an indispensable asset in the realm of Human Resources and Talent Acquisition.

Amanda's philanthropic endeavors are equally noteworthy. She contributes in the community through volunteer activities and currently serves as a board member for Broward County SHRM. In addition to her corporate role, she is the creative force behind the inspirational IRON HRO newsletter on LinkedIn which showcases professional advice from HR leaders to inspire the HR community.

Amanda previously chaired the Diamond Angels for the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation and held co-chair positions for two prominent organizations: the Junior League of Greater Fort Lauderdale and IMPACT Young Ambassadors for Memorial Healthcare. Her contributions have not gone unnoticed, as she was honored as a finalist in the "Difference Maker" category at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce HYPE Awards.

Amanda earned a Bachelor of Science in Business with a Human Resource Management Certificate from the University of Phoenix. Additionally, she holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.

Outside of her professional pursuits Amanda is an avid cook, an enthusiastic reader and writer, a gardener, and a traveler who appreciates spending time outdoors with her family.

Shaunna Kelley joined the Project Resources Division of StevenDouglas as a National Manager of Recruiting to complement our local and national teams by expanding the firm’s network of high quality professionals to help clients manage change.

Shaunna brings broad experience in the professional services industry serving as an Account Manager for a publicly-held staffing company and Recruiting Manager for a publicly-held project services firm with a Big 4 heritage. She provided specialized recruitment and relationship management in the areas of Accounting & Finance, Risk & Compliance, Information Management, Supply Chain, and Human Capital throughout the South Region of Florida, Caribbean and Latin America.

Shaunna has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University.

Michael Beaton joined the Technology Search Division of StevenDouglas in early 2015. He holds an impressive track record of successfully completing individual contributor, middle management, and executive search assignments with early-mid stage technology companies. Michael and his team regularly partner with VC/PE-backed organizations experiencing hypergrowth.

Prior to StevenDouglas, Michael began his career with a top 1% national recruiting firm where he specialized in software & data engineering, data science, devops, cloud architecture & cyber security. His national client base ranged from start-ups to small, medium, and Fortune 500 companies. In this role, Michael became the number one producing recruiter in the nation.

Michael began volunteering at an early age for local organizations such as Kids In Distress as well as Jack and Jill. He currently serves as a Committee Member for the Jason Taylor Foundation, is a member of the United Way’s Young Leadership Society, and is a member of the South Florida ISACA Chapter. Michael is a native of South Florida and earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Florida State University.

Dario Furman joined the Finance & Accounting Search division of StevenDouglas in the summer of 2014. He began his career as an executive search professional in 2008 with a national search firm where he was consistently recognized as a top producer in the country. Mr. Furman’s approach is very thorough, confidential and professional. He integrates the use of the new modern recruiting techniques along with the proven “old fashioned method” of relationship building through face to face meetings with clients and candidates.

Dario’s practice spans from staff-level accounting and finance professionals to controllers and CFOs across all industries and sizes of companies. His passion for recruiting, coupled with his tireless work ethic and desire to come through for his clients, has fueled his success. Dario is recognized as an AIRS Professional Recruiter and holds a Certified Internet Recruiter (CIR) designation. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Dario graduated from the University of Florida’s Fisher School of Accounting with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

Currently Erin serves as an Executive Assistant to our CEO, Regional President, and Executive Vice President. Erin joined StevenDouglas in 2012 as part of our Human Resources team and was quickly promoted to a Manager of Operations Support for our Technology Staffing team. In this capacity she managed consultant operations including but not limited to onboarding, training, and contract review, to make their partnership with StevenDouglas as seamless and successful as possible.

Erin prides herself on giving world class customer service to whomever she supports, whether it be external clients or her StevenDouglas team.

Prior to StevenDouglas, Erin worked for MSC Cruise USA as their Sales Service Coordinator and provided assistance to different levels of administration and management in numerous tasks and projects. Managed all of the company’s websites inquiries, the website service line and provided online support for clients and travel agents.

Erin holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Florida State University. She is active in her community as a participant as a Diamond Angel for the Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital.

Ross Cohen is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Financial Services Search practice. He joined the firm in 2017 working initially in Accounting & Finance Search, and in 2020 Ross began building out the Financial Services arm of the firm. Ross is responsible for the growth of the firm’s practice in Investment Banking, Private Equity, Hedge Fund, Investment Management, Investor Relations, Corporate Development, Real Estate and the Alternatives arenas.

Before joining StevenDouglas, Ross began his recruiting career with a global recruiting firm in New York, NY, where he led the financial services research team and worked on senior-level searches across fixed income, equities, currencies, commodities, investment banking, corporate banking and capital markets businesses for major sell-side and buy-side firms throughout the US, South America and Europe. Prior to his career in search, Ross was an Equity Research Associate for Lazard Capital Markets in New York. Combining his experience on Wall Street with his time in financial services search gives him instant credibility in understanding both candidate and client needs.
Ross received a Masters in International Business and a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Florida. When he’s not working, Ross enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf and traveling.

Daniel began his recruiting career with a national firm specializing in information technology. His expertise lies in identifying and recruiting hard to find talent with niche skill sets. Over his career, Daniel has placed Network Engineers, Network Architects, .Net Developers, Project Managers, Business Analysts, System Administrators, Oracle DBAs, Helpdesk/Desktop Support Engineers and many others.  
 
Daniel earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunications from Penn State in 2011. A Pennsylvania native, Daniel relocated to Florida in 2014.  

Ken Heinrich joined StevenDouglas in the Human Resources Search Division in 2017. Ken focuses solely on Human Resources recruitment from staff-level to executives across all industries and company sizes.

Among his accomplishments, Ken has earned his SHRM-CP certification and currently serves as the Foundation Chair on the SHRM Jacksonville Board of Directors. His sales and recruiting experience make him an important part of the continued success and growth of this practice.

Prior to joining the StevenDouglas team, Ken worked for one of the largest staffing and consulting firms in the country, out of both the Fort Lauderdale and Miami offices. Here he honed his candidate identification and attraction skills while building lasting, personal partnerships with clients. Ken believes that continuing to refine these two significant attributes are the keys to his success.

Ken was born in New Jersey but relocated to South Florida and earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Florida International University. He currently lives in Ponte Vedra, Florida and supports the Southeast market for StevenDouglas.

Heather is a Senior Recruiter on the Human Resources & Administrative Search team focused on the South Florida market. Prior to this role, Heather was the Executive Assistant to StevenDouglas’ top-level executives for four years. Her knowledge of the recruitment process, coupled with her prior Human Resources and Executive Assistant experience in previous roles and companies, has provided her with a unique ability to relate to candidates on their journey as she guides them through their job search.

Heather takes an in-depth approach when working with candidates, matching candidates’ personalities and backgrounds to roles that align with their desired career path. The opportunity for Human Resource professionals and Executive Assistants has amplified, as the number of companies choosing South Florida to either start or relocate their businesses continues to grow.

Heather has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from Texas State University. She has worked for the American Diabetes Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and two Feeding America Food Banks (San Antonio and Feeding South Florida). Most recently, Heather has joined in supporting Pooches in Pines, a local non-profit dedicated to animal rescue in Broward County. Volunteering and giving back has always provided her with a real sense of connection to her community.