Kage Search Group, Inc
A national search firm headquartered in Chicago, Kage Search Group specializes in the placement of sales and marketing professionals within the food industry including:
- Brand
- Private label
- Natural and organics
- Beverage, and Consumer Packaged Goods (domestic and international)
With over 20 years of experience, Kage Search Group provides a blend of recruitment solutions including Retained Search, Engaged Search, Contingency Search, and short and long-term Contract/Projects. Our clients range from small family owned businesses or start-ups to Fortune 100 firms. Over the past several years we have created a natural/organic practice, servicing private equity and start-up companies in plant based, non-GMO and emerging food technologies. We enjoy helping small companies grow and expand their sales footprint in re-tail, foodservice and speciality channels. We pride ourselves in recruiting based solely on referrals from the thousands of candidates we have build relationships with over the years.
disciplines include:
- Retail and food service brand management
- Market research
- Consumer insights
- Channel/trade marketing
- Category management
- Retail operations
- Sales management (Account Manager, NAM, Team Leader, Director, VP)
- International sales and marketing
Our Founders
Gena Jordan
Gena has over 20 years of executive search experience within the consumer products industry, focusing on food and beverage (retail and foodservice). She has focused on hiring top talent in sales, marketing, research, operations, and international positions (Asia and Europe). Gena has been successful helping small businesses as well as Fortune 100 organizations achieve their staffing goals. She is very committed to presenting a diverse slate of candidates for every position she recruits on and is an active member in the Network of Executive Women and Women in Foodservice Forum. Gena’s clients and candidates applaud the extra care that she gives to each person she works with and as a result she has been able to find “dream jobs” for many of her candidates. While Gena has become very successful in her career, those “matches” are her proudest achievements. Gena is a Bachelor of Arts graduate (Cum Laude) of Bradley University, resides in the Western suburbs of Chicago, and is a proud wife and mother of two.
Karen Goers
Karen has been successful at efficiently locating and attracting top talent in an ever-growing, global marketplace for the last 15 years. An expert in Recruitment, Karen has acted as an extension of her clients’ Human Resource Department from both the Recruitment Advertising and Executive Search perspectives. Her demonstrated success in including critical talent for her clients has provided key additions in the following vertical markets: Education, Financial, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Transportation and Consumer Packaged Goods. After completing her undergraduate degree, Karen worked for a privately-held Recruitment Advertising agency. She has an accomplished record in planning and leading comprehensive Advertising/Marketing strategies in support of business goals and objectives for companies of all sizes. Realizing recruitment was her passion, Karen made a conscious decision to move to Executive Search and round out her background. Having worked with Human Resource professionals to understand their job requisitions, required core competencies, corporate culture and interview process, Karen’s transition to Executive Search and interviewing talent for her clients was seamless. Karen’s Talent Acquisition experience includes: developing and implementing effective recruiting strategies; managing and driving the staffing lifecycle; direct sourcing/recruiting/interviewing qualified candidates; and managing the interview process, hiring deci-sions and negotiations. In 2004, Karen founded Kage Search Group, Inc., a national executive search firm headquartered in Chicago that specializes in the placement of Sales and Marketing professionals. Karen has logged over 10,000 hours interviewing, preparing and prepping candidates to interview with her clients. Given the extraordinary depth of her experience, she has the skills and nuanced understanding of Recruitment to prepare individuals to interview at their very best. Karen received her Bachelor of Science in Advertising from the University of Illinois.