San Diego Metropolitan Area
About I place C-Suite, VP, Director, and Management leaders into manufacturing operations across San Diego, CaliBaja, Mexico and the Americas. Life Sciences, MedDevice, Aerospace, Semiconductors, Automotive, Electronics. 1,300+ leadership placements. 32 years. 84% retention versus the 80% industry benchmark. What I actually do: I run the only Sanford Rose Associates franchise built for cross-border manufacturing executive search. Sanford Rose is one of the largest executive search networks in North America, and my office is where that network meets three decades of cross-border manufacturing intelligence. The problem I solve: I help companies to avoid making the wrong hires that cost them thousands of dollars. My clients call me when the search matters too much to outsource to a generalist. San Diego, CaliBaja, Tijuana, Mexicali, Juárez, Chihuahua, Monterrey, Saltillo, Guadalajara, Querétaro, and the Bajío. The hires that decide whether a plant hits its numbers, whether an acquisition delivers, whether a Japanese parent company stays confident in its Mexico operation. Why my placements stay The leaders who last share specific traits. Composure under production pressure. Comfort moving between regulatory frameworks. The ability to lead in two or more languages. The capability to make zero-defect decisions when supply chains break. My VP and GM placements average 9+ years of tenure. Who I work with Boards, CEOs, COOs, CFOs and CHROs at global manufacturers. PE and VC firms making manufacturing acquisitions in Mexico and the Americas. Japanese investors expanding production into Mexico, where my Japanese fluency, my experience living in Japan, and NAFTA-era investment consulting work make me one of the few US-based search partners they trust. Recognition Best Executive Search Firm, Americas, 2026. HR Tech Outlook and Aerospace and Defense Review. Top 7% of executive search firms worldwide. Business Insider, 2026. Forbes Best Executive Search Firms, six consecutive years. Pinnacle Society member since 2007. The only Mexican national ever admitted to the top 80 recruiters in North America. IRSA member since 2024. Languages Spanish (native), English (full professional), Japanese (professional working), French (professional working). If you are hiring If you are a global manufacturer, a PE firm with a Mexico portfolio, or a Japanese investor building production capacity in the Americas, give me 30 minutes. I will tell you plainly whether I am the right search partner for the role. ✉ [email protected] | ☎ (619) 921-1798
Chief Talent Officer, Top Notch Finders Leading the only Sanford Rose Associates franchise—One of the largest executive search networks in North America—exclusively focused on cross-border manufacturing leadership across Mexico, the US, and the Americas. WHAT WE DO: We place C-suite, VP, Director, and plant management leaders in maquiladora and IMMEX manufacturing operations across 16 sectors—semiconductors, medical devices, aerospace, automotive, pharma, biotech, electronics, EMS, CPG, plastics, metals, packaging, and software. HOW WE’RE DIFFERENT: We built the Neural Talent Intelligence System (NTIS)—a proprietary, neuroscience-informed assessment measuring the cognitive architecture traditional search cannot: cross-cultural leadership, regulatory navigation, zero-defect decision-making, and crisis composure in cross-border operations. We hold the registered trademark for Talent MetaManagement®. RESULTS & RECOGNITION: • 1,300+ executive placements with 89–94% retention rates across 16 manufacturing sectors • Forbes Best Executive Search Firms: 6 consecutive years (2020–2025) • Business Insider Top 7% Executive Search Firms in North America (2026) • Business Insider & Xraised Top 10 Business Innovators (2025) • San Diego Chamber: Small Company of the Year “Community All Star” (2025) • California State Senate & Legislature Assembly: Small Company of the Year (2025) • HR Tech Outlook: Executive Search Company of the Year (2023) • LinkedIn Top Voice (since 2024) / Executive Leadership / Executive Search • Talent MetaManagement® — U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered (2025) • HR Tech Outlook Magazine: Best in Americas, Executive Search Company of the Year 2026 WHO WE SERVE: Board members, CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CHROs, VPs, Plant Directors at global companies with manufacturing across Mexico’s major corridors—Tijuana/Mexicali, Juarez/Chihuahua, Monterrey/Saltillo, Guadalajara, Queretaro, Bajio—and the broader US-Mexico-Americas manufacturing ecosystem.
I run the only Sanford Rose Associates Network Franchise built exclusively for cross-border manufacturing executive search—Mexico, CaliBaja, and the Americas. SRA is one of the largest search networks in North America. My office is where that network meets 32 years of cross-border manufacturing intelligence. What we do: We place C-suite, VP, Director, and plant management leaders in maquiladora and IMMEX operations across 16 sectors: semiconductors, medical devices, aerospace, automotive, pharma, biotech, electronics, EMS, plastics, metals, CPG, food & beverage, packaging, software/MES, and techbio. How we differ: Most firms match resumes to descriptions. We built the Neural Talent Intelligence System (NTIS)—neuroscience-informed assessment measuring what traditional search cannot: cross-cultural leadership, regulatory navigation, zero-defect decisions, and crisis composure in cross-border complexity. Talent MetaManagement® is our USPTO-registered trademark. Results: • 1,300+ placements | 89–94% retention vs. 80–85% industry benchmark • Forbes Best Executive Search Firm—6 consecutive years (2020–2025) • Business Insider Top 7% search firms in North America (2026) • HR Tech Outlook: Executive Search of the Year, Americas (2026, 2023) • Aerospace & Defense Review: Executive Search of the Year, Americas (2026) • California State Senate & Legislature: Small Company of the Year (2025) • San Diego Chamber “Community All Star” | BBB Torch Ethics Nominee (2025) • Business Insider & Xraised Top 10 Business Innovators (2025) • LinkedIn Top Voice since 2024 Who we serve: Board members, CEOs, COOs, CHROs, VPs, and directors at global manufacturers in the Americas, Globally, and across US/Mexico region (Tijuana-Mexicali, Juárez-Chihuahua, Monterrey-Saltillo, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Tamaulipas, Bajío) Your next Global/ Americas/ US / Mexico or CaliBaja Leader could be your competitive advantage or your most expensive lesson. Let’s make sure it’s the first.
Only 80 recruiters in North America hold Pinnacle Society membership—the top fraction of a percent out of 20,000+ active executive search professionals. I have been a member for 18 consecutive years. I am the first and only Mexican national ever invited and accepted. This is not a trade association or paid designation. Election requires sustained, verified production at the highest level in the profession, rigorous Board review, and demonstrated ethical standards. Many are nominated. Few are admitted. Membership is re-earned annually. What this means for the companies I serve: My methodology has been tested against the profession’s highest standards for 18 years and consistently delivers results in the top 80 out of 20,000+. I operate within an ethical framework vetted by the profession’s most respected practitioners. And I access the collective intelligence of 80 elite recruiters covering every sector and geography in North America. What no other Pinnacle member brings: I am the only member whose practice is built entirely around cross-border manufacturing executive search—Mexico, CaliBaja, and the Americas. 32 years placing leaders across Tijuana-Mexicali, Juárez-Chihuahua, Monterrey-Saltillo, Guadalajara, Querétaro, and the Bajío. Fluent in English, Spanish, Japanese, and French—the four languages that drive Mexico manufacturing. Deep expertise in IMMEX, Mexican Federal Labor Law, and USMCA compliance. This cross-border intelligence, combined with our Neural Talent Intelligence System (NTIS) and Talent MetaManagement® methodology, delivers 89–94% retention vs. the industry benchmark of 80–85%. Former Board member of both the Pinnacle Society and NAPS—first Mexican national in both roles. 1,300+ placements across 16 manufacturing sectors. The cognitive architecture that determines cross-border leadership success is measurable. I know exactly what to measure
Before Top Notch Finders existed, I spent 13 years building the cross-border manufacturing executive search practice that became its foundation. As Senior Managing Partner at QualiFind, I placed hundreds of executives and professionals across Mexico and the US-Mexico border for companies that define global manufacturing—Toyota, Honeywell, Tyco, Plastic Omnium, Eaton, Covidien, Lear, Callaway, Philips, and many more. What I built during this period: The operational intelligence that now powers everything. Thirteen years of placing VP, GM, Director, Plant Manager, and functional leaders across Mexico, and the broader US/Mexico corridor gave me something no certification can replicate—pattern recognition for what makes cross-border leaders succeed or fail. The data was clear early. Leaders at the VP/GM/Director level averaged 9+ years of tenure. Plant and functional managers averaged 6+ years. Technical staff averaged 3+ years. These were not standard numbers. They were early evidence that assessing the right cognitive dimensions—not just qualifications—produced leaders who stayed and performed. What this period taught me: Speed without accuracy is waste. Retained VP and Director searches completed in 60–120 days. Engaged plant management searches in 30–60 days. First candidates submitted within 7–15 days. But the real metric was never speed—it was what happened after placement. Retention data from this era became the foundation for the Neural Talent Intelligence System I later developed. This is where I learned that cross-border manufacturing leadership is not a recruiting problem—it is a cognitive architecture problem. Leaders who thrive in IMMEX, maquiladora environments, and US-Mexico regulatory complexity share specific patterns. Identifying them became my life’s work. This was a laboratory. Top Notch Finders is the result.
This is where it started. Five years placing professionals and leaders across Mexico’s maquiladora manufacturing ecosystem—conducting searches from job description through offer negotiation for manufacturing corporations across Mexico and the US-Mexico border. I assessed, screened, and coached candidates at every level. What I learned changed my career’s trajectory: the gap between a qualified resume and a successful placement was almost never technical. It was cognitive. Leaders who thrived in cross-border manufacturing shared patterns that traditional assessment could not measure. That insight—born in Tijuana-San Diego in the mid-1990s—would take two decades to become the Neural Talent Intelligence System. But the seed was planted here. This role built the foundation for everything that followed.