About

Since 1977, the Douglas Reiter Company (DRC) has successfully recruited senior executives for clients. Our 95% placement rate accounts for the quality, long-term relationships we enjoy with the companies we serve. We provide our executive recruiting and leadership advisory services to companies nationally and around the world. We are a team of highly skilled search professionals and experienced high-level consultants who understand the delicate task of finding and hiring the right leader for the right company.

In addition to our recent successes in a wider range of industries, we’ve built an extensive network of contacts with the most knowledgeable and successful forest products companies and executives in the world to specifically serve that industry.

We provide services in four key areas of leadership hiring. We provide executive search for permanent hiring as well as interim executive search to fill temporary appointments at a critical time of need. Our leadership consultancy services aid companies through transitions and other resource-impacted business challenges, and our Peer-to-Peer CEO^TM counseling meets the unique needs of the company leader who has no other sounding board or advisor.

“I find Doug Reiter unique in assessing what the organization needs and an understanding of the culture in which he is placing candidates. He brings extra value in pointing out company issues and is able to successfully communicate that effectively to top management. Because of his years of experience he understands how management teams operate.”

Bill Corbin, Chairman Atlas Forest Products Group

Summary of Services:

Executive Search
Interim Executive Placement
Leadership Consultancy
Peer-to-Peer CEO ^TM Counsel

Biography / Education

Doug Reiter is founder and president of Douglas Reiter Company, Inc., and is considered a leading expert in recruitment and placement of C-level talent for companies seeking high-performing executives. Doug has achieved an unprecedented 95% success rate for his clients using his own unique blend of quantitative and qualitative analyses in the recruitment and placement process.

Doug is a frequent contributor to industry publications including Employment Relations Today, CEO Refresher, American Express Open, Industry Week and Business Strategies. He has also served on a wide variety of company and industry association boards. His firm represents some of the same companies he began working for in 1977.

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B.S. Political science, University of Oregon
M.A. Organizational Psychology, University of Oregon
Peter F. Drucker Management Seminar, UCLA, 1990,1991
Moshe Rubenstein Problem Solving Seminar, UCLA, 1993
Creative Problem Solving Institute
SUNY, Buffalo, New York, 1992, 1993

CMC^® (Certified Management Consultant) is the certification mark awarded by the Institute of Management Consultants USA and represents meeting the highest global standards and ethical canons of the profession. Fewer than 1% of all consultants have achieved this level of excellence. See Why hire a CMC?

How We Work -A Holistic Approach

Organizational success is closely tied to the performance of its CEO, and the surrounding team. Few would argue this point. The challenge in effective recruitment is selecting the right executive. It is both art, and science. We utilize empirical-based testing instruments, a team of professionals, and time-tested interview techniques to understand the client, the needs, the job, and the fit. The project is turnkey and concludes with the final negotiations to bring the new person onboard.

Company Knowledge

We begin each project by engaging company executives in extensive discussion about the business, competitive environment, culture, history and plans going forward. This company knowledge helps us to understand what kind of executives succeed in the organization.

We help build a job description with buy-in from all executives involved in the process. This is done for an executive search, and for a temporary assignment.

Research

Our research team has a combined fifty years of experience in executive recruitment. We have headed up research departments in top four search firms. We begin every project with a fresh, blank slate. All candidates are thoroughly vetted before they are presented to the client. Every candidate we present understands the job requirements, compensation particulars, relocations issues, and other important considerations. They are only presented to the client if we believe they are likely to accept a job offer.

The Interview

Interviewing is both art and skill. Our interviewing methodology, derived from 35 years of experience, develops a profile of who the candidate is and what makes them tick. This uncovers their core values, drives and tendencies.

The best predictor of future performance is history. While it is important to know what you have done, it may be more important to know WHY it was done, and HOW it was handled. People reveal themselves through their actions and deeds. What decisions did they make and how did they make them. How did they feel when it was done? Did they make a good decision? How did they know? If they made a mistake, what did they do? The guts of a really good interview live in digging deep to discover these answers.

Closing the Deal

Hiring an executive for a permanent position or short-term assignment is not done until everyone signs on the dotted line. We’ve all seen deals fall apart over details, that, in retrospect, should have been pre-negotiated, or dealt with up-front.

We handle the details of the compensation package, including relocation and related matters. We begin the negotiation from the first point of contact. Our negotiating philosophy: Figure out what the other side wants, what is really important to them, and give it to them. All tied up in a nice bow.

Follow Up

We follow up with both the client and newly placed executive on an ongoing basis. This provides both parties with support and communication. It helps us to understand the needs of the business, so we can constantly improve our service to the client down the road.

Expertise

Our focus, first and foremost, is senior management assignments: CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, Senior VP, VP and board member searches. We serve a wide variety of industry executive search needs on a regional basis for companies seeking to improve performance, grow their business, and prepare for management transitions.

We remain committed to serving the executive hiring needs of the forest products industry worldwide. We have successfully fulfilled numerous senior-level assignments for many world renowned, fully integrated forest products companies since it opened its doors in the 70’s.

“Doug Reiter’s success is due to a large degree on his ability to not only finding exceptional candidates, but to provide outstanding follow-up service. His interest is in both the corporation’s success and the candidate’s success. He is entrepreneurial in nature and is very straightforward in his dealings with business associates. I enjoy that in our dealings.”

Dave Williams, CEO, ShoreBank Pacific

Industries

Forest Products

The Douglas Reiter Company, Inc., has served the forest products industry for over three decades. We have successfully completed numerous senior level assignments for many world renowned, fully integrated forest products companies and have significant expertise in the following industry segments:

Lumber
Plywood
Particleboard
Medium Density Fiberboard
OSB
Remanufactured Wood Products
Doors & Windows
Resource Management/Forestry
Distribution
Molding & Millwork

We possess an extensive network of contacts with the most knowledgeable and successful forest products companies and executives in the world. We are committed to the industry. We strive to bring our clients only the most accomplished executives in their fields, and our history confirms our achievements.

“Doug Reiter has an excellent understanding of the personality of our organization. He knows the management staff and how we operate and has been able to find candidates that fit very well into our management style.

On some of our highly specialized searches, he has been able to uncover the two or three best candidates available. And those candidates have been thoroughly screened so that there is little lost time in making a final choice. He is excellent at closing and has been able to effect a smooth transition into the company.

Foremost, I highly respect his competence, his intellect, and his unabashed ability to speak up and tell it like it is.”

Allyn Ford, Chairman and CEO, Roseburg Forest Products Company

Services

We complete senior level search assignments, with a cross discipline focus on senior management regionally, and the forest products industry regionally, nationally and internationally.

“In my business, working collaboratively on behalf of the client is a necessary part of doing business. Doug Reiter is a partner I’ve found to be responsive, effective, resourceful and strategic. Doug is a no-nonsense consultant who has the unique ability to find the right candidate for C-level placements because his engagements are not based upon gut feel or a guess, but rather a proven methodology that matches corporate culture, job requirements, and objectives. I would work with Doug whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

Geoff Guilfoy, CMC
Principal at Lumen Leaders LLC

Executive Search

We take a consultative approach to executive search and placement for our client companies. By working exclusively on a retainer basis we bring the ultimate in value with a “whole business” approach. This has allowed us to successfully identify, assess and hire ‘excellence’ for our clients.

Interim Executives

We provide interim executives for short-term assignments or turnarounds that give organizations proven expertise and leadership when it’s needed, with proven results. There are a variety of reasons that a company may need to temporarily fill a senior role and we have helped clients avoid the challenges that can arise from these gaps in leadership. Deficiencies existing in certain areas of expertise can be augmented with a skilled interim executive at a lower cost than hiring a consulting firm, and with superior results. Existing management can be brought up to speed on the new business while the interim manager is on board. Here are just some of the reasons you may need this DRC service:

Temporarily replacing an executive with short-term health problems, or maintaining momentum while an executive is on a sabbatical leave.
Maintaining continuity after a severance or loss of a key manager while a search is conducted for a new, permanent replacement.
Critical short-term assignments in a quick turn around when management lacks the resources internally to resolve a problem effectively or on a timely basis.
Launching a new product or division, or evaluating a potential acquisition.

Leadership Consulting

“I have worked with and for Doug Reiter on special business projects. He is a man of integrity! I am most impressed with the fact that he always does what he says he will do. Over the years he has never let me down.”

Vern Kondra, Lt. Gen USAF (ret)

The Douglas Reiter Company provides consultants whose advice and counsel is on-point, direct and performance based. Our consultants come from a broad base of diverse industries and backgrounds, and have successfully completed many engagements.

This service is designed to provide you with guidance and expertise when you need it. We can provide consultants with expertise in specific industries when required. If we don’t have the expertise available, we will locate it for you. We monitor the performance of each consultant and their project to ensure you receive a quality result.

Our goal is to develop and maintain long-term relationships with our clients by providing superior service and added value.

Peer-to-Peer CEO

Being the CEO is the loneliest job in any organization. The challenges facing C-suite executives are unknown and unfamiliar to anyone who hasn’t been there. In many cases the management team surrounding the CEO is inexperienced, ill equipped, or unprepared for the challenges that face the company. Discussions about the management team can also be a delicate issue in cases of transition, new initiatives, and even on-going operations. Most CEO’s do not have an experienced advisor to turn to for strategic thinking on these and other senior level issues.

Through our Peer-to-Peer CEO™ counsel, we offer leaders in the C-suite the confidential, high-level advice they can’t get elsewhere, tailored to the unique time requirements and challenges they face in running their business. And it’s counsel from people who know what it means to sit in that chair. C-suite executives need to talk to someone they can trust who understands the depth and breadth of issues they face every day. DRC is a highly sought out business consultant, helping organizations at start-up, in transition, and through managed growth and change.

We bring the confidentiality, common sense, and experience to a peer-to-peer service through the real world CEO-level expertise we’ve derived from working at this level since 1977.

Perspectives

Executive recruitment and placement sounds easy – find the best person for the job. Just like every other part of business, dynamics change, needs change, and the skills required to successfully perform at the C-level change. This has never been truer than in the last ten years. We strive to stay current on what this means for the companies and industries we serve, and believe that you are a better client when we inform you of the trends as well.

“Doug Reiter brings to a consulting project intellect and a high degree of focus as well as a broad understanding of the managerial process. His ability to hone in on the most important issues and develop corrective strategies is the hallmark of a true consultant. That focus peppered with humor makes working with him a delightful experience.”

Herb Shaw, Venture Capitalist, Managing Partner, Norcrest Capital Management, LLC

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Careers

We believe executive level jobs are uniquely important positions within a company, which is why the Douglas Reiter Company does not publish job postings it is seeking to fill. We take client confidentiality very seriously. Our policy to not post open C-level jobs is one example of how carefully we treat the trust our clients grant to us.

If you are a C-level executive looking for new opportunities we invite you to submit your resume and background information. We are always in the business of networking with new talent that may fit with one of our clients, either now or in the future. Please submit your information to doug@reiterco.com.

We will only reply to your submission if we find you may be a candidate for a current client position we are filling. If not you are not a fit today, we will keep your information of file for future positions.

“Doug’s uniqueness as an executive recruiter lies in the challenging, rigorous approach he uses upfront to unquestionably understand the client’s needs. Armed with that information, only a select few candidates that he ‘knows’ can do the job are ever presented to the client. At that point, it becomes a matter of personal chemistry and working out the economics. The upside is a shorter recruiting cycle, which saves time and money (although Doug’s service is not cheap). Bottom-line, you get what you pay for…”

Ray Barbee, Industry Expert