Hiring in the Valley?Let’s find your person.
Clover Search Group is an owner-led direct hire recruiting firm in Lodi, California. We place professionals and leaders for employers across the Central Valley, Sacramento, and the Bay Area.
Book a Hiring ConsultationThree corridors, one firm
Small and mid-sized companies,the kind that can’t afford a bad hire.
We scope the search to fit. Owners, GMs, and hiring leaders who won’t settle for a national firm that doesn’t know their market. They want recruiters who work the same corridors they do, for one open role or a standing need across a growing team.
Six practice areas
If it’s a direct hire role in one of these, we have likely filled one like it. Each practice has its own page with the roles by level, the markets that carry the work, and how that search is usually structured. Start with recruiters by practice area.
Technology & IT
CIO Director of IT IT Manager Systems & Network Lead Solutions Architect Controls & Automation Engineer
Construction & Infrastructure
Director of Preconstruction Project Executive Project Manager Superintendent Estimator Structural Engineer
Government Affairs
VP of Government Affairs Government Affairs Director Public Policy Manager Regulatory Affairs Manager Legislative Advocate Senior Policy Analyst
Operations / Ag & Industrial
VP of Operations Plant Manager Operations Manager Quality Manager Production Supervisor Process Engineer
Sales & Business Development
VP of Sales Director of Business Development Regional Sales Manager Key Account Manager Strategic Account Executive Technical Sales Specialist
Finance & Administration
CFO VP of Finance Controller Accounting Manager FP&A Manager Senior Financial Analyst
Roles we recruit most. The titles that come up again and again across the six practices, from individual contributor to executive, all of it direct hire. The operations titles skew to food manufacturing, dairy, wine and ag processing, because that is what the Valley runs on; the construction titles to commercial and infrastructure builders; and the government affairs titles to Sacramento. If your title is not on this list, it is still worth a call. The list is what recurs, not what we are limited to.
Employers arrive here searching for an executive search firm, a headhunter, a recruiting agency or an employment agency, and all four lead to the same place. Clover Search Group is a direct hire recruiting firm: the people we find go on your payroll permanently, contingent or retained.
A search runs likea road you know.
A partnership, not a black box. Here’s exactly how we work — and where we prefer to sit down with you face to face.
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Intake
We take on a handful of searches at a time — and we come to you before we start.
- We run a handful of very intentional searches at a time. You’re not one of forty on a list.
- Every search starts with a visit to your site — how the place works, who fits it, and how we’ll sell it to someone who isn’t looking.
- Recruiting starts when the engagement letter is signed. Not before.
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Sourcing the valley
Owner-led outreach across the corridors — not job-board scraping.
- Phone first. Inboxes are noise — a call gets answered, and it gets a real conversation.
- We work the corridors directly instead of waiting on applicants.
- The people worth hiring usually aren’t looking. They still pick up.
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The shortlist
A handful of vetted, genuinely interested candidates — days, not weeks.
- Multi-step screening: a phone screen, then a video or in-person interview.
- Reference checks run by Aidan personally — not outsourced, not skipped.
- You see people who are genuinely interested, not a stack of résumés.
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The placement
We stay in it through the offer, the move, and the first 90 days.
- For out-of-area candidates we help with the relocation — a good hire shouldn’t fall through over logistics.
- Every hire is guaranteed for 90 days.
- We check in with both sides after the start date — candidate and client — to make sure it’s actually working.
No price sheet with tiers.Just how it works.
Most searches run contingent — one fee, and you pay only when the person we found starts. No retainer, no upfront commitment. We quote the fee on the first call.
Retained search is available for confidential, senior, or especially hard-to-fill roles — an exclusive engagement with part of the fee paid up front in exchange for dedicated attention and a defined shortlist date.
Every direct hire placement, contingent or retained, is backed by our 90-day replacement guarantee. Not sure which structure fits your role? Ask — we’ll tell you honestly.
Questionsemployers ask.
What does a recruiter cost in the Central Valley?
Most searches run contingent: one fee, invoiced only when the person you hired starts, with a 90-day replacement guarantee behind the placement. There is no retainer, no upfront commitment and no price sheet with tiers. Retained engagements are structured differently, with part of the fee paid up front. We quote the fee on the first call, before you have spent anything.
What is the difference between contingent and retained search?
Contingent means you pay only when we place someone — no retainer, no upfront commitment — and it fits most roles. Retained search is an exclusive engagement for confidential, senior or especially hard-to-fill roles: part of the fee is paid up front in exchange for dedicated attention and a defined shortlist date.
How long does a direct hire search take?
We do not quote a fixed number of days, because an honest answer depends on the role and the market. What we do commit to is the shortlist: we bring you a handful of vetted, genuinely interested candidates in days, not weeks. Every search opens with a visit to your site, and recruiting starts once the engagement letter is signed.
What is the 90-day guarantee?
Every direct hire placement we make, contingent or retained, is backed by a 90-day replacement guarantee. We also stay in the search past the offer: helping with relocation for out-of-area candidates, and checking in with both the candidate and the client after the start date to make sure it is actually working.
Do you recruit in Stockton, Modesto, Sacramento and the Bay Area?
Yes. We are based in Lodi, and we work three corridors: the Central Valley, including Stockton, Modesto and Fresno; the Sacramento region, including Elk Grove; and the Bay Area, including inland operations for Bay-headquartered companies along the I-580/205 corridor. If your site sits in that footprint, we come to you.
Is every search direct hire?
Direct hire is the core of what we do: a permanent hire on your payroll, contingent or retained, with a 90-day replacement guarantee sitting behind the person. If your need is shaped differently, ask on the first call and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right fit.
Are you an executive search firm?
Yes, for leadership roles — that work runs retained or exclusive, with part of the fee paid up front and a defined shortlist date. Below the leadership line we run the same search discipline on a contingent basis. Either way it is direct hire, across our six practice areas: technology and IT, construction and infrastructure, government affairs, operations and industrial, sales and business development, and finance and administration.
Are you a headhunter?
Yes — headhunter is the plain word for what we do on the candidate side. We call people who are not applying to anything, usually by phone, and we do it for one specific search rather than to build a database. There is no cost to the candidate; the employer pays the fee.
Are you an employment agency or a staffing agency?
Those are the words searchers use, and we answer to all of them. What Clover Search Group runs is direct hire recruiting: we find one permanent employee, that person goes on your payroll rather than ours, and a 90-day replacement guarantee sits behind the hire.
In their words.
From our Google reviews. A client and two candidates. An ellipsis marks where a review was shortened.
We had a great experience working with Clover Search Group to find a CFO for our organization. They took the time to understand our operation, our needs, and the kind of person who would fit well with our team. They were easy to work with, transparent throughout the process, and provided strong candidates at a reasonable price. We would gladly work with them again.
Aidan helped connect me with my current CFO role. … We both knew initially that this was a good fit, fast-forward 2 1/2 months later this was a perfect match. Matching agribusiness CFOs can be a challenge, Aidan navigated this match effortlessly.
I wasn’t even in the market searching for a new position. I enjoyed the fact the recruiter wasn’t super persistent pushing the opportunity however the conversations felt like talking to a friend. All of the information I asked about was answered in a timely manner. … I’m moving onto a better position that has a better work life balance for me.
Tell us about the role.
Thirty seconds gets us started — we’ll follow up personally, usually within a business day.
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