Adam Zak

Managing Director

Adam Zak is a Managing Director at Comhar Partners, leading the firm’s Operations & Operational Excellence executive search practice.  Adam works with a wide variety of organizations including entrepreneurial businesses mid-market and privately held companies, private equity-owned portfolios, and a number from the Fortune 500. The common denominator: their pursuit of superior operational and financial performance through continuous business improvement, innovation, and value creation. 

For 30+ years Adam has specialized in recruiting exceptionally talented executives who help transform the companies they join. His focus and process, deeply aligned with Comhar Partners, are client-driven and highly collaborative. Clients trust his commitment to their success. They rely on his rigorous tailored assessment of their business issues and critical position requirements. They value his personal attention, insight, and intensity in each search engagement he leads. They benefit from the best outcomes: selecting only exceptional, highly qualified candidates for their key leadership roles. Adam’s work in operational excellence and operations (engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain) targets senior executives in C-level, Vice President, or Director roles across a broad range of industries.

Prior to joining Comhar Partners, Adam managed his own boutique search firm, Adam Zak Executive Search. His work in automotive and industrial sectors led to Lean manufacturing recruiting engagements for the Robert Bosch Corporation, quickly followed by additional Lean search projects for Delphi Automotive, ArvinMeritor, Ford, Parker Aerospace, Kennametal, Rockwell, and a wide variety of other 1990s “Lean Thinking” converts. In 1997 he helped McKinsey & Co. as they began to recruit experienced Lean practitioners into what eventually became their global operations and operational excellence consulting practice.

Prior to launching his firm, Adam worked with international recruiting firms in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. He earned his undergraduate degree in accounting at the University of Illinois and began his career as a CPA with KPMG Peat Marwick. Adam subsequently worked in manufacturing and financial services, as well as in Silicon Valley venture capital helping fund some of the great start-ups of the 1980s.