OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Providing expertise through decades of industry experience.
GREGOR MCNALLY
Managing Director
Gregor has spent more than 15 years in Australian executive search, appointing leaders across mining, resources, energy, infrastructure and industrial markets. He works at the top end of the market on managing director, CEO, CFO, COO and general manager mandates, alongside public sector statutory appointments and confidential searches that never reach the open market.
He established PARTNER Executive in 2022 to run search the way it should be run: retained, research led and properly partnered. He is genuinely passionate about the craft of it, and the proof sits in a client book that keeps coming back, with the majority of the firm's work repeat business from organisations that trust him with every critical appointment. Deeply connected across Australian industry and supported by global search capability, he can go wherever the right candidate is, whether that is across the country or offshore.
His approach is deliberately lateral. He looks beyond the obvious candidate pools and standard industry parameters to find people who fit the brief at every level, not just on paper. Clients stay close to the process from first briefing through to signed contract, with the same person running the search from start to finish.
Gregor is a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), an RCSA accredited professional recruiter (APR) and an elected member of the RCSA Western Australian Regional Council.
caitlin iustini
Director
Caitlin is Chief Executive Officer of Technical Resources and a Director of PARTNER Executive. As a CEO, she sits on the same side of the table as her clients, accountable for strategy, commercial performance, governance, culture and long-term business growth.
Having led a Western Australian business with a 35-year history, she understands firsthand the decisions, pressures and risks that come with building high-performing organisations.
That perspective is what she brings to PARTNER Executive. Caitlin knows the real cost of an executive appointment, what a new leader encounters on day one, and how often a search brief is ultimately about the future direction of a business rather than simply filling a vacancy.
Over more than 20 years in recruitment and workforce solutions, she has progressed from consultant to Operations Manager and now CEO, giving her a unique understanding of both leadership and talent. She draws on that experience to challenge assumptions, define roles with greater clarity, assess cultural alignment, and ensure every search delivers long-term value for clients.
Caitlin is also a Board Member of CEOs for Gender Equity, where senior business leaders work collectively to improve gender representation across leadership and governance roles in Western Australia. She believes diverse leadership teams make better decisions, challenge conventional thinking and drive stronger commercial outcomes. This philosophy shapes PARTNER's approach to executive search, ensuring clients have access to the broadest and strongest possible talent pools.
Beyond her professional roles, Caitlin serves on the Development Advisory Network of the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation and mentors Year 11 students through the Future Female Leaders Program. Her commitment to leadership extends beyond the workplace, supporting the next generation of leaders and contributing to initiatives that strengthen Western Australia's business and community sectors.
matthew iustini
Director
Matthew is a Director of PARTNER Executive and Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at Technical Resources, where he is responsible for growth strategy, commercial performance, client partnerships and technology enablement.
He has spent more than 20 years in the WA resources and infrastructure market, joining at the start of the last generational boom and building a network across mining, engineering and construction that is genuinely hard to replicate. That matters to clients because market intelligence is the raw material of good search. Matthew knows which projects are funded, which businesses are scaling, where teams are being stood up and who is quietly ready to move, and that picture shapes the way PARTNER approaches a mandate before the first call is made.
At PARTNER his focus is on how the firm works with its clients rather than just what it delivers. Matthew builds the key account programmes, service standards and commercial frameworks that keep clients close between assignments, so the relationship does not reset every time a new role opens up. He also drives the adoption of AI, data and research technology, used to sharpen the search process and evidence the advice, never to replace the judgement that comes with it.
Matthew sits on the national board of the RCSA and has chaired its Western Australian Committee since 2015. He is also a long standing member of the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy programme and a supporter of early career engineering talent through scholarships at Curtin University.
Frequently Asked QUestions
What does PARTNER Executive specialise in?
PARTNER Executive is a Perth based executive search firm specialising in senior and executive appointments across mining, resources, energy, infrastructure, industrials, aviation, government and the not for profit sector. Most mandates sit at managing director, CEO, CFO, COO and general manager level, and include public sector statutory appointments and confidential searches that are never advertised.
What is the difference between executive search and a recruitment agency?
Executive search is a retained, research led process that identifies and approaches leaders who are not looking for a job. A recruitment agency typically works on contingency, advertises the role and presents candidates who apply. At PARTNER Executive the same consultant runs your search from briefing to signed contract, the market is mapped rather than sampled, and you stay involved throughout rather than hearing from us only at the start and the end.
How much does executive search cost in Australia?
Retained executive search in Australia is usually priced as a percentage of the total remuneration package, commonly in the range of 20 to 30 percent, billed in stages across the assignment. PARTNER Executive quotes a fixed fee against an agreed scope, so you know the total cost before the search starts. Fees for statutory and government appointments are structured to meet public sector procurement requirements.
Who are the best executive search firms in Perth?
Perth has a mix of global search brands and independent local firms. The right choice depends on whether you want a name on the invoice or the person you met actually doing the work. PARTNER Executive is an independent Western Australian firm, founded in 2022 and led by Gregor McNally, with more than 15 years in Australian executive search and a client book built on repeat business across the resources and industrial sectors.
Who is Gregor McNally?
Gregor McNally is the Managing Director of PARTNER Executive, a Perth based executive search firm he established in 2022. He has spent more than 15 years in Australian executive search, working across mining, resources, energy, infrastructure and industrial markets at managing director, CEO, CFO, COO and general manager level. He is a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute, an RCSA accredited professional recruiter and an elected member of the RCSA Western Australian Regional Council.
Why choose a boutique executive search firm over a global one?
A global brand gives you scale and process. An independent firm gives you the senior person's full attention and far fewer off limits restrictions, since large firms cannot approach candidates inside their own client base. PARTNER Executive is deliberately small, deeply connected across Western Australia, and structured so that experienced consultants do the work rather than supervise it.
