Matt Hagen is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Omera Partners, specialising in C-suite, board, and senior executive search across financial services and professional services. With a career built on long-term relationships and a deep understanding of what exceptional leadership looks like at the top of Australian business, Matt is trusted by some of the country’s most significant organisations with their most consequential appointments.
What are the biggest challenges your clients face in finding senior talent?
“Most organisations underestimate how narrow the true candidate pool is at the executive level, and how quickly the wrong process can close doors with the best people.”
Which industries or functions do you specialise in?
“I specialise in C-suite appointments across financial services and professional services for ASX-listed, private, and PE-backed organisations. Occasionally I take on mandates outside those sectors where the complexity demands a particularly high level of expertise and experience.”
What types of appointments are you most proud of?
“Running the mandate for the Head of Australia and New Zealand for a major global insurance group is one that stands out. The business had just come through a landmark international acquisition, and the parent company needed someone who could stabilise the local operation while still building a genuine growth strategy. Getting that appointment right, at that moment, made a real, material difference to the business.”
The entity had recently become part of a much larger global group following a landmark acquisition that brought two well known international brands together under one leadership structure. The Australian and New Zealand business represented north of half a billion dollars in revenue and employed over one thousand people, and it needed a leader who could hold the operation steady through integration while still setting a genuine growth agenda. The brief called for strong financial services credentials, ideally paired with travel industry experience, and the ability to work diplomatically with a global executive team while taking ownership of every function other than information technology. It was a role that demanded equal parts stabiliser and strategist.
As Matt reflects: “These assignments carry real complexity, a business in the middle of integration, a global parent watching closely, and a short window to get it right. It is exactly the kind of challenge I enjoy.”
How do you build trust with both clients and candidates?
“Executive search at this level is a relationship business. I have known many of my clients and candidates for decades, some going back to the very early days of Omera. That history means they pick up the phone knowing I understand their world, I will protect their reputation, and I will be honest with them even if it might prove to be a challenging or uncomfortable discussion.”
“Finding greatness elevates what we do from the transactional to the emotive, and when it’s found it changes the lives of families, drives the economy through greater shareholder returns, and for our NFP clients, creates better lives for vulnerable people and our entire community.”
What keeps you energised outside of work?
“Travel. There is nothing like a change of geography to reset your thinking and come back sharper. I am also a National Ambassador for Apropela, an organisation supporting early-stage female entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth through business connections and mentorship.”
