The right talent can make or break an investment.

With over 25 years experience advising private equity firms and their portfolio companies, every search we complete is underpinned by the full power of our team.

TEAM

SCOTT DUNKLEE

Partner

Scott is a Founder and Managing Partner of the Lancer Group, a Private Equity-focused executive search firm and human capital consultancy providing private equity clients and their portfolio companies high-impact C-suite talent who drive exceptional value creation. Scott has instilled a culture of exceptional client-focus and search execution at Lancer. He has also been instrumental in the firm’s development since 1998, overseeing over 350 C-suite searches predominantly for private equity-backed software companies. Scott has led Lancer Group’s focus on software, and personally recruited out of more than 100 industry verticals as well as led the firm’s Value Creation Services effort – linking C-suite executives with actionable deal ideas to the firm’s PE clients. Notably, one of those introductions led to a $200 million equity check “in” and over $800 million back to the PE fund.

Prior to founding The Lancer Group in 1998, Scott worked in the Silicon Valley office of Heidrick & Struggles as a member of the firm’s International Technology Practice. Before entering the Search industry, Scott was Director of Business Development for a Mexico City based holding company where he oversaw the company’s equity investments and served in interim management roles for various portfolio companies. Previously, he was a special projects consultant to Ford Motor Company’s Venezuelan subsidiary and a Corporate Development Analyst with FNRS Financial Corporation, a former subsidiary of Wells Fargo Holding Company. He is also the Executive Producer of the Emmy-nominated documentary, The Matador.

Scott received his B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from the University of Southern California in 1988 and his MBA from The Kellogg School at Northwestern University in 1995.

Dashan Subramaniam

PARTNER

Dashan is a Partner with The Lancer Group and is responsible for successfully placing C-level executives into key leadership roles for the firm’s public and private equity clients. He has worked on numerous C-level searches and competitive intelligence projects while taking an active role in refining research techniques and best practices used by the firm to identify top-tier executive talent.

Prior to joining the Lancer Group, Dashan served as Project Manager in the Mauritian Energy Industry for several years; prior to his time in Mauritius, he was based out of Malaysia where he served as General Manager for a 25-year-old post-press business unit.

Dashan earned a Bachelors’s in Economics from the University of San Francisco and holds an LLB with honors from the University of Hertfordshire. He is fluent in Bahasa and Tamil.

Brett Williams

SENIOR RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT

Brett is a Senior Recruitment Consultant with more than 15 years of experience in sourcing and recruiting, and prides himself on his ability to solve complex challenges related to human capital. He has recruited across a range of roles for every type of employer, from large Fortune 500 companies to early-stage startups, to rapid-growth scaleup companies. As an experienced headhunter, he has completed searches in North and South America, Europe, and China.    ​

He began his career working with investment banks, followed by years as a competitive intelligence analyst. Eventually, Brett found his way to recruitment and realized it combined two of his greatest passions – research and human engagement.​

Brett attended Queen’s University and began his studies in Computer Science and graduated with a degree in Classical Studies.

Marilyn Buehler

ASSOCIATE RECRUITER

Marilyn is an Associate Recruitment Consultant with Lancer Group and is responsible for supporting the firm’s search execution and business development initiatives. Since joining Lancer Group, she has been involved in numerous C-Suite searches for leading private-equity-backed portfolio companies across the tech, software, business services, healthcare, and consumer space. ​

Earlier in her career she worked in the mental health field leading a Neurocognitive Therapy unit at a private practice and worked as a User Experience Designer for a San Diego-based technology startup with the mission to provide accessible housing to international students. ​

Marilyn received a Bachelors in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration from the University of San Diego.

May Ling Lai

HEAD OF ANALYTICS PRODUCTS
May Ling is an experienced executive with a demonstrated history of managing teams and working with C-level executives and board members. Her financial services experience includes portfolio management, risk management, research, and operational experience. May Ling’s technological background includes systems development and integration, data visualization, programming, and prototyping. Her experience in analytical tools includes R, SQL, and Tableau.

Simon Villata

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Simon Villata joined The Lancer Group in 2019, performing business development and executive search duties ever since.

Prior to his concurrent family office position – involving investment management focused mainly in the property sector – Simon worked at ANZ Bank Equity / Linwar Securities developing business with local fund management groups for Institutional Australian Equities.

Between 1998 Simon business developed Institutional Japan Equities with European and USA funds for Commerzbank in Frankfurt and New York, having done the same for Deutsche Bank in Tokyo between 1991 and 1997, working on accounts such as Fidelity, Alliance Capital and UBS IM.

Simon studied Economics at Sydney University between 1982 and 1986.

Adam Ladwig

CONSULTANT

Adam is a Consultant with The Lancer Group and is responsible for supporting the firm’s search execution and business development initiatives.

Since joining The Lancer Group, he has been involved in numerous C-Suite search engagements for both public and leading private equity-backed portfolio companies across the tech, software, business services, healthcare, and consumer space.

Adam received his Bachelor’s degree double majoring in Communications and Sociology from the University of Washington.

Matt Lasov

BOARD ADVISOR
Matt Lasov , Blue Ocean’s Chief Financial Officer (NASDAQ: BOCN), is an accomplished finance and strategy executive in the professional services and technology industries, with a strong track record of growing and operating businesses globally. Previously, Matt served as the Chief Strategy Officer at ConsumerDirect, a financial technology company in the money, credit, and privacy spaces.

From 2019-2021, Matt was a Director at Slalom, a global consulting firm, founding and leading the Strategy Practice in Southern California. Matt also served as Vice President of Finance and Operations at ExecOnline, a privately held education technology company focused on leadership development.

Matt served in leadership positions including Head of Advisory, and Head of EMEA at FrontierView, now FiscalNote (NYSE: NOTE), a boutique global market intelligence and advisory firm with offices in Washington, London, and Singapore. Matt was promoted to lead the global consulting business after leading the EMEA market intelligence business unit in London and growing it into the company’s largest business unit. Additionaly, during his tenure Matt started a consulting business unit, growing it to $5m in annual revenue. 

Matt Lasov was featured in the Financial Times, recognized for his expertise in market analysis and global business trends. He also appeared on Bloomberg, where he shared insights on economic developments and strategic industry forecasts.

Mr. Lasov graduated from McGill University in 2006 with a B.A. in Political Science.

Haydon Knight

Asia–Pacific (APAC) Advisor

Haydon is a former Consultant with the Lancer Group where he was responsible for driving the firm’s executive search operations and business development initiatives. He has worked on numerous C-level searches and competitive intelligence projects while taking an active role in refining research techniques and best practices used by the firm to identify top-tier executive talent.

Currently Haydon advises Lancer Group on the APAC market and particularly Australia.

Earlier in his career, Haydon served in the Australian Army as a Commissioned Officer and worked in the Department of Emergency Services & Disaster Management for over 11 years in Brisbane Australia.

William Charters

WELLNESS ADVISOR

D.J. Anderson

Marketing Coordinator

D.J. is a marketing coordinator responsible for developing promotional campaigns, content creation, and web presence management.

He received his Bachelor’s degree in Modern Literary Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz.