Group W Partners is a boutique payments and fintech executive search firm led by former industry executives from American Express, Equifax, Dun and Bradstreet, LexisNexis, and other market‑defining companies. Our team brings 75+ years of leadership experience across sales, product, marketing, commercial card, merchant acquisition, risk, and operations—enabling operator‑level evaluation of talent and a trusted‑advisor recruitment model. We apply real‑world hiring expertise, deep domain knowledge, and a network of 30,000–40,000 senior executives to help clients secure proven payments and fintech leaders who can execute immediately in regulated, mission‑critical environments.
The Group W Partners team
Tim Stainken
Managing Partner
Tim is a former payments executive with leadership roles including VP of Sales, VP of Marketing, and President across Fortune 500 and emerging fintech companies. He spent 15 years at American Express leading sales, product, and marketing teams before building a high‑performing commercial organization for a growth‑stage fintech. Tim now leads Group W Partners’ executive search practice with a focus on revenue, product, and GTM leadership.
Julie Lindley
Senior Partner
Julie brings a 30‑year payments career at American Express, where she led Global Commercial Card/B2B Payments, Merchant Acquisition, and Regional Marketing. She has extensive experience recruiting, hiring, and developing high‑performance payments and fintech teams, giving her a unique operator‑level lens on leadership evaluation.
Glen Pfaff
Associate Partner
Glen has 30+ years of sales leadership experience with American Express, Equifax, and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. He also founded GJP Consulting, a sales acceleration firm. Glen contributes deep expertise in payments recruitment, commercial leadership, and enterprise sales evaluation.
Cathy Piccolo
Recruiting Operations Manager
Cathy has led operations for regional retail and manufacturing companies, most recently serving as operations manager for a national manufacturer in Carlsbad, CA. She manages recruiting operations, workflow optimization, and candidate pipeline coordination
Group W Partners Associate Network — Payments & Fintech Recruiter Partners
Group W Partners maintains a vetted associate network of specialized recruitment agencies for assignments requiring deeper sector expertise or expanded scale. Partner capabilities include MarTech, DeFi, Digital Transactions, and Commercial Database recruitment.