Aaron Cleavinger, CPSM, C.P.M. is a Partner at Flatiron Search Partners. He brings more than a decade of retained executive search experience, along with an operator background built in consumer-focused businesses during periods of growth, change, and scale. Before founding Murdoch Mason Executive Search Group, Aaron held senior leadership roles across corporate strategy, enterprise transformation, supply chain, procurement, and operations. He began his career in inventory management and operations at Payless ShoeSource, Limited Brands, and PetSmart, where he built and led high-performing supply chain and procurement teams. At Ulta Beauty, Aaron expanded his impact by creating the company’s Corporate Strategy and Enterprise PMO functions during a period of rapid growth. That experience gives him unusual credibility with clients, candidates, and executive teams alike: he has built teams, led change, and knows firsthand what strong leadership looks like from the inside.

Aaron focuses on senior leadership search for companies that think about the consumer every day. He works with businesses across consumer-facing and adjacent sectors, especially where product, service, technology, brand, and execution all matter. His work spans leadership roles across functions, from the C-suite through VP, Director, and other key positions across the organization. Clients value how quickly he understands the business, earns trust with leadership, and finds the people who truly fit.

What sets Aaron apart is the business fluency, instinct, and trust he brings to every search. Clients, candidates, and executive teams describe his approach as human, fast, perceptive, and genuine. He understands people beyond the resume and builds the kind of trust that brings leaders back to work with him again and again.

Aaron earned his MBA in Strategy & Leadership from the University of Notre Dame and holds a B.A. in German with a minor in Management from Brigham Young University. He is also CPSM and C.P.M. certified, with additional training in Lean Six Sigma, negotiation strategy, and strategic procurement. He lives in the Nashville area with his wife, Liz, and their children. Outside of work, he loves family time, travel, mentoring founders and startups, serving in his community, and any excuse to make some music or just make a little noise.