Building High-Impact Teams for a Private Equity-Backed E&P Company

​Challenge: Hiring to Support Acquisition and Rapid Expansion

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When we began working together, the company, an exploration and production (E&P) firm backed by private equity, was finalizing a key acquisition. Leadership needed to scale teams to manage new assets and business demands quickly.

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Each role required highly specific qualifications:

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• Experience with Permian Basin assets

• Expertise in CO2 flooding, waterflooding, or other recovery methods for niche engineering roles

• Various specialized experiences for operational roles

• Comfort working in lean, fast-paced PE-backed environments

• Proficiency in industry-specific software

• Strong cultural fit for a lean, high-accountability team
   

Each role had a different hiring manager with distinct timelines and communication styles, which made consistency and candidate engagement a top priority.

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Solution: A Strategic, Relationship-Driven Talent Partnership

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TLR Search served as a long-term, strategic hiring partner, not just a transactional recruiter. Across the 5-year partnership, we:

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• Defined success metrics for each role based on growth goals

• Conducted market mapping to identify niche technical talent

• Educated candidates on the brand, team dynamics, and ownership structure

• Shared market intel with HR and hiring managers

• Navigated differences in decision styles to keep momentum strong

• Used transparent, respectful communication to keep top candidates engaged
   

Our deep knowledge of the company’s evolving culture and business needs allowed us to deliver consistently aligned candidates across departments.

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Result: 30+ Strategic Hires and Long-Term Business Impact

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TLR Search helped this private equity-backed E&P company scale its oilfield operations by hiring over 30 engineers, technical leaders, and specialists, driving long-term business value and reducing hiring risk.

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Because the company was relatively unknown at the start, we played a critical role in:

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• Increasing brand visibility with passive candidates

• Reducing time-to-fill on hard-to-source roles

• Supporting hiring managers with process alignment

• Keeping candidate experience consistent across functions
   

Our partnership helped the company grow confidently through acquisition, while staying aligned with its culture, pace, and long-term strategy.​

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Scaling through acquisition?

If you're growing fast and need technical leaders who can keep up, we help you find aligned talent that fits your culture, complexity, and pace.

Let’s explore how you can build a team that scales with you.

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