Jill Knittel is the President & CEO of JK Executive Strategies and specializes in Executive Level Retained Search for her client companies. Jill has developed a proven methodology and discipline that she follows for every search; resulting in clear expectations, timelines and communication throughout each engagement.

With 20 years of experience in direct hire and retained search, she has completed successful searches including national retained searches for: CEOs, Executive Directors, CFOs, VPs of Finance, VPs of M&A, General Counsel, VPs of Human Resources amongst others. In addition to search work, Jill provides HR Consulting Services to organizations in need of hiring and process expertise.

Prior to launching JK Executive Strategies, Jill spent 2 years as a Financial Advisor and Partner with the Parker/Burke Team at Sage Rutty & Company.

Before joining Sage Rutty in 2015, Jill was the President and co-owner of ER Select and the Chief Operating Officer of ER Associates. Her responsibilities included overseeing all activities for all product lines of the companies on a regional and national basis. ER Associates Family of Companies provides executive and professional search, outplacement and career development services, as well as human resources consulting, contract staffing and RPO solutions. Jill’s responsibilities included supervision of all staff and operations, financial reporting, marketing, budgeting and strategic planning for the company. In addition to her operational responsibilities, Jill led the Retained Search Practice and performed Retained Executive Searches for companies, specializing in C-level positions.

Jill completed a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Accounting at St. John Fisher College. She was a recipient of the Rochester’s Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 award in 2006 and was a finalist of the Women’s Council Athena Award in 2014. She was awarded the Women of Excellence Award in2019 by the Rochester Business Journal. In 2020, Jill received the Small Business Person of the Year award by the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and in 2022, she received the Circle of Excellence Award from the Rochester Business Journal.

As an individual who is committed to the community, Jill is a member of the Board of Trustees at St. John Fisher College, a $90mm Liberal Arts College located in Rochester, NY. Jill serves as the Chair of the Strategic Enrollment Committee and is a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee. Jill also serves on the School of Business Advisory Board, Accounting Advisory Board and is a founding member of the Duplessis Wolfe Accounting Society. Jill received the Dean’s Medal from St. John Fisher in 2014.

Jill also serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Governors for Hillside Family of Agencies, a $143mm Human Services Organization headquartered in Rochester, NY. She is the immediate past-Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Bivona Child Advocacy Center and was the Chairperson of Bivona’s successful $5mm capital campaign. Jill is an active member of Vistage and Entrepreneur’s Organization.