About Us | BizFirst

How We Got Here

20 years on the client side.
Then we built something better.

Jeff Packard spent two decades leading consulting and delivery teams at NTT DATA, Accenture, and KPMG. He was the hiring manager calling recruiting agencies and sitting through candidates who didn't fit. The pattern was always the same: sign a contract, get handed off to a junior recruiter juggling 25 other clients, wait weeks for submissions that missed the mark.

BizFirst was built to fix that. Small team. Senior people. Real accountability. Every Client Delivery Lead manages just 3-4 accounts, backed by 60+ years of combined recruiting experience across the team.

I built BizFirst to be the recruiting firm I wished existed when I was a hiring manager -- one where the person you talk to on day one is the same person managing your search on day thirty.

Jeff Packard, Founder & CEO

Boutique by Design

Small team. Deep engagement.
That's the whole point.

Most recruiting firms scale by adding clients per recruiter. We scale by adding recruiters per client. The result is a model where senior people stay close to every search.

3:1

Clients per Delivery Lead

Industry average is 20-30 clients per account manager. Our Delivery Leads carry 3-4 accounts. That means real attention, same-day responses, and someone who actually knows your business.

Same-day responses

When you send an email or leave a voicemail, your Delivery Lead responds the same business day. Not a coordinator. Not a chatbot. The person running your search.

Senior people on every engagement

Your search is led by experienced professionals who've placed hundreds of candidates. The person who scopes your engagement is the same person who delivers results.

Leadership

Meet the team

At most firms, the person who sells you is different from the person who serves you. At BizFirst, Jeff and Ian are hands-on in every engagement, backed by advisors who keep us aligned to client needs and the marketplace.

Jeff Packard

Founder & CEO · Dulles, VA

Jeff spent 14 years at Dimension Data (now NTT Ltd), where he grew the global consulting and professional services practice from startup to over $1 billion with a team of 6,000. Before that, he held consulting roles at Accenture and KPMG. He's been the hiring manager, the P&L owner, and the executive sponsor, so he understands what good recruiting looks like from the client's chair.

He then co-founded an IT staffing firm serving large federal and civilian contractors, placed 100+ professionals, and exited through a sale.

He built BizFirst to do it differently: small teams, senior attention, and real accountability for outcomes.

The best recruiting relationships feel like an extension of your own team. That's what we're building here.

Ian Bobbitt

Head of Client Delivery · Indianapolis, IN

Ian leads the Client Delivery team, which is the operational core of BizFirst. He makes sure every engagement runs on schedule, every candidate is vetted properly, and every client gets consistent follow-through from kickoff to placement.

Before joining BizFirst, Ian held strategic account management roles at Kinney Group and other technology firms. He earned a B.S. from Indiana University Bloomington with majors in Marketing, Professional Sales, and Entrepreneurship.

John Gasson

Advisor · CEO, Newport Cove Consulting · LinkedIn

John advises BizFirst on go-to-market strategy, client engagement models, and growth in the GovCon and mid-market sectors. He brings a practitioner's perspective to how BizFirst positions itself with clients navigating complex hiring environments.

He is the founder and CEO of Newport Cove Consulting and brings 20+ years of experience guiding Fortune 500 companies and federal contractors through mergers, digital modernizations, and large-scale system transformations. He has led programs exceeding $100M and delivered more than $500M in transformation-related cost savings.

Mike Walker

Advisor · Partner & Head of Global Operations, Vivanti Consulting · LinkedIn

Mike advises BizFirst on scaling operations and building delivery models that hold up as the business grows. He brings an operator's view of what good looks like inside a fast-scaling professional services firm.

He is a founding partner of Vivanti Consulting, a data-focused cloud consultancy with offices in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Before Vivanti, he held senior leadership roles at Tandberg, Cisco, and Amazon Web Services, building and running global teams across more than 25 years in technology.

How Our Team Works

Three roles. One connected team.

Every BizFirst engagement is supported by a tight team with clear ownership.

Client Delivery Leads

Your single point of accountability. They own the relationship, manage each search, and are the person you call when you have a question. Each Delivery Lead manages just 3-4 client accounts.

Recruiter(s)

The sourcing engine behind every engagement. Recruiters identify, screen, and vet candidates using a mix of direct outreach, AI-powered sourcing, and industry networks. Every submission is personally reviewed.

Founder & CEO

Jeff stays close to every engagement, not as a figurehead, but as an active participant. He's available to clients directly and involved in strategy, scoping, and quality reviews across the portfolio.

Built different.
By design.

20 years on the client side.
Then we built something better.