William “Bill” Trau is a Founding Senior Partner with Kingsley Gate. Bill’s search expertise focuses on placing “C” and VP-level executives for Technology, as well as Industrial/Manufacturing clients.

Over a 25-year career in executive search, Bill has successfully placed over 400 senior executives across multiple functions and industries. Bill has been a prominent client advocate within the Technology, Media, & Telecommunications sector since the mid-1990s. Using a hands-on, client-centric approach, Bill focuses on delivering measurable value to the client, developing extensive market knowledge, and supporting both the client and candidate from initiation through placement and transition.

Prior to joining Kingsley Gate, Bill was a Partner and head of the North American Semiconductor practice for Heidrick & Struggles. Earlier in his career, Bill was a Partner for another top-tier executive search firm, where he was one of the authors of that firm’s 40-day search audit process and participated on numerous quality-related task forces. Bill’s strong client management skills, quality deliverables, and keen ability to articulate his client’s value proposition enabled him to achieve one of the fastest ascents from associate to partner in the firm’s history. Bill is a nationally recognized and published industry panelist, as well as a consultant, on such topics as executive compensation & succession planning for both private and public companies.

Bill earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from The Ohio State University.

Bill is based in our Cleveland and Silicon Valley locations.