Thomas C. Zay, Jr.

Managing Director

Houston

Tom brings more than two decades of executive search experience in counseling owners and executive-level management of large global corporations, middle market, and closely held businesses on high profile, strategic assignments where he balances empathy for historical culture with desire for change.

He focuses on critical assignments within the energy and industrial sectors for both corporate staff roles and line operating positions. Because of the global nature of the oil & gas industry a large part of Tom’s practice includes working with domestic companies to staff their foreign operations and international businesses establishing operations in the United States. He also lends his expertise to private equity investors to facilitate their investment objectives in the energy industry, doing so through the recruitment of board members, operating executives and subject matter experts.

Sectors:

• Oilfield Services and Manufacturing
• Midstream energy infrastructure
• Oil and Gas exploration & production
• Specialty contracting for petrochemical, refining, chemical and power facilities

Positions:

• CEO, COO, CFO, Human Resources, Marketing, Sales, HSE
• General Management – business unit
• Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Project/Program management

Tom began his career in executive search in Atlanta with Boyden/Zay & Company. He subsequently  returned to Texas, where he started his career, to establish Boyden’s Houston office.

Prior to executive search, his career was in corporate banking with Continental Illinois Bank in Chicago and its Oil & Gas lending group in Houston and corporate financial positions with United Energy Resources, a multi-billion dollar Houston-based interstate pipeline company.

Tom is an active member of the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association, Houston Producers’ Forum,  Association for Corporate Growth and the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

He holds a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston and a Bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Georgia.

Tom is a mentor to students selected for the University of Houston's Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship program.  He is an avid bicyclist who has participated in the MS150 ride from Houston to Austin more than 15 times.