About Jay
Jay Millen is the managing partner of Caldwell’s CEO & Board Practice, focused exclusively on non-executive director recruitment and selection, board succession planning, and C-suite succession with boards of directors and investors. Over the past decade, Jay has personally led more than 150 successful board and CEO succession projects, including public company, pre-IPO, and private advisory board projects. These projects have ranged from single role appointments to board architecture and recruitment for a full class of directors, to multi-year assignments for board evolution. Jay personally works with a range of advanced manufacturing, defense technologies and services, natural resources, infrastructure/energy, and real assets/financial services clients, as well as leading our global practice and advising our partners and clients on governance trends, needs, and challenges in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Experience
Prior to exclusively focusing on the boardroom and C-suite succession, Jay served as the managing partner of our Charleston office, working at the executive level across industrial, natural resources, infrastructure, and technology-enabled businesses worldwide.
Prior to joining the executive search industry with Korn Ferry, Jay led Accenture’s global natural resources practices in London, focusing on mergers and acquisitions for leading agribusiness, forest products, metals, mining, building materials, energy, and infrastructure businesses worldwide. His practice group also conducted significant client support in leadership assessment and development, market segmentation, supply chain optimization, and innovation/new product development.
During tenures with Tenneco, International Paper, and a major private equity venture, Jay held engineering, operations, and leadership roles across a diverse set of forest products and engineered materials companies, culminating in the senior operations executive role in an engineered materials and building/consumer products business.
Education
Jay began his career as an infantry and special operations officer in the US Army after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also earned an MBA in corporate finance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
More About Jay
Jay currently serves on the board of TFX Capital, a veteran-led venture capital fund, and as board chair of James Island Outreach and the Camino Counseling Center. Jay is active in veterans’ and surviving family support efforts, including the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, Stop Soldier Suicide, and Patriot Point Veterans Retreat Center. He previously served as an advisor to the EPA NACEPT Advisory Board and as a member of the board of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Jay is an active lay leader in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, serving on the Diocesan Finance Committee, and is the former senior lay leader of Saint James Anglican Church.
Recent Feedback
“Both Carlos Cata and Jay Millen quickly formed a deep understanding of our company’s structure, culture, and needs, and were spot-on in their assessments of potential “fit” of the candidates they presented. We look forward to partnering with Caldwell again on future executive searches.” – Maggie Yontz, Vice President, Human Resources
“Jay and Courtney are extremely well prepared, provide excellent insights and perspectives on the candidate position, culture, challenges and opportunities. Excellent follow up.” – Executive Vice President, multinational infrastructure engineering & construction company
“The professionalism shown by the recruiters was amazing. I would recommend Caldwell to both the hiring companies and the candidates. I had a very pleasant experience throughout the whole process.” – Vice President, Operations, apparel & lifestyle e-commerce company
Recent News
The How Matters: Selecting and Promoting Leaders in Today’s Challenging Times
Drawing from real-world case studies, Jay Millen shares his expertise on defining your ideal organizational culture, utilizing powerful assessment tools, navigating the complexities of internal promotions, and unleashing the potential of “boundary spanners.” -read more-
Leaning into the Turn: Refocusing Leadership and Communication in the Continuing Coronavirus Crisis. With COVID-19 less likely to stall out in this quarter and more likely to gather steam as we move into the fall, it is incumbent on leaders to think carefully about how to galvanize their organizations in the months ahead. Download this paper for some critical “checklist” issues to review to prepare for the next several months to potentially well into 2021, and some best practices for recruiting and on-boarding in a changed environment. -read more-
Webinar: A View from the Trenches & the Leadership Imperative with General Stanley McChrystal. Caldwell, in association with the McChrystal Group, recently hosted a webinar with General Stanley McChrystal, Founder & CEO, McChrystal Group, former commander of U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). General McChrystal shares his leadership insights on navigating the current and challenging times of today’s business and social climate. -read more-
Nimble Continuity Planning: Leveraging Existing Response Plans to Tackle COVID-19. While the world continues to face the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate, academic, and government leaders are examining the long-range questions “what’s next?” and “how do we respond?” If your organization doesn’t yet have a pandemic response and recovery plan in place, it may be a critical time to take what is in place as a cyber attack or natural disaster response and recovery plan and leverage it as a foundation upon which to build a pandemic response and recovery plan. –read more-
Leading in a Crisis: How to think outside the box when there is no box. We’ve all heard the expression “think outside the box.” But what do you do when there’s no box, no frame of reference, or no paradigm to shift? -read more-
Navigating Uncharted Waters in Uncertain Times. Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic. As COVID-19 continues to spread disruption to the cadence of daily life around the globe, “the new normal” is a fast-evolving concept. -read more-
Blocking and Tackling: Who Will Implement Blockchain in Your Business? As business leaders continue to grapple with the Technology Evolution and Revolution that has accelerated through mobile technology and the internet, yet another capability has come front and center: Blockchain Technology. -read more-
