Tier One Executive Search, which has focused on the automotive and manufacturing sectors for 20 years, said on Monday that it has named Elliott Duda as director of the company’s North American Retail Automotive Practice.

Tier One senior partner Mark Thibodeau said in a news release that Duda has performed well on the manufacturing side for the company, “and this is a natural step for him.”

The company in recent years has worked to grow the dealership/retail side of the business to become more than 30% of the overall revenues.

Duda says that the practice works to help large dealership groups and independent owners solve talent gap problems that occur because of turnover, natural attrition, succession issues or underperforming teams or team members.

According to the company, the retail practice seeks out and secures talent at the dealership group corporate level and store level within general management, sales and fixed operations.

“It’s an exciting practice area focused on the niche area of selling vehicles and related aftermarket and replacement parts, but with a lot of variety," Duda said.

He continued, “In any given week, we might be in the middle of searching for a CFO or COO for a 100-store dealer group, and in the middle of searches for a store general manager, pre-owned manager, service manager and sales professional,” Duda said.

The manufacturing side of the business is a global practice, while the retail practice mainly focuses on the United States and Canada, Thibodeau said.