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~ Where finding talent and keeping talent meet ~

OceansThree is a search and talent development group focused on helping education technology companies find, grow, and keep the best talent.

Welcome to OceansThree


Like you, we believe quality education changes the trajectory of people’s lives. And finding the right talent can change the trajectory of companies. Diverse human talent is all around us, but it is often squandered by poor fit or lack of development. OceansThree provides access to the right stars and helps you attract, develop, and retain that talent by calling on our 166 years of combined hiring and leadership experience in education and education technology.

graphic of three wavy bright blue lines

OceansThree is a boutique search and talent development company started on the belief that if hiring the right people is one of the most important elements of a successful business, then hiring a recruiter should be far more than an expensive, transactional experience, with someone who doesn’t understand your industry, and doesn’t know or can’t attract top talent. All the partners at OceansThree are highly experienced recruiters, with deep expertise in the ed tech industry, who will work with you authentically and passionately, from beginning to beyond hiring, to help your company achieve its mission and goals.

graphic of three wavy bright blue lines

We want to be your partner to recruit and place the talent that you need, and we’d love to help you with retention too. We’ll work with you to grow, develop, and retain your talent, either by helping onboard and coach the people that we place, or by allowing you to choose from our suite of professional development services to help you create a winning culture where everyone in your company knows they can fulfill their potential. Our mission is to help you secure, develop, and retain the best talent in the industry.

Our Services


Recruiting & Executive Search

Our part-art, part-science proprietary process is comprehensive and efficient so that we can help you attract and land the best talent for your company.

Talent Development & Retention

Building engaged, high-performing teams is vital to drive revenue growth and retention. Let us help you develop and implement strategic initiatives to exceed your goals.

Coaching & Transformation at Work

Let us help you and your teams thrive in complex and demanding organizational environments, and navigate change with more ease and purpose.
 

By the Numbers



Placement Rate
for 2023

Talent Placement
Retention Rate

Combined Years Recruiting Experience

Years in the Education Sector ~ Since 1985

Talented People in our Network and Database

Our Clients


What Our Clients Say


Robin Lucas, Chief Sales Officer, McGraw Hill
[OceansThree] worked diligently to source and recruit top talent throughout the process, resulting in an amazing hire. One of Tracy’s best attributes is her ability to make passive candidates comfortable and motivated to join a new organization.
Simon Pollitt, Chief Human Resources Officer, Polk Mechanical Company
I experienced Pamela’s quick response to get qualified candidates to the interview stage through her disciplined sourcing and screening and ability and intuition to find the right fit. We filled our position ahead of time with our first choice, qualified, top-caliber candidate.
Jennifer Wilkerson, Vice President of Innovation & Advancement, NCCER
Lauren did an AMAZING job on finding, vetting and providing insight on each of the candidates she sent my way. I appreciate the time, effort and responsiveness she provided. The quality of candidates has been right on target.
Yasminka Nemet, CMO at IXL Learning
 
[OceansThree] are particularly adept at mapping skill sets and experiences between industries which results in a wider, more diverse, candidate pool. Don’t hesitate to talk to OceansThree about your recruiting needs.
Jane B. Hanna, President/Exec. Dir., Construction Education Foundation
Working with OceansThree and Pamela made the load of this very challenging task much lighter. We felt secure that you were on mission with us; we felt heard; and we felt that you both were working on our behalf for a stellar outcome.
Maggie Waples, SVP/General Manager, Herff Jones
Their process is thorough and their counsel ensures that both the company and candidates are well-informed and there are no surprises. We had 3 strong final candidates and had a new VP within 12 weeks. I hope we are able to work together again on other key positions.
Yolanda De Rooy, Chief Learning Officer, eDynamic Learning
[OceansThree] saved me so much time by staying close to multiple candidates throughout a lengthier than originally hoped for process on our end, and helped to close the deal. The best evidence of the high regard in which I hold OceansThree is that our company awarded them our next search without hesitation.
Jonathan Gyurko, President & Co-Founder, ACUE
OceansThree developed and executed against a rigorous process for recruiting top-flight talent. Tracy was also very attuned to our unique culture and sourced candidates who had the qualifications and right inter-personal fit for our team.
Lisa Rahn, Director Product Strategy & Design, eDynamic Learning
Tracy Augustine was professional, helpful, supportive, thorough, and organized. Equipped with extensive knowledge of the education industry, Tracy discussed the role and the company deeply, assessed fit on behalf of both parties, and attracted candidates in an authentic manner.
Jerome Grant, COO, Universal Technical Institute, Inc.
I knew [David] would be the best person to help us develop a learning and development program for a new sales team…David exhibited superb leadership and vision, not only for the training plan, but for other core issues, such as pipeline management, role definition and clarity, and sales team development and structure.
Joan Pedley, VP Marketing, Teachstone
 
David’s work with us began as a need to create a day of selling skills training to a disparate sales team. He quickly jumped into our business, and discovered other organizational needs where he offered advice, including connecting sales and marketing, sales leadership development, and alignment of our mission with our value proposition.
Audrey Iffert-Saleem
 
I really enjoyed working with Tracy on my career transition and job search. Tracy has a deep understanding of the ed tech field, which allowed her to provide excellent feedback on how to craft my LinkedIn profile and resume for the jobs I'm seeking, as well as insights on how to leverage my network to get where I want to go.
Rachel Amy, Director of Sales, Coton Colors Company
Cindy’s extensive knowledge in a wide range of industries allows her to provide guidance to her clients in a way that many cannot. She uses her previous experience to provide exceptional coaching so that the client can excel in their goals. She has a passion for coaching leaders and knows how to guide them to create a winning team.
Liz Rockhold, former SVP of Sales, Turnitin
OceansThree’s extensive network in the industry assured we were able to see a broad spectrum of excellent candidates. And, their experience as hiring managers brought a unique perspective to our recruiting process, which was invaluable in filling these roles.
Danny McElhinny, Chief Revenue Officer, Hudson Global Scholars
I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in finding my next role. Tracy and the OceansThree team were diligent, accommodating, patient, and quick to answer my questions. Tracy’s advice and leadership throughout the recruiting process were instrumental in my landing at a company that fit my vision.
Cindy Clarke, VP, Digital Communications, Elsevier; Former VP Marketing, VitalSource Technologies
[OceansThree] spent time speaking with me to understand the requirements of the role, my management style and the company culture. This led to a shortlist of truly qualified candidates, and we even ended up creating a second role and hiring 2 of the candidates because they were both such a great fit.