About Cleverain
Launched by business builders.
Cleverain is a partner-led executive search firm specialising in critical, complex and hard-to-fill appointments across government and the private sector. Our search expertise is strengthened by experience across technology, capital, operations and commercial growth.
Alison Masa and Anthony Singh have founded businesses, led teams, backed emerging ventures and been accountable for significant organisational outcomes. They understand the weight of a critical appointment because they have made those decisions themselves, and have seen how the right person can change the direction of an organisation.
Our story
Before Cleverain
Our experience began long before the Cleverain name.
Anthony had built and scaled recruitment businesses, developed deep market networks and worked alongside emerging ventures through investment, commercialisation and growth.
Alison had led technology, product and transformation across complex corporate environments, with responsibility for strategy, teams, stakeholders and delivery.
Their paths were different, but both had seen the same thing: the success of an organisation often comes down to finding the right people at the right moment.
2018
Cleverain was launched.
Cleverain was launched to help businesses solve challenges across technology, capital, operations and commercial growth.
Through that work, one need kept emerging: finding the right people. Not simply filling vacancies, but identifying exceptional executives and specialist talent for roles that were critical to an organisation’s future, especially those difficult to fill through conventional recruitment.
Today
Executive Search is our core focus.
Executive Search became a natural extension of what Cleverain had always done: understand the challenge, identify what is missing and connect organisations with the people and expertise required to move forward.
Today, it is our core focus, supported by Cleverain’s wider experience across Technology, Money, Business Backbone and Marketplace.
Meet the founders
Different perspectives.Shared accountability.
Alison and Anthony bring complementary perspectives to every Cleverain engagement. Together, they combine executive search and market intelligence with strategic leadership, entrepreneurial experience, commercial judgement, technology, transformation and first-hand business ownership.
They challenge each other’s thinking, remain closely involved throughout every assignment and share responsibility for both the strategy and the result.
A partnership built for complex briefs
Years of shared experience mean Alison and Anthony can often unpack in one focused session what might otherwise take a full day of meetings.
That pace does not come from shortcutting the process. It comes from quickly recognising the commercial, organisational and people dynamics behind a brief, and knowing when another specialist perspective will strengthen the outcome.
Anthony Singh
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Executive Search, Strategy & Growth
Anthony is an entrepreneur and executive search professional with more than 25 years of experience building recruitment businesses and helping organisations turn opportunity into growth.
He began his career in recruitment before co-founding specialist technology recruitment consultancy Mindworx, helping grow the business across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. His career later expanded into investment and commercialisation, including co-founding and supporting ventures such as Nvoke Future Learning and MURAconnect.
At Cleverain, Anthony applies deep market knowledge, extensive networks and first-hand business experience across executive search, client relationships, strategy and growth. He brings a strong instinct for recognising both commercial and leadership potential — and for understanding why an appointment matters beyond the position description.
“The right appointment can change the direction of an organisation. I want to understand where the business is going, what could hold it back and who has the judgement and experience to help take it forward.”
Alison Masa
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Strategy, Technology & Transformation
Alison is a strategic and entrepreneurial leader whose experience spans technology, product, transformation, complex program delivery, recruitment and business operations.
Her career includes senior leadership roles with Tabcorp and The Lottery Corporation, where she led multidisciplinary teams, technology portfolios and major programs within complex, highly regulated environments.
At Cleverain, Alison applies strategic leadership, commercial judgement and first-hand executive experience across search strategy, client engagement and the growth of the firm. She understands what leaders must navigate once appointed — from competing priorities and stakeholder expectations to organisational change, decision-making and delivery.
“As both a business owner and a corporate leader, I know the right appointment has to work in practice, not just on paper. We look for leaders who can think strategically, make sound decisions, bring people with them and deliver when the environment is demanding.”
A critical appointment.
A defining career move.
Both deserve a direct conversation.
Speak directly with Cleverain about the challenge behind the role, the leader your organisation needs, or whether an opportunity is the right next move for you.