Who We Are
Accounting and Finance staffing,
led by Accounting and Finance professionals
SDL Search Partners is a woman-owned Boston-based professional search firm, founded by former Accounting & Finance professionals who bring a technical expertise to the recruiting process from their time working in the field.
The founding partners, Sarah Dardeno & David Lewis, spent a collective 10+ years working in the accounting & finance field before starting their respective recruiting careers. Throughout their 25 years in staffing, Dardeno & Lewis have used their hands-on industry knowledge to provide consistent, high-quality, accounting & finance staffing solutions to top employers.
In 2022, they came together with a vision of bringing to the marketplace a search firm that puts values and relationship first. What manifested is SDL Search Partners – a professional search firm dedicated to finding and delivering exceptional accounting & finance talent to clients throughout Greater Boston & New England.
At SDL, we are Partners for the long-term, so what you can expect is a relationship that prioritizes transparency, integrity, and ultimately finding you the right person to join your team.
Why Choose Us

Expert search experience. Streamlined hiring solutions. Genuine Partnership.
At SDL, we put partnership first. Our priority is to first understand your hiring needs and then to help solve your problem by identifying the right individual for your team.
If you’re looking to hire on your team, you can rely on us to provide not only fantastic candidates who we have established relationships with – but also market insight and strategy related to salaries, titles, job structuring, leveling, organizational chart design, and more. We provide a high-touch, high-quality approach that sets us apart from agencies that are driven purely by metrics, volume, and transaction.
If you’re looking to find a new position, we’re here to help. We partner with you not to find you your next ‘job’, but to help you build your career.
We provide market insight related to specific opportunities, industries, and company cultures, with a goal of helping to set you up for where you want to be 3 moves from now. We provide many unique, exclusive opportunities you may not see listed on job boards, or provided by other agencies. We’ll support you through every stage of the job search process – all the way to your next accepted offer!
What is Our Process : Hiring
Introductory Call
Hiring on your team? We’re happy to set up an introductory call to understand your unique needs, and for you to meet with one of our experienced Account Managers to ensure your success in hiring.
The Interview Process
We provide strategic guidance to support you through the interview process. We’ll schedule, coordinate & provide candidate feedback for each round of the interviews, easing the burden of managing multiple candidates through the interview process at once.
Securing Your Candidate
We’ll support you in navigating timelines, crafting an offer letter, creative solutions in salary negotiations, developing an onboarding plan, and more!
What is Our Process : Getting Hired
Meet with your Recruiter
The first step in our process is always an initial call to learn a bit about your background, and what it is you’re looking to do in a next step. We’ll also get a sense of your timeline so that we can move appropriately, whether it’s a paced, or nimble approach.
Applying for a Position
If you’re interested in one of our active openings, we will help navigate the process from there, starting with your application.
We’ll help tailor your resume to give us the best shot at getting you an interview.
We’re working directly with hiring managers, and have a direct line of contact to present your candidacy and communicate feedback
Interviewing
We walk you through each step of the interview process from scheduling the first interview, company-specific preparation for the interviews, all the way to negotiating a competitive and exciting offer.
SDL Reviews
Dave is one of the best recruiters in the business. He takes the time to listen, and he really tried to place me in the best possible situation. Dave is not someone who simply looked to get me into the next role that came across his desk. He was willing to work with me to find the RIGHT role. Dave also has one unique quality that I find very valuable. He’s been in my shoes. Dave has worked in accounting and finance. He has a master’s in accounting. He can therefore easily relate to not only me, but also potential companies looking to hire.
During my previous job search, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah, unfortunately, days before I accepted an offer elsewhere. Meeting with many (20+) recruiters at various firms, I feel qualified to say that Sarah is top-tier in her industry.
Sarah and I reconnected this spring when she presented me with an opportunity for that dream job we had discussed. We began working together and she was there every step of the way in her energetic, attentive, and personable way. I was treated as if I was her most important client. Through her relationships and hard work, I was able to reach my true potential and land that job! She is humorous, sincere, and an exemplary professional in the recruiting & staffing industry. If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to work with Sarah!
A unicorn recruiter. Working with Lori was by the far the most positive experience with a recruiter I’ve ever had. Having worked with several, I cannot express with words just how appreciative I am of her sincerity, compassion, and dedication to advocating for my best interest. She understood my interests, expectations, and concerns for a potential role and found a position that fit those needs, and I had an incredible offer in front of me in no time.
Dave was an incredible asset and partner during my job search. He was extremely patient, understanding, and open as we discussed the next step in my career. He was very strategic and specific with the roles that he shared, and there was never any pressure to make a decision that was not in my best interest. We stayed in touch for a couple years until the right role came up, and he was instrumental in helping me manage the process from resume updates and interviews all the way through accepting the offer and getting started. He always put my interests first, and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a patient, professional, and talented individual to help them find the next step in their career.
It was an absolute pleasure working with Lori during my latest job search. After initially reaching out to me two years ago and learning that I had just been promoted by my previous employer, she offered congratulations and suggested re-connecting sometime in the future when I was ready to make my next career move. This was an early indication that Lori treated candidates as people and not just numbers–something that more recruiters should do. Fast-forward 14 months, I was ready for a change and immediately heard back from her after following up on our earlier LinkedIn exchange. The subsequent weeks of identifying, talking through, and preparing for opportunities in my field was further proof of how adept Lori is at navigating the hiring market here in Greater Boston. It took just a handful of weeks for her to find and help me land what can only be described as the “perfect” next progression in my professional trajectory. Throughout the process, Lori proved to be the consummate guide, never hesitating to give encouragement before interviews, and proactively pulling in one of her colleagues who had valuable, additional insights to share on a potential employer when the situation warranted it. In the end, with an incredible offer in hand, I knew that the rapid success of my job search was largely due to Lori’s insistence on putting my interests first while listening to me every step of the way. Please get yourself a recruiter like Lori who will actually strive to honor your needs and ultimately go above and beyond in meeting them!
I have worked with Sarah over the course of the past 6 months exploring new career opportunities transitioning from Big 4 accounting. Sarah placed me at my most recent job and I cannot express enough how impressed I was with her professionalism, dedication and expertise. Sarah takes a personal interest on finding the right role for you and your career. She additionally does so without being “pushy” or over-the-top. Sarah and I went through a number of opportunities together and, as a team, she was able to place me in a great role for the current stage of my career. I look forward to working with Sarah as I continue my career and would recommend her to anyone who seeking a new opportunity or career advice in general.
Dave was extremely beneficial in helping me find a job that worked for me. I was honest with him about what I was looking for, and he didn’t try to make me change that, which I truly appreciate. He was interested in finding the right role for me, not just about putting me in any open role. Dave and the team at Hollister were great about answering all my questions and helping me prepare for my interviews. I would recommend Dave to anyone who is looking to find a new job.
Lori was wonderful to work with and made the entirety of the search process seamless. Not only was she consistently responsive, but she was also knowledgeable about the industry that she was working in. Additionally, she went the extra step to follow up and provide a background of the interview process for each firm. Within a few weeks, I was fortunate enough to receive a job offer thanks to Lori’s dedication and hard work. She also demonstrated her adaptability with being able to operate during COVID-19 given the change in nature of the general interview process. Altogether, Lori helped me with my overall personal and professional goals, and that took a lot of the stress off of me during the interview process, because she was willing to treat it with high priority. Lori was awesome to work with, and I recommend anybody early on in their job search to reach out to her.
Sarah was amazing to work with from the moment we made contact. She was laser focused on ensuring that the process led to the right fit for both company and candidate. I also appreciated her follow through and the way she set appropriate expectations. Sarah is not one to over-promise and under-deliver. If she tells you she will follow-up, she follows up. I highly recommend Sarah from both the candidate and client side.
Dave was incredibly helpful through every step of my job search. I feel like I won the lottery working with him as a recruiter. He was very attentive to the type of role I was interested in and the career path I wanted to take, even though that may have gone beyond what my qualifications and formal background were on paper. He was receptive to all of my questions and thoroughly prepared me for every step of the interview process. He was really on my side! I highly recommend working with Dave if you are looking to make your next career move.
I was immediately impressed by Lori’s level of professionalism and commitment to working with me on finding prospective opportunities. Her ability to respond quickly and take action is next-level. I’m typically very skeptical of recruiters, as they often seem in competition with their own colleagues, spamming inboxes to fill quotas.
Conversely, Lori is extremely genuine and a team player. Her primary concern is aligning the needs of her clients and finding the best possible matches. Working with Lori and her team was a very positive experience for me and has changed the way I view talent acquisition.
I highly recommend Sarah Dardeno as a recruiter for the fields of accounting and finance. Throughout the entire placement process, Sarah conducted herself with the utmost level of integrity, courtesy, and above all, professionalism to help me make the right career decision. Sarah conveyed her understanding of my next career move and always had an open-mind when it came to new opportunities; and if they were the right fit for my career growth in Corporate Finance. Beyond countless phone calls and seemingly endless availability, Sarah was able to provide me with fantastic feedback that I know was critical in helping me attain the right job. I will always be grateful for Sarah’s efforts and patience.
Dave is one of the best recruiters in the business. He takes the time to listen, and he really tried to place me in the best possible situation. Dave is not someone who simply looked to get me into the next role that came across his desk. He was willing to work with me to find the RIGHT role. Dave also has one unique quality that I find very valuable. He’s been in my shoes. Dave has worked in accounting and finance. He has a master’s in accounting. He can therefore easily relate to not only me, but also potential companies looking to hire.
During my previous job search, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah, unfortunately, days before I accepted an offer elsewhere. Meeting with many (20+) recruiters at various firms, I feel qualified to say that Sarah is top-tier in her industry.
Sarah and I reconnected this spring when she presented me with an opportunity for that dream job we had discussed. We began working together and she was there every step of the way in her energetic, attentive, and personable way. I was treated as if I was her most important client. Through her relationships and hard work, I was able to reach my true potential and land that job! She is humorous, sincere, and an exemplary professional in the recruiting & staffing industry. If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to work with Sarah!
Dave was an incredible asset and partner during my job search. He was extremely patient, understanding, and open as we discussed the next step in my career. He was very strategic and specific with the roles that he shared, and there was never any pressure to make a decision that was not in my best interest. We stayed in touch for a couple years until the right role came up, and he was instrumental in helping me manage the process from resume updates and interviews all the way through accepting the offer and getting started. He always put my interests first, and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a patient, professional, and talented individual to help them find the next step in their career.
I have worked with Sarah over the course of the past 6 months exploring new career opportunities transitioning from Big 4 accounting. Sarah placed me at my most recent job and I cannot express enough how impressed I was with her professionalism, dedication and expertise. Sarah takes a personal interest on finding the right role for you and your career. She additionally does so without being “pushy” or over-the-top. Sarah and I went through a number of opportunities together and, as a team, she was able to place me in a great role for the current stage of my career. I look forward to working with Sarah as I continue my career and would recommend her to anyone who seeking a new opportunity or career advice in general.
Dave was extremely beneficial in helping me find a job that worked for me. I was honest with him about what I was looking for, and he didn’t try to make me change that, which I truly appreciate. He was interested in finding the right role for me, not just about putting me in any open role. Dave and the team at Hollister were great about answering all my questions and helping me prepare for my interviews. I would recommend Dave to anyone who is looking to find a new job.
Sarah was amazing to work with from the moment we made contact. She was laser focused on ensuring that the process led to the right fit for both company and candidate. I also appreciated her follow through and the way she set appropriate expectations. Sarah is not one to over-promise and under-deliver. If she tells you she will follow-up, she follows up. I highly recommend Sarah from both the candidate and client side.
Dave was incredibly helpful through every step of my job search. I feel like I won the lottery working with him as a recruiter. He was very attentive to the type of role I was interested in and the career path I wanted to take, even though that may have gone beyond what my qualifications and formal background were on paper. He was receptive to all of my questions and thoroughly prepared me for every step of the interview process. He was really on my side! I highly recommend working with Dave if you are looking to make your next career move.
I highly recommend Sarah Dardeno as a recruiter for the fields of accounting and finance. Throughout the entire placement process, Sarah conducted herself with the utmost level of integrity, courtesy, and above all, professionalism to help me make the right career decision. Sarah conveyed her understanding of my next career move and always had an open-mind when it came to new opportunities; and if they were the right fit for my career growth in Corporate Finance. Beyond countless phone calls and seemingly endless availability, Sarah was able to provide me with fantastic feedback that I know was critical in helping me attain the right job. I will always be grateful for Sarah’s efforts and patience.
Dave is one of the best recruiters in the business. He takes the time to listen, and he really tried to place me in the best possible situation. Dave is not someone who simply looked to get me into the next role that came across his desk. He was willing to work with me to find the RIGHT role. Dave also has one unique quality that I find very valuable. He’s been in my shoes. Dave has worked in accounting and finance. He has a master’s in accounting. He can therefore easily relate to not only me, but also potential companies looking to hire.
During my previous job search, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah, unfortunately, days before I accepted an offer elsewhere. Meeting with many (20+) recruiters at various firms, I feel qualified to say that Sarah is top-tier in her industry.
Sarah and I reconnected this spring when she presented me with an opportunity for that dream job we had discussed. We began working together and she was there every step of the way in her energetic, attentive, and personable way. I was treated as if I was her most important client. Through her relationships and hard work, I was able to reach my true potential and land that job! She is humorous, sincere, and an exemplary professional in the recruiting & staffing industry. If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to work with Sarah!
Lori is an exceptional professional and person. Her help provided with me the perfect assistance for not only finding a job but finding the right job! Not only did Lori connect me with great opportunities but she also was a great mentor throughout the search, interview, offer management, and post job acceptance processes.
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