Sarah graduated from Oxford University in 1992 and worked in professional recruitment for ten years before moving into Emerging Markets Search in 2003 initially covering Financial Services in Russia and CIS.  Having travelled extensively throughout East, West and Southern Africa, Sarah took the opportunity in 2008 to focus purely on the African markets.  She co-founded Executives in Africa with Richard Putley in 2010 and has since worked on nearly 100 Search mandates across a range of C-level, Senior Management and Technical roles.  Sector agnostic, she has worked with clients across FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Media, Financial Services, Business Services, Charities, Manufacturing, Property, Energy and Oil & Gas Services in countries right across Africa.

Sarah travels regularly to visit clients on the continent and is passionate about delivering the very best talent, both African and expatriate where required, to contribute to the successful growth of businesses in Africa.  As part of this, Sarah is one of the three founding members of the ‘Professionals for Africa’ network in the UK which now boasts over 1500 members and which organizes UK-based networking events for Africans based in the UK as well as individuals with an interest in doing business in Africa.

Kiera graduated from University of Sussex and spent five years working in recruitment before moving into senior executive appointments in early 2007. Heading up our In-House Research Team, Kiera’s experience working as a Search Consultant gives her and her team an in-depth understanding of each position, thus delivering the relevant, thorough and accurate research, which is critical to the success of every mandate.

Kiera is also responsible for Training, Career Development as well as managing Operational Search Delivery and Quality Assurance. With experience spanning the UK, European and African markets, Kiera manages a team across QA and Research with fluency in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Arabic and Dutch providing relevant language testing capabilities and support.

Simon has over twenty years’ experience of recruitment successfully filling positions with European & African operations of global blue chip companies, often managing large teams to provide recruitment solutions to multiple hiring challenges.

Having been with Executives in Africa since the first year of operations, he has managed diverse Searches across Africa including roles in Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Quality Assurance, Technical, & Human Resources mainly within the FMCG, Oil & Gas and Business Services sectors.  The majority of these positions have been “decision making” predominately at Operational Board level where individuals have been recruited to effect the strategic goals of the business.

Fiona began working in International Search & Selection in 2005, when she joined an emerging markets specialist search firm in London. She subsequently moved to Moscow for two years working on senior roles within the FMCG, Professional Services and Financial Services sectors.

Having returned to the UK in 2008, she started building her networks in Africa, developing sector expertise within Mining and Oil & Gas as well as Media. She now leads C-Level Searches across Africa, her continent of birth, returning whenever the opportunity arises.

Emily graduated in Business Studies from The University of the West of England. Emily has over six years’ Executive Search experience placing professionals into both SMEs and FTSE 100 companies in particular Finance Executives in the UK. She then worked in Switzerland for 10 years, whilst following her ambition to ski competitively. On returning to the UK, she worked as both a Brand Manager and an Executive Assistant for British Gas, part of Centrica Plc, a leading integrated energy company.

Emily has run C-level mandates including within the Agribusiness, Soft Commodities, FMCG, Healthcare, Retail, Pharmaceutical and Media sectors for positions including CEO, Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Marketing Director, HR Director, General Manager Row Crops, Chief Farming Officer, Technical Executive Dairy and Senior R&D. Emily has also run Senior Corporate roles such as Deputy Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Director, Senior Legal Counsel, Senior Vice President and Technical Director for Private Equity Portfolio Businesses and Financial Services.  Emily has travelled extensively.

David has been with Executives in Africa for five years, initially working within the In-House Research team supporting on Search Delivery.  Demonstrating a natural talent for delivering excellence, he has rapidly progressed into an Executive Consultant position and has built strong relationships with a number of key clients as a result of this.  David has successfully recruited for both multinational organisations and locally-based companies delivering on key positions to support their growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

David has worked on mandates across FMCG, Oil & Gas, Agriculture, Chemical and Financial Services including traditional Banking and Private Equity firms. He has worked on a range of C-level roles across various disciplines including HR, Finance, Legal, Sales and Marketing as well as highly specialist Technical positions.  In particular he has a proven track record of finding good local African nationals for roles in francophone countries.

William has been part of the EiA team since 2012, initially joining on a year-long work placement as part of his Business Management degree with the University of Surrey. Since graduation, William has continued his career with EiA, rising quickly through the business, working as a Researcher and an Assistant Consulting before becoming a Search Consultant.

William has successfully executed Searches on a large variety of roles including General Management, Technical, Finance, HR, Sales and Marketing business leaders. He has also has experience across a broad range of industries and sectors including FMCG, Premium Brands, Telecommunications, Agribusiness, Financial Services, Media, and Renewable Energy, especially Solar.

Sarah graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2002 with a joint honours degree in Biology and Business Management. Her career in HR/Resourcing began within the Telecom/Digital sector with a primary focus on psychometric assessment and job profiling.  She completed training with the British Psychological Society and is also a qualified NLP practitioner.

After six years in the Tech sector, she moved into the FMCG sector with a UK-wide remit, resourcing for Commercial, Manufacturing, Procurement, HR and Marketing roles  which gave her experience across a wide range of functions.  She went on to spend a further four years working in the Drinks industry with responsibility for roles across Europe, Middle East and Latin America including Europe Country Managers, Commercial Managers in Latin America, Brand Directors as well as Senior Sales and Category roles.

Sarah’s passion lies in really understanding a client’s talent needs, from a business and cultural perspective, and matching that to both skill set, but more importantly, an individual’s character, in order to deliver the right overall fit to the opportunity.

Emma was born in Zimbabwe and spent most of her life in Southern Africa, moving over to the UK for university. She studied Politics and International relations at the University of Kent. Emma has work experience in the customer service and hospitality industries, which has given her strong people skills, critical in working as an integral part of the Research and Consulting teams.

Her strong ties to Africa combined with her passion for the continent, gives her a real insight into some of the operational challenges faced on the ground by individuals and corporates looking to build careers and businesses respectively. This unique insight makes her very excited to be a part of the research team at Executives in Africa.

Khadija (Heba),  was born in Morocco and moved with her family to Paris at the start of her secondary education.  She went on to achieve Master’s Degrees in International trade and Arabic at the Sorbonne and Dauphine Universities in Paris.  She is therefore trilingual, Arabic, French and English.  Heba has lived and worked in several countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe before settling in the UK in 2010.

Heba’s broad-based work, together with counselling qualifications and life experience enhances her natural ability to understand and communicate with people at all levels.  A natural team player, Heba’s deep personal interest in Africa, resourcefulness and emotional intelligence makes her a highly focused and valuable addition to the EiA In- House Research Team who is keen to further enhance our northern Africa and Francophone reach.

Vanessa graduated from the University of Westminster and initially worked as a photographer, travelling extensively throughout Africa, the Middle East and ex-Soviet republics. Her work encompassed a wide spectrum of subject matter including human-interest stories such as ex-women fighters from Eritrea, Ethiopian architecture and Saharawi refugees from Southern Algeria. Having an Armenian mother, she travelled regularly to Armenia during the 90’s and published a book on the country in 2002.

Vanessa then worked as a freelance researcher for BBC Radio 4 Current Affairs, working on both weekly and one-off series, and for the past ten years she has worked as a freelance consultant for Spotlight Research and Consultancy Ltd. She has conducted numerous in-home ethnographic interviews and focus groups and therefore is now able to combine her keen interest in Africa with extensive interviewing skills and broad international knowledge.

Carla was born in Luanda, Angola, so she is bilingual in Portuguese and English. She graduated from a college in Portugal and obtained an MA in the UK. She has 10 years business experience in the textile manufacturing sector with specific expertise in sourcing, developing and buying fabrics for Marks & Spencer in Europe and Asia.

As a result of working with manufacturing teams from many countries, she brings good understanding to the processes required to raise technical, environmental and safety standards in developing markets to ensure success in international auditable accreditation. With management experience involving regular site visits to Europe, Asia and Morocco, she understands the importance of finding the right person to complement a team in an international environment.

Carla graduated from the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania, USA) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education in 1997. After spending a short time in private banking with Brown Brothers Harriman on Wall Street, New York she moved to the UK where she taught French and Spanish for 9 years at secondary level.

Portuguese by birth, Carla joined Executives in Africa in 2012 to support Consultants specialising in Portuguese-speaking C-Level mandates, assessing candidates’ language skills in order to deliver to clients the very best available individuals who best match the target profile. Now a permanent member of the team as a Quality Assurance Manager, she is a critical member of our delivery team ensuring excellence on every Search.

Wilhelmina has a HND in Business and Finance from Portsmouth University. She has 8 years’ experience in the Financial Services, Investment Banking and Retail sectors before joining Executives in Africa as Quality Assurance Manager.

Previously, she worked as Personal Assistant for C level Managers within large and small organisations which has helped her to gain a clear understanding of company organisational structure, human resources and recruitment processes. She has strong administrative skills and attention to detail, which will help her ensure that the EiA team are able to continue to deliver the best quality standards to candidates and clients alike.