HEADSAHEAD - Key Persons
My great interest in people and their development already played a significant role when I selected the minor subject of human resources management during my business management studies. I then entered the international HR consulting segment. Following intensive experience in HR marketing for a major corporation and two parental leaves, my path led me back to HR consulting in 2019.
I really enjoy bringing together personalities. Insights into the wide array of topics and different industries is particularly exciting and varied for me.
I was born in Uruguay and grew up in several cities in Germany. From 2010 to 2019, I lived in Spain with my family where I gained broad-ranging cultural experience. This enabled me to continually adapt to new situations. In my current job, I can apply these experiences in a fantastic way. Today, I have extensive experience in supporting the filling of (top) management positions in the public and private sector.
I am married, have two grown-up children and live in Düsseldorf. During my leisure time, I like to practice yoga and Zumba, run and enjoy literature and culture. My family and friends live in different places around the world. Time permitting, I like to visit them and enjoy this versatility.
In my role as a researcher in executive search, I bring together what belongs together professionally. In doing so, finding the right candidate is not "luck," but the result of systematic research.
Here, bringing people together based on their individuality, and not just their professional background, plays an important role for me. Behind all of the data and facts is the person who must be identified in order to find the BEST FIT.
I search for and come up with intelligent solutions for our clients based on detailed facts, well-founded analyses and research as well as my professional experience in various management structures. In this way, I achieve the greatest possible and most comprehensive benefits for our clients and candidates.
I love the multi-faceted process, from the initial idea to the search for relevant information, the creative and systematic work, gaining deep insights into different industries through to the successful completion of the project: bringing people together for a successful collaboration.
People with their personality traits, motives and affinities in addition to their cultural backgrounds have fascinated me ever since my school days and university studies. Combined with my interest in organisations and their diversity in terms of industries, functions and strategies, this led me to HR consulting. What contribution can a manager deliver for the company's future? This is a key question in executive search, where I have been working since 2000 with great enthusiasm and high-quality standards.
Together with my team, I have successfully completed a large number of search and selection projects, particularly for public sector institutions and non-profit organisations, for companies in the transport/logistics sector and financial service providers as well as for major and mid-sized (family-owned) companies. This enabled me to build up a solid, reliable network and broaden and strengthen my knowledge of state-of-the-art leadership and management competencies in addition to the fit with the relevant organisational culture. Passion for the job and responsibility for sustainable staffing success are decisive for me.
I have been filling management positions at HEADSAHEAD since 2021. Prior to this, I worked for over 20 years as a partner in executive search for Kienbaum Consultants International. After completing a banking apprenticeship at Deutsche Bank and my studies in economics and business management at the Universities of Freiburg and Cologne, I started my career in the early 90s as a research associate at the Seminar and Institute for Transportation Science at the University of Cologne. I then switched over to the German Transport Forum (Deutsches Verkehrsforum e. V.) as project manager and subsequently gained valuable management experience as secretary general and chairman of the board of the German Hockey Association (Deutscher Hockey-Bund e. V.).
I am married, have three sons, and like sports, music and art and enjoy travelling. I stay in shape by running, swimming and skiing.
The question about "WHAT kind of job do I want in the future?" never really came up for me. I always definitely knew that working together with people would comprise one of the key components of my professional job and that getting to know a wide variety of companies and industries with insight into highly interesting functional areas and structures would really fascinate me. So instead, the question was much more about WHERE can I find all of this combined into one?
Every day I face the challenges of finding the best match between executives and companies and have contributed significantly to the "best match" by successfully filling a position. This has always strengthened my decision to use my knowledge and skills in the research of a personnel consultancy. and this has been the case for almost 25 years now.
With my experience in the entire project management in research, the part of my job where I am in direct exchange with people with all their multifaceted professional paths and personalities is the most interesting for me. I especially enjoy and have fun inspiring them for a position and challenge and taking them along with me. I am familiar with filling predominantly C-level positions, whether in medium-sized companies or corporate groups, and have worked for clients in a wide variety of industries in finding the right person for their corporate culture.
Before joining HEADSAHEAD in 2018, I was already active in research in the personnel consulting sector for several years. My requisite know-how for target-oriented direct contacting of candidates is thanks to my previous position in telephone sales for many years at a renowned international tourism company. Prior to that, I was a creative copywriter for advertising agencies, writing both advertising copy and corporate identity brochures for well-known companies in a variety of industries.
Bringing people together to achieve an optimal result for all involved already fascinated me during my long-term international career as a manager, managing director, CEO and supervisory board member. It has always been a particular concern of mine to select the right personalities for the right position, especially to take the fit with the company's culture into account, and in this way to proactively shape the development and success of the company and its employees. In my opinion, hardly any other issue is more important for an executive leader.
After often working together with executive search firms in various roles in my areas of responsibility, my interest grew and resulted in the deliberate decision to switch over from operational management to top management personnel consulting. With great pleasure and passion in addition to the combination of many years of experience - first as operational manager and later as partner at HEADSAHEAD - I have been ready to assist my clients, mandates and candidates as a responsible, competent consultant and sparring partner for several years now.
In the process, I support owners, supervisory boards and management boards, particularly of larger family-owned businesses and medium-sized enterprises, as well as private equity companies and corporates in filling top management positions. After starting my consulting work and still today with main focus on the technology, digitalisation and service sectors, I have added further focal points in the industry and consumer segments over the last few years.
Following my graduation from high school and a longer stay abroad, I studied economics and business management at the Universities of Cologne and Freiburg. After gaining initial professional experience in the finance department of the OTTO mail order company, I worked for 12 years at T-Mobile International in finance and business development positions in Europe and Asia. I then took on a management position in the T-Systems Group and later moved on to Ocè (Canon today) as managing director. Most recently, I was the CEO for the EMEA region, and executive board member of the medium-sized Japanese IT hardware and software manufacturer Wacom before being appointed as a partner at HEADSAHEAD.