The Talentful team

Chris has more than a decade of expertise in leadership and recruitment for game-changing technology companies.

Chris has been instrumental in the growth and expansion of Talentful since its inception and now oversees Talentful’s US headquarters in San Francisco. Chris is a member of the Forbes HR Council and offers his human-first philosophy and insights on the power of leadership, company culture, and redefining recruitment for the transformative age.

Before founding Talentful, Chris was the UK Head of Talent at Audible, the world’s leading provider of premium digital spoken word and entertainment. Prior to that, he was Head of Talent at Zopa, Europe’s leading peer-to-peer lending company and Lead Recruiter at Shazam, focusing on engineering talent.

Phil has fifteen years of experience in recruitment and leadership for some of the world’s most innovative companies.

He has been instrumental in the strategic direction and innovation at Talentful over the past five years and now leads our European operation from London, travelling to Berlin regularly. Phil is regularly cited as one of Europe’s leading startup recruiters and regularly speaks on panels and roundtable discussions. He talks about the psychology of hiring, business and company culture.

Before founding Talentful, Phil led global recruitment (UK, USA, South Korea, and China) for Forward3D (Forward Internet Group, exited to Stagwell Group), Magic Pony Technology (Octopus, Balderton, exited to Twitter) and Thought Machine (Draper Esprit). Prior to this, he was an early employee at Mind Candy (Accel, Index).

Jessica is a startup and technology executive with a background in Operations, People, and Talent spanning across three continents. She is the Chief Operating Officer of Talentful and Author of Built for People, published by Kogan Page and one of Amazon’s Hottest New Releases of 2023.

She has served as Chief Operating Officer at fully remote video meetings company, Whereby. Prior to this she served as Chief People and Operations advisor for startups across Europe, Group Head of Talent at McCann Worldgroup, and VP People and Talent at Wonderbly. She is based between New York City, New York and London, United Kingdom.

Charles brings to Talentful over 30 years of experience building teams and innovative products for some of the most illustrious technology companies in the world, including Google, Yahoo, and Shazam. He was one of the early pioneers of the web, developing one of the first technologies (SSI) to enable dynamic web pages in 1993. In addition he spent a number of years developing a keen eye for visual detail while working in the film and visual effects industry.

Charles joined Talentful in 2022 to head up the creation of the group’s purpose-built talent matching platform, Talentverse. He is building out a team of world-class product managers, UXers, and software engineers to reinvent and transform recruiting as we know it, through technology-driven products.

Alice has over a decade of experience in talent and recruitment. After starting her own business and working in-house at Octopus Investments, she joined Talentful in its infancy, utilizing her experience to advise our customer portfolio on best practice for scaling high-growth businesses. Alice has been integral to Talentful’s hyper-growth and is now responsible for the strategic development and growth of our global delivery operations ensuring customer satisfaction and quality output is at the core of everything we do. Alice recently completed an eMBA specializing in Strategy, Startups, Entrepreneurship, Supply Chain, and Operations. She has a passion for culture and leadership, implementing scalable solutions, and helping businesses grow without compromising on the quality of their service or product. Alice was awarded Management Today’s top 35 under 35 Award for her achievements.

Alice has a passion for culture and leadership, implementing scalable solutions and helping businesses grow, focusing on quality. In 2023, Alice won Management Today’s top 35 under 35 award.

Keri joined Talentful in 2021 with seven years’ experience in recruitment and leadership for high growth technology companies. She is experienced in leading teams, leaders, and building close partnerships with clients such as Atlassian, Pinterest, Alphabet, and Expedia. Keri has helped expand Talentful’s US footprint and most recently has been supporting Talentful’s expansion into Latin America and APAC. She is passionate about leading with empathy, helping clients to scale globally, and fostering innovation in talent acquisition.

Before joining Talentful, Keri played a key role in establishing Russell Tobin’s San Francisco presence. She successfully scaled recruitment and account management teams, and partnered with key accounts to help scale their businesses.

Kathryne has over ten years of experience in Talent Acquisition, holding several senior leadership roles within Talentful’s client experience team. She has successfully managed large client portfolios, working with companies from early-stage startups to established enterprises like Asana, Thought Machine, Lyst and AXA.Kathryne has been instrumental in enhancing Client Experience at Talentful through leading on initiatives such as the Talent Audit and The Talentful Way.

Since 2023, she has served as VP of Client Experience, leading a team of Talent Directors and providing strategic guidance and oversight across the EMEA portfolio. Her focus is on delivering excellent client service, driving high performance, and acting as the voice of the customer to improve our products and services. She currently oversees Talentful’s key accounts, including Microsoft.

Prior to Talentful, Kathryne held various roles within the Blenheim Chalcot portfolio and Paymentsense, where she focused on scaling high-growth tech companies and led multiple initiatives to enhance recruitment functions.

Malte has 11 years of recruiting and management experience, predominantly in Berlin. Since joining Talentful, he has helped launch and grow our physical presence in Germany and is responsible for our continued success with German partners.

Before joining Talentful, Malte was pivotal in several growth initiatives in both Fintech and Healthcare, with his tenure at Finleap being a particular highlight.

Michelle has nearly a decade of experience in creating and leading exceptional recruitment marketing functions covering APAC, EMEA and the US. She is the Global Head of Marketing for the Talentful group, including HIGHER and Talentverse.

Before joining Talentful, Michelle held leadership positions at Talent Point, Digby Morgan for Randstad, Lawson Delaney in Melbourne, Australia and Dartmouth Partners where she built their global marketing function and brand for recruitment investment vehicle, Kernel Global.

Abigail is a dynamic and results-driven Talent Director here at Talentful, renowned for her expertise in scaling high-performing teams and streamlining processes to drive efficiency. Abigail excels in transforming organizations into best-in-class TA powerhouses, delivering exceptional results across the board.

Her impressive track record spans companies at various stages of growth, from startups like Cavnue to scale-ups such as Waymo, and large enterprises including Expedia. In each of these environments, Abigail has demonstrated her ability to step in and create end-to-end TA solutions that not only meet but exceed organizational goals.Recently, Abigail took on the challenge of revitalizing two underperforming teams. Within just six months, she redefined the expectations these companies had for their TA teams. Through her strategic vision and unwavering commitment to excellence, she not only delivered on ambitious targets but also developed comprehensive plans to ensure long-term success.

Abigail’s exceptional skills in talent acquisition and team optimization make her an invaluable asset to Talentful, where she continues to drive transformative change and deliver unparalleled results for her clients.

Ben has over a decade of experience in recruitment and has been working with some of the world’s most innovative companies since joining Talentful in 2016.

After studying modern languages at University, Ben began work at a small, tech-focused agency, before joining Talentful. Since then he has led successful growth at companies including Gram Games, Depop, Tractable and WealthSimple.

Ben is currently based in Edinburgh, but frequently travels to London, and can often be found trying to find “London’s best coffee” – a mission which he is yet to complete.

Damian joined Talentful in 2018 as a Senior Talent Partner, bringing over six years of tech recruiting experience. He quickly progressed to a Talent Lead role and is now one of our Talent Directors. In 2020, he relocated from the UK to San Francisco to be the first recruiter on the ground during Talentful’s expansion to the US.During his time at Talentful, Damian has led successful teams at world-renowned companies including Fastly, Atlassian, Asana, and Microsoft.Now based in San Diego, Damian spends a lot of his free time at the beach, or exploring all the great food the city has to offer.

Evie joined Talentful in London in 2016, initially partnering with early-stage technology startups as a Talent Associate. She has worked on multiple Talentful projects across a wide range of different industries and has rapidly progressed through different levels into a strategic leadership role. 

Evie now leads Talentful’s Alphabet portfolio, including X, the moonshot factory, Wing and Intrinsic, having moved to the United States in 2020. She consults some of Alphabet’s most exciting and innovative companies on how to scale sustainably and is passionate about Equity, Inclusion and Diversity. In 2022, Evie swapped West Coast for East Coast to help set up Talentful’s New York headquarters.

John joined Talentful as a Talent Lead to manage a global team working as Catapult Sport’s talent function out of Boston, Massachusetts. After a successful year and a half as Talent Lead, John transitioned into a Talent Director role where he oversees delivery and management of a portfolio of clients ranging from Series A to public companies.

Leaning on his operational background, John thrives in a fast-paced, high growth environment and is passionate about helping tech companies reach their hiring and operational goals.

Prior to joining Talentful, John worked for a unicorn company based out of Boston, Toast, which went public in 2021.

Mark is an experienced talent acquisition specialist who excels in leading recruitment functions for clients ranging from early-stage startups to rapidly scaling businesses including WeWork, Gorillas, Staffbase and Airalo. With a wealth of experience across Europe and the UK, Mark consistently delivers exceptional results by prioritising performance to surppass client expectations.

His commitment to building strategic partnerships ensures the success of his clients, while his leadership cultivates thriving, high-performing recruitment teams.

Natasha joined Talentful in 2018, a seasoned Talent Director she specializes in supporting and managing exemplary, high-performing teams within startup and scale-up companies. Her expertise lies in delivering the best in people and their performance and ensuring successful outcomes for my clients.

With a strong focus on client satisfaction, Natasha is dedicated to delivering the best possible return on investment, fostering client happiness, and driving growth through strategic talent management. Her commitment to excellence and results-oriented approach consistently helps organizations achieve their goals and thrive in competitive markets.

Prior to joining Talentful, Natasha spent six years in a commercial agency environment and also gained additional experience within media advertising in a sales and customer success capacity.

Simon has over 15 years of experience in Talent Acquisition, recruiting, and advising on hiring for major brands across technology and finance.

He initially joined Talentful in 2021 to set up and establish Talentful’s first RPO engagement with Microsoft. Simon returned in 2023 to lead the second engagement with Microsoft, he now program-manages Talentful’s outsourced partnership and vendor teams to deliver Microsoft’s recruitment across EMEA. A core belief to his success is always prioritizing stakeholder experience.

Prior to joining Talentful, Simon operated client-side as a Resource Vendor Manager with Royal London, responsible for their resourcing operating model delivered through an RPO service. He has also worked directly for Booking.com and recruited for several other global technology brands, including a secondment in Houston, USA.Simon is passionate about delivering recruitment to meet business demands and achieve great outcomes for all stakeholders, as well as building and developing high-performance teams.

Sarah joined Talentful in 2019 where she joined Talentful’s graduate programme, initially working onsite consultant. Sarah’s current role as a Client Success Manager sees her responsible for driving return for our clients through the delivery of an exceptional service.

Sarah’s experience working with fastest scaling companies through to IPO, means she deeply understands the needs and requirements of high-performing talent teams on a global scale. It’s this deep understanding that allows her to act as a strategic partner to our clients, ensuring they attain maximum value from our Talentful ecosystem.

Sarah is based in London, where she regularly takes advantage of the eclectic food scene but never strays too far away from east London.