HR Director

[Name Surname]

Sixteen years building the people side of companies that are scaling or restructuring. I work on the position, not only the next move: who you hire, who you grow, and what keeps the team together when the plan changes.

01 · The opening

Hiring and selection

Early moves set the structure for the rest of the game. I hire for the organisation the company will need in three years, not only for the vacancy open today. Scorecards agreed before the first interview, structured panels, and a decision within 48 hours of the final round.

02 · The middlegame

Development and retention

A pawn that reaches the far side of the board can become any piece. People grow the same way, one square at a time: a visible path, direct feedback every quarter, stretch assignments before titles. In my last team, two out of three leadership roles went to internal candidates.

03 · The endgame

Transformation and culture

With fewer pieces on the board, coordination matters more than material. I have taken teams through mergers, restructuring and the move to hybrid work. Each time the outcome came down to leaders who could explain the plan and a culture people chose to keep.

04 · The score sheet

Track record

Results across three companies, the largest with 2,500 people in six countries.

  • 16+ years in HR, eight as HR Director
  • 91% first-year retention of new hires
  • 34 days average time to hire
  • 65% leadership roles filled internally

Every piece has a role in the team

Pawn — Emerging talent

Graduates and early-career hires. They move one square at a time and are the easiest to lose early. Given a path and a sponsor, some reach the far rank and become the leaders you would otherwise have to hire.

Rook — Operations backbone

Payroll, HR operations, compliance, systems. Invisible until something breaks. They work in straight lines and hold the structure together, which is what lets everyone else take risks.

Bishop — Experts

Deep specialists in one discipline: reward, legal, analytics, engineering. They cover long distances along a single line, so the job is to give them an open diagonal, not to turn them into generalists.

Knight — Unconventional thinkers

The only piece that can jump. People who find a route when the direct one is blocked. They rarely fit a standard grade or career track, and making room for them is usually worth it.

Queen — Leaders

The widest range on the board and the highest cost of losing one. I grow leaders from within wherever possible: external executive hires take longer to land and fail more often.

King — Culture and values

Not the most powerful piece, but the game is lost without it. Culture is what people do when nobody is checking. Every hire, promotion and exit either protects it or spends it.

05 · Contact

Your move

Open to HR Director and CHRO roles, board advisory, and fixed-term projects on restructuring or post-merger integration. A short email with some context is the fastest way to start.