Perrett-Laver-Board-Board-Team

Our Services

Expert Advisory Services

Perrett Laver specialises in finding world-class leaders that transform organisations, and the collective knowledge and network we’ve gained along the way uniquely positions us to provide wider consultancy services.  

 

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Our expert Advisory Service is underpinned by deep analytical capability and sectoral knowledge.

We advise purpose-driven clients in over 70 countries across a range of core sectors. We have the expertise and analytical capability to deliver an evidence-based approach, and through this, we identify intelligent and bold solutions to problems across a range of competitive environments. 

Working in partnership with clients, we take the time to fully understand your unique mission, values and culture. We bring a wealth of sector knowledge and best practice experience based on our extensive engagement with organisations in key geographies, and this informs our recommendations. 

Our Expertise

Extensive Sector and Consultancy Experience


A lead consultant is appointed as your key contact for the project, providing high-quality, personal contact throughout each stage of the project.

 

Strong International Research Team


We have one of the strongest international research teams of any firm. We’ve consciously assembled a global consulting team who have worked in multiple capacities for a unique blend of expertise and experience.

 

Senior External Advisors


We have developed working relationships with a group of outstanding senior external advisors – all highly accomplished in their area of expertise – who work alongside the team, as appropriate, to advise on specific consultancy projects.

Areas of Focus

In large, complex organisations, it’s easy to become focused solely on immediate operational demands. We provide expertise and conceptual frameworks to help senior teams broaden their perspective and focus on long-term positioning and priorities amidst a rapidly evolving external environment.

Our services include analysing market position, trends (both global and domestic), and horizon scanning, enabling senior leadership teams to navigate and strategise effectively. 

Drawn from our work with clients in over 70 countries worldwide, many of whom are world leaders in their field, we have the unique experience and expertise to support organisations to focus and deliver on their strategic priorities.

We identify international best practice to inform decisions around organisational design, development and strategic development. 

Good governance ensures appropriate accountability and helps preserve autonomy for institutions or charities in receipt of public funding or donations.

The nature of our work means that we have extensive experience working with non-executive Boards in our sectors. We have significant expertise in good governance and national frameworks, including international comparisons of best practice. 

As a leading executive search firm, we offer expert assessment of talent and teams, including gap analysis and advice on how to address gaps in key skills and experience across teams.

We also advise on diversity, equity and inclusion across teams and organisations based on best practice in this area.

Of key importance to our clients across all sectors is the ability to deliver change and lead change management in large, complex organisations.

Based on the expertise and experience of our consultants and relevant examples from across our client base, we advise on how to achieve process, structural and cultural change in complex environments, including the professional development of key leaders.

Once our clients have secured a world-class leader for their organisation, a smooth transition into their new role is important.

We support both the new appointee and their line manager/Board Chair through this period, providing supportive coaching, a sounding board and the opportunity to make a positive and effective impact during the early days in the new role. We work across a number of sectors and contexts to support successful transitions from the private, public and non-profit sectors.

Experienced Team of Senior Advisors

Chichester_Arabella_Global Senior Partner
Global Senior Partner

Arabella Chichester

Global Senior Partner

Dr Sinéad Gibney

Thomas Weinberg Joint Managing Partner for the UK and Global Head for Knowledge and Innovation Economies
Global Managing Partner

Thomas Weinberg

Birgit-Brandt
Regional Managing Partner, Asia Pacific

Dr Birgit Brandt

Gordon Lobay - Regional Managing Partner - Americas
Regional Managing Partner, Americas

Dr Gordon Lobay

Sarah John - Regional Managing Partner - UK, Africa & Middle East
Regional Managing Partner, UK and Africa & Middle East

Sarah John

Jospehine Scholten - Regional Managing Partner, Europe
Regional Managing Partner, Europe

Josephine Scholten

Lucy-Hayes-Partner & Global Head of the Schools Practice
Partner & Global Sector Lead, Schools & Education Organisations

Lucy Hayes

Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, Americas

Siobhan Doherty

Country Managing Partner, United States & Chair, Employee Ownership Trust

Erik Jackson

Country Managing Partner, Australia

Janelle Entwistle

Bing Han, Country Managing Partner, China
Country Managing Partner, China

Bing Han

Country Managing Partner, Hong Kong

Katharine Poundstone

Damaris_Matis_Partner and Head of Europe in the Social Impact and Environment Practice
Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, Europe

Damaris Matis

Country Managing Partner, Ireland

Michelle Scanlon

Country Managing Partner, Germany

Dr Nicole Shea

Country Managing Partner, The Netherlands & Head of Research, Europe

Dr Lisbeth Van Cauwenberghe

Partner & Sector Lead, AI, Data & Technology

Dr Jack Bircher

Partner, Higher Education, UK

Fiona Carruthers

Country Managing Partner, Scotland & Co-Sector Lead, Higher Education, UK

Jill Cloke

Goran Gregorovic
Partner & Sector Lead, Research, Technology & Innovation, UKAME

Dr Goran Gregorovic

Partner & Co-Sector Lead, Higher Education, UK

Katherine Hunter

Partner & Sector Lead, Schools & Education Organisations, UKAME

Katharine Kettle

Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, UKAME

Shivani Smith

Partner & Sector Lead, Environment & Sustainability

Natasha Zoltie

Arabella Chichester

Global Senior Partner

As Global Senior Partner, Arabella is responsible for the long-term strategic development of Perrett Laver alongside the acceleration of its commercial growth.

Arabella has been at Perrett Laver for over twelve years and was Global Head of the Social Impact and Environment Practice for 8 years. Arabella scaled and diversified Perrett Laver’s Social Impact and Environment Practice to become one of the leading advisors on leadership recruitment in the sector.

Arabella’s experience at Perrett Laver includes senior Chair, Board and Chief Executive appointments across the Social Impact and Environment Sector. This includes working with INGOs, Foundations, domestic non-profits, the UN, research institutes, social enterprises and at the intersection of the social impact and private sector.

Arabella holds a MA (Hons) in Ancient History from the University of Edinburgh and a PG Dip in Psychology at the Institute of Education, University of London.

Dr Sinéad Gibney

Global Senior Partner

As Global Senior Partner, Sinéad is responsible for the long-term strategic development of Perrett Laver alongside the acceleration of its commercial growth.

During her ten years at Perrett Laver, Sinéad established and led the firm’s operations in Amsterdam and Dublin, while continuing to grow Perrett Laver’s Research, Technology and Innovation, and Higher Education practices across Europe.

Sinéad’s experience at Perrett Laver includes advising on senior executive and non-executive appointments for universities, public and privately funded research institutes, as well as research-oriented charities and non-profits.

Sinéad holds an honours degree in Natural Science from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD in Neuroscience from University College Cork.

Thomas Weinberg

Global Managing Partner

Tom has been with Perrett Laver for twelve years, having served as Joint Managing Partner for the UK and Global Head for Knowledge and Innovation Economies.

Tom has grown Perrett Laver’s work across Latin America and the Middle East, co-led Perrett Laver’s largest region through a significant period of growth and spent two years in the US opening the company’s first office there.

Tom has advised upon senior executive and board appointments for institutions in over twenty countries, for institutions including the University of Oxford, NYU, Monterrey Tec, the University of Cape Town, Imperial, INSEAD, HKUST and Nanyang Technological University and at organizations such as the Chatham House, NEOM and the Africa Health Research Institute.

Prior to joining Perrett Laver he worked in the communications industry. He holds an MA (hons) from the University of Edinburgh.

Dr Birgit Brandt

Regional Managing Partner, Asia Pacific

Birgit Brandt is Regional Managing Partner, Asia Pacific.

Her experience includes Chief Executive and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments in Higher Education and Research, Schools and Global Non-Profit Practices with Asia-Pacific.

Birgit holds a PhD from the University of Warwick in Sociology and MAs in Race and Ethnic Studies and Political Science from Warwick and the Freie Universitat Berlin, respectively. Birgit began her career as a Research Fellow in Berlin moving to the University of Warwick to work in the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations and the Department of Politics and International Studies.

She moved on to join a novel research grants programme that sought to support partnerships between UK universities and charities and was appointed Head of Grants at the Royal Society and Director of Programmes at the British Academy.

She has travelled extensively, including six months in PRC learning Mandarin.

Dr Gordon Lobay

Regional Managing Partner, Americas

Gordon is the Regional Managing Partner, Americas. He leads our Canadian operations and delivers senior-level searches across all of the sectors in which we operate.

He began with the firm in our London office and subsequently opened the Vancouver office in 2013 and the Toronto office a few years later.

Gordon holds a B.A. in Classics and Anthropology from Alberta, an MPhil in Archaeology from Glasgow, PhD (on the looting and illegal trading of antiquities) from Cambridge (Homerton College) and a Corporate Executive Certificate from the Alberta, School of Business.

Before joining Perrett Laver Gordon held junior research positions at Texas (Institute of Classical Archaeology) and Westminster (ESRC Project on the UK’s Dealing in Cultural Objects Offences Act 2003) and he was Collections Management Advisor at Alberta (Museums and Collections Services). He was also an Associate Scholar on the Intellectual Property in Cultural Heritage Project and continues to write book reviews for a few academic journals.

He also brings government experience from the UK (Parliamentary Ombudsman) and Canada (Government of Alberta), where he managed a socioeconomic program evaluation team and received a Premier’s Award for outstanding client services.

Sarah John

Regional Managing Partner, UK and Africa & Middle East

Sarah is a Regional Managing Partner, UK and Africa & Middle East, working with colleagues across our different sectors to serve clients as they pursue new leadership.

She has worked for the firm for over a decade and has a particular breadth of expertise and experience in leading senior level executive search for Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, senior academic and professional services leaders, and non-executive governance appointments globally within the Higher Education and related sectors. Her clients include universities in both research-intensive and teaching focused environments, as well as specialist HEIs. She is always keen to support the sector more broadly, working with organisations such as Advance HE and the Women in Higher Education Network in pursuit of better diversity and inclusion in universities.

Sarah holds a BA (Hons) in English and Related Literature from the University of York. Prior to joining Perrett Laver, she worked for an HR consultancy in the account management function and also trained as a career coach.

Josephine Scholten

Regional Managing Partner, Europe

Josephine is a Regional Managing Partner, Europe.

Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive, Senior Academic and Administrative appointments throughout Europe, within the Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Social Impact and Environment and Arts and Culture Practice.

Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Josephine gained extensive experience in the Higher Education sector having served as the Executive Director of the Universities of the Netherlands (VSNU) for over 7 years. In addition, she was an active member of the European University Association (EUA).

Acting as an Adviser to University Presidents, she was responsible for the national lobbying strategy towards the Dutch Government. Under her responsibility, important strategic projects such as the open access strategy and the national research programme ‘digital society’ were initiated.

As Senior Vice President HR Josephine spent 3 years living in Geneva working for an international trading firm. She brings over 10 years of experience as interim manager in the public- private domain.

Josephine holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam and is an IMD alumna.

Lucy Hayes

Partner & Global Sector Lead, Schools & Education Organisations

Lucy Hayes is a Partner & Global Sector Lead, Schools & Education Organisations sector at Perrett Laver.

Lucy founded the Schools sector for our firm over a decade ago and she now focussed on advising the best schools in the world on leadership transition.

Her track record includes successful Head of School appointments in every major world region and she has supported pre-eminent schools in North America, the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia on the identification, assessment and selection of new leaders.

Lucy holds a BA (Hons) in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

Siobhan Doherty

Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, Americas

Siobhan is a Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, Americas.

Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board and Executive appointments in the Global Non-Profit Practice.

She holds a BA (Hons) in Politics and Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Erik Jackson

Country Managing Partner, United States & Chair, Employee Ownership Trust

Erik is Managing Partner for Perrett Laver’s work in the US and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

His experience in senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive and other senior leadership appointments our Social Impact & Environment, Higher Education, and Research, Technology & Innovation sectors.

Erik holds BA in History from Menlo College in California, where he was class Valedictorian and an MSt in History from the University of Oxford. Before joining the firm, he held the position of Business Development Manager for the geopolitical consulting firm Oxford Analytica.

Janelle Entwistle

Country Managing Partner, Australia

Janelle is Managing Partner of our Australian operations and leads our office in Sydney.

Her senior level executive search experience includes Senior Academic and Administrative appointments globally in higher education and research and for organisations across the cultural and sports sectors.

She holds a Bachelor degree in Social Science and a Master degree in Marketing from The University of Newcastle, and a Master degree in Management from The Australian National University.  Janelle has significant experience in strategic marketing and communications, student recruitment, relationship management, events, business development and international relations. Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Janelle held senior management roles at the Australian National University and the University of Newcastle and is experienced in sports administration having held the position of General Manager for Netball Tasmania, and has also held senior marketing and communications positions in the mining and not-for-profit sectors. Janelle has travelled extensively, particularly across Asia.

Bing Han

Country Managing Partner, China

Bing is a Partner at Perrett Laver and is now leading Perrett Laver’s new Hong Kong office, opened in January 2015.

His experience includes Chief Executive and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments in Higher Education and Research within Asia-Pacific.

A native of Beijing, Bing was most recently Director for China Programmes at the Alliance for Global Education, where he led the design of all Alliance for Global Education academic programmes in China, developed and maintained institutional relationships with more than 200 universities in both the U.S. and China and oversaw the Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an centers of operations.

Bing has many years of experience at senior management in global higher education and prior to that has taught in China and in the US at Asian Studies Department at Vassar College and Williams College.

He has been central in building scholarly exchanges and joint programmes between US and Chinese Universities and brings a deep understanding of Mainland China and Hong Kong higher education and research sectors.

Bing Han earned a BA in Electrical Engineering in 1996, a BA in International Business in 1997, and an MA in Communications Technology in 2000 from the Harbin Institute of Technology and the Beijing Institute of Microwave Metrology & Measurement respectively.

Katharine Poundstone

Country Managing Partner, Hong Kong

Katharine is a Partner at Perrett Laver and co-lead of our Hong Kong operation.

Her experience includes Chief Executive and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments in Higher Education and Research within Asia-Pacific.

Katharine has until recently been the Resident Director for the Alliance for Global Education in Beijing. A native of Kentucky, Katharine, has lived and worked in mainland China for many years, beginning with a study abroad experience in Beijing in 1992-93.

After graduating from Reed College (BA in Chinese Language & Literature; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) she spent a year in China as a Thomas J. Watson fellow and then completed her M.H.S. at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2000 Katharine returned to China, where she has worked as epidemiologist on various public health projects, including projects focussing on AIDS/STD prevention and control, with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the World Health Organization, and the Chinese government. She also received a fellowship from the Blakemore Foundation to study advanced Mandarin Chinese at Tsinghua University in 2008-09.

Damaris Matis

Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, Europe

Damaris is a Partner and Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, Europe. Damaris is based in Amsterdam, and since joining Perrett Laver in 2019, has supported hundreds of impactful organisations on their international senior executive and non-executive appointments.

Michelle Scanlon

Country Managing Partner, Ireland

Michelle is a Managing Partner.

Michelle works in Perrett Laver’s Dublin office. She is a Partner, former Head of the Project Management team and has worked across a number of Perrett Laver’s global Offices including London, Chicago and Hong Kong. She works with organisations across our Global Higher Education, Sport, Social Impact and Health sectors.

Dr Nicole Shea

Country Managing Partner, Germany

Nicole is Managing Partner, Germany.

Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive, Senior Academic and Administrative appointments throughout Europe, within the Higher Education, Research, Technology and Innovation, Social Impact and Environment sectors.

Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Nicole was Executive Director of the Council for European Studies at Columbia University (CES) and the Executive Editor and Founder of the journal EuropeNow. She oversaw the renowned annual International Conference of Europeanists, the prestigious World Society Foundation Global Fellowships as well as the Mellon-Dissertation Completion Fellowships, among others, and supported 17 Research Networks, including those addressing the Environment, European Culture, Immigration and Social Movements.

She is the author of The Politics of Prostitution in ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz’ and the editor of The Many Voices of Europe: Mobility and Migration in Contemporary Europe. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Binghamton University.

Dr Lisbeth Van Cauwenberghe

Country Managing Partner, The Netherlands & Head of Research, Europe

Lisbeth is the Managing Partner, Netherlands & Head of Research Europe.

Her experience of senior level executive search includes Senior Academic, Chair and Professorial appointments globally across all disciplines in higher education.

Lisbeth holds an MSc in Biology, a subsequent MSc in Environmental Management and Sanitation, and a PhD in Environmental Toxicology, all from Ghent University, Belgium. Her doctoral research focussed on the occurrence, effects and risks of marine microplastics. Lisbeth is fluent in Dutch and English, and speaks basic French and German.

Dr Jack Bircher

Partner & Sector Lead, AI, Data & Technology

Jack is Partner & Sector Lead, AI, Data & Technology.

His experience of senior level executive search includes multiple Chair and Professorial appointments globally across all academic disciplines, as well as leadership appointments in higher education and industry research and development.

Jack is expert in the use of metrics and analytics for the identification and assessment of world leading academics.

Jack holds a BSc in Physiology from the University of Liverpool, an MSc from the University of Leeds in Ion Channels in Disease and a PhD from Kings College London in Cell Signalling. His research focused on the role of ion channels in hormone release.

Fiona Carruthers

Partner, Higher Education, UK

Her experience in senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments globally in higher education.

Fiona has spent the majority of her career in executive search, working with a variety of organisations in both the public and private sectors. For the last decade, she has focused on Higher Education, helping to establish the Practice for Heidrick and Struggles and more recently working at Odgers Berndtson. She holds a Joint BA (Hons) in History & American Studies from Keele University.

Jill Cloke

Country Managing Partner, Scotland & Co-Sector Lead, Higher Education, UK

Jill is Managing Partner, Scotland & Joint Sector Lead, Higher Education, UK

Her experience of senior level executive search includes advising on Chair, Trustee, Chief Executive and executive team searches across the Non Profit and Social sector and Senior Academic and Administrative appointments in the Higher Education and Research and Global Non-Profit sectors.

Jill holds an MA in International Relations from the University of St Andrews. She has lived and worked in Japan and spent her early career in the UK charity sector.

Dr Goran Gregorovic

Partner & Sector Lead, Research, Technology & Innovation, UKAME

Goran is a Partner & Sector Lead, Health & Life Sciences.

His experience includes working on senior level strategic appointments for a range of higher education institutions, research institutes and centres, research-led organisations, public-private partnerships and biotech companies, and on global professorial and chair level appointments across various disciplines.

Goran holds an MSc in Molecular Biology from University of Zagreb and a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from University of Geneva.

Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Goran was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London.

Katherine Hunter

Partner & Co-Sector Lead, Higher Education, UK

Kate is a Partner & Joint Sector Lead, Higher Education, UK.

Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive, Senior Academic and Administrative appointments globally within the Higher Education, Health and Social Care, and the Arts and Culture sector practices.

Kate began her career in the arts, working in communications roles, culminating as Head of Communications at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Kate has around 15 years’ experience of working in global higher education, both from within an institution and externally, as an advancement practitioner and an advisor to government, institutions and other stakeholders. Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Kate was Executive Director for CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Europe. CASE is a global membership association with a focus on advocacy, training, research and data to support advancement – fundraising, marketing, communications, alumni relations. Kate worked closely with HEFCE, Universities UK and Arts & Business on sector-wide initiatives to build advancement capacity, including launching a fundraising graduate trainee programme. Kate holds a BA Hons in French with Spanish.

Katharine Kettle

Partner & Sector Lead, Schools & Education Organisations, UKAME

Katie is a Partner & Sector Lead, Schools & Education Organisations, UKAME.

Her experience in senior level executive search spans leading UK independent schools, international schools and international schools groups, maintained schools, multi-academy trusts and national and international educational bodies.

Katie holds a BA in English Literature from Cardiff University. Prior to joining Perrett Laver she worked in fundraising and development for schools.

Shivani Smith

Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, UKAME

Shivani is Partner & Sector Lead, Social Impact & Environment, UKAME.

She has experience of senior charity roles including Director and Chief Executive positions for organisations across the UK. Previously she has worked with non-profits on projects covering qualitative research, brand, fundraising, leadership development and CSR. Her experience of the non-profit sector also includes voluntary roles within charities as a Chair and as a trustee.

Shivani has an MA Public Policy and Management, University of York and a BSc Sociology (Hons), London School of Economics and Political Science.

Natasha Zoltie

Partner & Sector Lead, Environment & Sustainability

Natasha is a Partner & Sector Lead, Environment & Sustainability.

Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board and Executive appointments in the Social Impact and Environment Practice.

Natasha holds an MSc in International Relations from the University of Nottingham and has long volunteered for a global youth movement. She leads the practice’s work in the environment and sustainability sector and was recently seconded to Clean Air Fund, a start-up philanthropy, to support them on rapid growth.

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