Boyden Names Head of HR and Talent Management

December 5, 2016 – Executive search firm Boyden has appointed Uma Cresswell as a partner and global head of HR and talent management in its financial services practice. She will be based in the firm’s London office.

Ms. Cresswell has more than 20 years of experience in senior financial services HR roles and has worked at the C-suite level in Europe, the Middle East, North America, Asia and Australasia. Most recently, she held senior roles at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), AXA Rosenberg, Deutsche Bank, Cable & Wireless and NatWest Bank.

She brings to Boyden a first hand understanding of both the people and regulatory challenges facing financial services firms, from talent acquisition and regulatory compliance to diversity, succession planning, compensation and benefits, change management and HR transformation.

“Financial services continues to evolve globally, particularly in relation to regulation and diversity,” said John Burr, global head of Boyden’s financial services practice. “Uma’s hands-on experience as a senior HR professional in financial services allows us to have ever-greater empathy with our clients in the challenges they now face on a daily and on-going basis.”

Other Hires

Boyden has made some other recent hires across several areas, including:

• Just recently, Boyden merged with Signium Australia, formerly known as Crown & Marks, to establish a major presence in the Australia and New Zealand region. Boyden Australia’s new team is being led by managing partners Allan Marks and Alun Parry and will search for functional leaders in industrial, education, consumer, professional services, technology, and the financial services sectors;

• In September, Boyden named Gary Claus as a partner in its Pittsburgh office. Mr. Claus is well known for his expertise in financial and professional services recruiting. Most recently, he served eight years as a managing director with Jade Group LLC, an executive search and consulting firm specializing in assignments for senior level executives in the financial, accounting, tax, internal audit, information technology and legal fields;

• The firm added Tracy Grajewski as a partner, also in its Pittsburgh office, this past June. Ms. Grajewski previously founded Laurel Summit Insights, a consulting firm geared to the business needs of clients undergoing transformation. Before that, she served as senior vice president of human resources at integrated delivery insurer Highmark Health, where she led an organizational redesign in tandem with the integration of a large acquisition;

• It named Sébastien Zuchowski as a partner in its Montreal office. His focus is on senior level assignments in the technology, media, telecommunications and industrial sectors. Before joining Boyden Montreal, Mr. Zuchowski worked for over 20 years as a client facing executive at several high tech software, hardware and professional services companies, including GURUS Solutions, Novell/Micro Focus, Netmail, Averna, Kontron and Integrys Ltd;

• Boyden added Brian G. Bachand as a partner in its Toronto office. He works in the firm’s education, healthcare & life sciences, and not-for-profit recruiting practices. Mr. Bachand joined Boyden from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, where he led the office of advancement.

Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media