Hanold Associates Seeks VP of Talent Acquisition for Fossil Group
December 14, 2018 – Talent acquisition has always been an important part of the hiring strategies and recruitment practices for any organization. But in the last few years, it’s become more critical than ever.
Chicago-based Hanold Associates has been selected by Fossil Group Inc. to lead its search for a new vice president of talent acquisition.
Jason Hanold, CEO and co-managing partner of the recruitment firm, is leading the assignment along with partners Katie Traines and Ashley Schiele.
Reporting to chief human resources officer, Darren Hart, the head of talent acquisition is charged with overseeing all recruitment efforts across the enterprise and managing all relationships with external partners, said Hanold Associates. The individual will be a contributing member of the HR leadership team and lead a team of seven. He or she will also cultivate and develop a high-performing, customer-centric talent acquisition function and collaborate on best practices at the global level and continue to contemporize the function through progressive platforms.
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Headquartered in Dallas, Fossil Group is a global design, marketing and distribution company specializing in consumer lifestyle and fashion accessories. In 1984, Fossil was a small watch business with five employees. Today, under a diverse portfolio of proprietary and licensed brands, Fossil Group offers watches, jewelry, handbags, small leather goods and most recently, wearables.
HR Specialists
Hanold Associates is a boutique search firm specializing in HR officer assignments, serving clients such as Patagonia, Nike, eBay, Cummins, Kohler, REI, Google, Riddell, Fossil, Carnival Corporation, the UFC, Blue Apron, Amazon, Under Armor, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Vail Resorts, Abbott, Biogen, Great Place to Work, Electronic Arts, Godiva, Fiat-Chrysler, Bridgestone, Northwestern University, Heinz, Warburg Pincus, Medtronic, Zurich, Wikipedia, T. Rowe Price and SC Johnson, among others.
Mr. Hanold previously served as a managing director with Russell Reynolds Associates, where he led the firm’s global human resources officer practice and was a member of the board of directors and CEO practices.
Since joining Hanold Associates in 2012, Ms. Traines has focused on recruiting senior-level human resources leaders across several industries, including biotechnology, retail, consumer goods, beauty and technology. Previously, she was an account executive for MSDSonline, a web-based services company. In that role, she provided customized solutions that increase safety in the workplace.
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With an advanced degree in organizational psychology, Ms. Schiele leverages both organizational dynamics and skill assessment in order to identify and recruit key talent. Before joining Hanold Associates, she worked as an account manager/recruiter for Kappa Search, a small technical recruiting firm based in Chicago’s West Loop. In this role, she was a full life-cycle recruiter, developing and maintaining long-term relationships with candidates and clients. Ms. Schiele has recruited candidates across industries and functions including, but not limited to, manufacturing, supply chain, engineering, IT, sales and marketing.
Other HR Assignments Underway
With its focus on HR and a particularly strong leaning towards assisting private equity firms find talent for their portfolio businesses, Hanold Associates is busy – in fact, very busy – these days. Delta Defense just retained the firm to lead its vice president of people search, based outside of Milwaukee. Mr. Hanold is leading the assignment along with partner Keri Gavin and Ms. Schiele. This HR executive will serve as a crucial member of Delta Defense’s leadership team and will assume responsibility of the company’s most valuable assets — its people and culture. The individual will be expected to partner with the executive team to implement people programs that reinforce the company’s core values, support employee and organization performance and drive professional growth.
The search firm also recently recruited Steve Stoner as senior vice president of human resources for Sportsman’s Warehouse. Ms. Gavin led that search for the role located in Midvale, UT.
Ms. Gavin is focused on recruiting HR leaders in talent acquisition, organizational development, talent management, operations and total rewards. Her signature strength is said to be her relationship-building skills. She was previously director of host relations and customized training for Ragan Communications. There, she fostered relationships with communications leaders at Fortune 500 companies to secure event partnerships.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
