Heidrick & Struggles Names Global Sector Leader, Luxury
July 29, 2024 – Executive search, leadership consulting, and culture shaping services provider Heidrick & Struggles has named Caroline Pill as global sector leader, luxury, where she will have oversight across different sectors and practices, including product, retail and hospitality. The firm said Ms. Pill will continue to lead global accounts while “coaching and advising” colleagues in viewing executive recruitment from a cross-sector, and cross-cultural perspective. “Pill’s focus on executional excellence, and near-constant intensity in calling on the market, has driven much of our growth in the luxury sector,” said Amanda Worthington, global practice managing partner for the consumer markets at Heidrick. “Strategically, she will help us connect dots across sectors and practices, including where luxury touches products, retail, hospitality and beyond.”
Ms. Worthington added that Ms. Pill, along with some of her colleagues, has also “revolutionized what it means to go to market with ancillary services that complement the executive search process, such as leadership assessment, and culture shaping within organizations. Worthington said Pill and her team have also tapped into new client bases.”
Ms. Pill has made high-level executive placements at publicly listed firms including Richemont, Puig, L’Occitane, and Estée Lauder, and at private enterprises and start-ups. She joined Heidrick & Struggles two years ago as a partner within its consumer markets practice, and served as the organization’s fashion and beauty expert. Ms. Pill began her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer, and holds a master’s degree from Yale Law School. She later moved into the field of executive recruitment, and has spent more than a decade placing managerial talent at start-ups, and at top luxury, fashion and beauty brands.
Ms. Pill said the firm’s luxury practice “aims to represent the modern voice of luxury for our clients. In today’s complex market, we believe it is important to look at the industry in an holistic way, not only the obvious players in the fashion, luxury goods and beauty sectors, but also to include certain subsectors such as hospitality, automotive and other companies that work across luxury experiences.”
She added that her new role “will allow for a speedier, more robust and cohesive approach to the market. I wholeheartedly believe that there is a great opportunity in thinking about the expanded luxury landscape. It will encourage more cross-sector moves and a continued reflection around the definition of luxury.”
Newly Appointed CEO and President
Heidrick recently announced that Krishnan Rajagopalan has decided to retire, after more than 23 years with the firm. Following a planned succession process, the board has appointed Mr. Monahan to succeed Mr. Rajagopalan as CEO and member of the board, which was effective March 4. Mr. Monahan was managing partner of Norton Street Holdings and was previously president and CEO of DeVry University. “Search firms are highly focused on trying to leverage data, innovative technology, analytics, and IT to not only lift their client’s performance, but also their own,” said Scott Scanlon, CEO of Hunt Scanlon Media. “Bringing in this outsider at this time makes a whole lot of sense.”
Related: Heidrick & Struggles Appoints Leader of Israeli Office
“The board of directors, including Krishnan, have thoughtfully and deliberately developed this succession plan, and we are confident these leadership announcements position Heidrick & Struggles for continued success well into the future,” said Adam Warby, chairman of the board of Heidrick & Struggles. “Tom Monahan is a proven and innovative executive with a deep passion for the leadership arena and a unique view into what matters – and what works – when driving corporate performance. Tom’s decades of experience in growing technology-enabled services firms focused on delivering C-suite advice makes him the right person to build on our strengths in leadership advisory and to unlock transformative growth through our strategy of innovative diversification.
Heidrick & Struggles Closes Atreus Acquisition
Heidrick & Struggles has closed the acquisition of Atreus, one of the leading players for executive interim management in Germany. Together, Atreus and Heidrick & Struggles’ wholly owned, U.S.-based Business Talent Group (BTG), which was acquired in 2021, constitute the company’s on-demand talent segment and build on its strong market position in this space. The brand name Atreus, well-known in the German market, will be retained, and the Atreus management team, led by Dr. Harald Linné and Rainer Nagel, will remain in place.
“Anyone who knows me, understands that I am passionate about the work of finding, developing, and supporting great leaders,” said Mr. Monahan. “Heidrick & Struggles has shaped the leadership advisory industry for decades. As a longtime client, I can see endless possibilities to extend our strength in search, which will continue to be the cornerstone of our strategy, and leverage our diverse assets — including our On-Demand, Consulting and Digital solutions — to deliver value for our clients and our shareholders, and I look forward to leading the company’s talented team as we help clients put the right leadership teams and strategies in place to change the world.”
Heidrick also announced that Mr. Murray, global managing partner of Executive Search, has become president, reporting to Mr. Monahan. In addition to continuing to lead Executive Search, he will have operational responsibility for On-Demand Talent, Heidrick Consulting and go-to-market in his new role. Based in Heidrick’s Boston office, Mr. Murray is a member of the global management committee and is responsible for leading the firm’s global executive search business and client operations.
Related: Heidrick & Struggles to Acquire London-based businessfourzero
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
