Marlin Hawk Sources Top Goldman Sachs Hiring Executive
October 17, 2017 – Executive search and leadership solutions provider Marlin Hawk has expanded its financial services practice with the addition of Kirstine Wilson in New York. Ms. Wilson has 15 years of talent management experience gained at Goldman Sachs where she focused on lateral hiring as vice president, global head – experienced hires.
Ms. Wilson will take on the role of principal in the financial services practice at Marlin Hawk, a top-ranked talent solutions firm. She will be working closely with the New York team to deliver effective client solutions across corporate functions in the financial services and asset management space. Her wealth of experience will further strengthen Marlin Hawk’s market position and provide ever increasing support to clients in the acquisition of executive talent across financial services.
Financial services constitutes a significant portion of Marlin Hawk’s U.S. business. “As a global executive search and advisory firm we continue to build on our reputation for outstanding research, customer experience and innovation,” said Mark Oppenheimer, CEO of the Americas region of Marlin Hawk. “I am delighted to have Kirstine join our business and believe her experience and skillset will provide an even greater ability for Marlin Hawk to understand client’s challenges when appointing the very best talent in an ever-changing marketplace.”
Talent Management Veteran
Ms. Wilson joins Marlin Hawk with 15 years of talent management experience from Goldman Sachs. Over the years she has been pivotal in developing Goldman’s managing director and senior hire strategy, while implementing many new policies to ensure the company achieved and delivered upon its global talent needs. Earlier in her career, she served as a campus recruiter for Lehman Brothers.
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Marlin Hawk is a global leadership advisory and executive search boutique offering talent management and leadership advisory solutions services that include executive search, market intelligence & benchmarking, interim management, project services and leadership assessment. The firm has offices in London, New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong.
Ms. Wilson recently sat down with Hunt Scanlon to discuss how she plans to leverage her Wall Street talent experience in executive search.
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Kirstine, tell us how you came about joining Marlin Hawk. Goldman Sachs is a major client of the firm, isn’t it?
I’m fortunate that during my time at Goldman Sachs, I had the opportunity to work with many leading global executive search firms, including Marlin Hawk. When I decided it was time for me to pursue opportunities externally within the executive search industry, I knew immediately which firm I wanted to partner with. When I was a client, Marlin Hawk provided a differentiated search product that was cutting edge compared to traditional search firms that were just focused on pure talent identification.
What made Marlin Hawk your search firm of choice?
Marlin Hawk takes an advisory approach to every client engagement. It starts with a top down assessment to understand a clients’ organization and talent objectives. The firm then overlays a strategic analysis of the competitive landscape so that its consultants can identify and attract the right candidates to maximize success and drive organizations forward. Lastly, because I knew the team here in New York, I was confident that culturally it was an excellent fit for me.
“In my prior role, I was a mile wide and an inch deep across every line of business, whereas in this role in order to have an impact with clients I now can go vertical and deep.”
Can you discuss your time at Goldman Sachs? What type of executives did you recruit for the company?
I joined Goldman Sachs in 2003 from Lehman Brothers and was part of the campus recruiting team, and spent time in New York and London. When I returned to New York in 2006, I decided to shift my focus, and joined the securities division experienced hire recruiting team. I was focused on hiring executives into the equities and fixed income businesses at the firm. It was an incredible opportunity because it allowed me to learn the executive search business on the inside, develop a deep understanding of a complex business, and due to regulatory reforms the recruiting team was critical to meeting the evolving talent needs of the organization the past nine years. While I was there I advised business leaders and conducted searches across the organization the firm including equities and fixed income, compliance, operations, technology, finance, quants and risk professionals. Additionally, I had the opportunity to advise the firm’s hedge fund clients on talent acquisition best practices.
How did that experience prepare you for this role?
The skills and qualities that drive success are similar – a proactive solutions focused approach, position as a trusted advisor, a high degree of client service, flawless execution, ability to operate in a fast paced environment and being able to pivot when necessary.
What attracted you to entering the executive search industry?
The attraction for me was the ability to work with a strong team and diverse client base to provide tailored talent solutions. The contrast is that in my prior role, I was a mile wide and an inch deep across every line of business, whereas in this role in order to have an impact with clients I now can go vertical and deep.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
