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Management

Rod Bailey, CEO

Rod has spent most of his career creating or investing in innovation in the executive search sector. Rod’s former experience includes the start up of Rochester Partnership, a search boutique in financial services, a partnership at SpeedEgg, early stage venture fund belonging to Syntek Capital and the first ten years of Nicholson International, an executive search firm which he co-founded, expanding to global proportions (from 2 employees, £120,000 revenues to 420 employees and £20m in 31 offices and 24 countries) over 10 years.

Alessandro Tosi, Director of Strategy

Alessandro’s professional experience spans from management consulting to executive search and interim management, always with a focus on rule-breaking business model innovation. After an initial experience at Andersen Consulting and a corporate appointment as development projects manager of MTS Group, Alessandro has spent more than fifteen years in senior-level roles at professional services firms such as Bossard, JMAC, Amrop International and A.T. Kearney, where he headed the executive search unit in Italy. In 2000 he took a decisive step towards entrepreneurship and founded ExecutiveSurf. A chartered journalist, Alessandro is the author of several publications on executive career paths. He also sits on the board of the private equity fund Novium Special Situations.

William Stockley, Chairman, APAC

William has more than 30 years management experience in Europe and Asia working for global companies in general management, country management, business building and organisation development positions. He has led many projects establishing new operations, merging and re-structuring companies, recruiting new teams, leading organisation change, and implementing new business models in developing markets. William’s career has had him working in all the markets of Europe, including several years in both Turkey and Russia. For the past 10 years William has lived and worked in China, based in Shanghai.

Steve Johnson, Director of Operations, APAC

Steve has over 12 years executive search experience across Asia Pacific. After commercial roles with Telstra, Schering AG (now Bayer Schering) and Fisons plc (now Sanofi Aventis) in Australia and London, he joined Nicholson International in 1996, where he was sent to start-up and run the Asia Pacific Healthcare practice from their Sydney office. In 2001 Steve undertook a project to start-up Swiss specialty firm Actelion’s operations in Australia, acting as the local Director. Following a stint with boutique search firm Hamilton Partners, Steve founded executive search firm Johnson Approach in 2004, building his network to include offices in Sydney, Shanghai and Singapore. Johnson Approach was acquired by ExecutiveSurf late in 2008.

Richard Hinde-Smith, Director of Operations, EMEA

Richard has had a proven career in operational delivery and sales management across Banking, IT, Manufacturing and New Media, with organisations ranging from start-ups to FTSE 250 firms. A qualified Naval Achitect and project manager, his early career in international yacht racing for international teams provided valuable stakeholder experience. Following this, his experiences have included Engineering Design for Superyachts to post-acquisition change management for the Trinity Mirror Digital group and sales directorships in the financial market (print & IT). He joined ExecutiveSurf in 2008.

Nigel Phillips, Editor in chief, ExecutiveBoard UK

Nigel Phillips has a wide experience writing and editing for a variety of publications and websites ranging from business to sport. After studying languages at university, he worked in advertising for 10 years, before setting up a board games shop in the south of England. He then studied post-graduate journalism before moving into his current career. He has also played county tennis and represented England at softball.