The Talentful team

Chris has more than a decade of expertise in leadership and recruitment for game-changing technology companies.

Chris has been instrumental in the growth and expansion of Talentful since its inception and now oversees Talentful’s US headquarters in San Francisco. Chris is a member of the Forbes HR Council and offers his human-first philosophy and insights on the power of leadership, company culture, and redefining recruitment for the transformative age.

Before founding Talentful, Chris was the UK Head of Talent at Audible, the world’s leading provider of premium digital spoken word and entertainment. Prior to that, he was Head of Talent at Zopa, Europe’s leading peer-to-peer lending company and Lead Recruiter at Shazam, focusing on engineering talent.

Phil has fifteen years of experience in recruitment and leadership for some of the world’s most innovative companies.

He has been instrumental in the strategic direction and innovation at Talentful over the past five years and now leads our European operation from London, travelling to Berlin regularly. Phil is regularly cited as one of Europe’s leading startup recruiters and regularly speaks on panels and roundtable discussions. He talks about the psychology of hiring, business and company culture.

Before founding Talentful, Phil led global recruitment (UK, USA, South Korea, and China) for Forward3D (Forward Internet Group, exited to Stagwell Group), Magic Pony Technology (Octopus, Balderton, exited to Twitter) and Thought Machine (Draper Esprit). Prior to this, he was an early employee at Mind Candy (Accel, Index).

Charles brings to Talentful over 30 years of experience building teams and innovative products for some of the most illustrious technology companies in the world, including Google, Yahoo, and Shazam. He was one of the early pioneers of the web, developing one of the first technologies (SSI) to enable dynamic web pages in 1993. In addition he spent a number of years developing a keen eye for visual detail while working in the film and visual effects industry.

Charles joined Talentful in 2022 to head up the organisation’s product and technology group. He is building out a team of world-class product managers, UXers, and software engineers to reinvent and transform recruiting as we know it, through technology-driven products.

Innocent Udia brings to Talentful over fourteen years of leadership experience in Finance and scaling high-growth companies.

He has multi-industry experience in driving operational excellence for many ambitious businesses, including developing scalable processes, leading sustainable growth strategies, and building finance and commercial teams.

Prior to Talentful, Udia served as CFO of AIO and PHASTAR, and previously worked in finance leadership roles at nscglobal, Shine group and SpaceNK. Besides his vast financial experience, Udia is an ACCA fellow member, a Turnarounds Management Association UK member, and has received an Executive MBA from London Business School.

He has also acted as a board member to various group companies during their scale-up journey, provided business partnering service to owners and key stakeholders, led operational efficiency programmes, global expansions and M&A transactions.

Kelly Barnett has over a decade of strategy and development experience across all facets of talent acquisition and human resources.

Kelly formerly served as the People Director for Wagestream and Peakon. Before that, she supported numerous tech organisations through their scaling journey with a specialist focus on employee engagement, leadership development, and employee analytics.

As CPO Kelly leads and oversees all aspects of Talentful’s people strategy and workplace operations.

Alice has over ten years of experience in talent and recruitment. After working in-house at Octopus Investments to help them grow across the business, she joined Talentful in its infancy to focus on advising scaling businesses. Alice has been integral to Talentful’s hyper-growth over the last five years and was previously VP of Client Success. She recently completed an executive MBA specialising in Strategy, Startups, Entrepreneurship, Supply Chain and Operations.

Alice has a passion for culture and leadership, implementing scalable solutions and helping businesses grow, focusing on quality. She has helped over a 100 businesses grow successfully at Talentful to date, with plenty more to come.

Jamie joined Talentful in 2017 as a Senior Talent Partner, initially working onsite with Box and The App Business (TAB).

Jamie’s passion sits within people leadership and people development, as well as providing strategic hiring advice and educating the countless businesses he has partnered with since starting his recruitment career in 2010.

athryne has nearly ten years’ experience in Talent Acquisition, and has previously worked in high-growth scale-ups.

Joining Talentful as a Client Lead on WeWork in 2019, Kathryne moved into a Talent Director role at the start of 2020. She has managed accounts from pre-Series A funding through to enterprise, working with businesses such as Thought Machine, Lyst and Eigen Technologies. Kathryne worked alongside VP East Coast, Jamie Cross, to develop and launch Talentful’s Talent Audit in late 2020.

Prior to Talentful, Kathryne has worked as a Talent Acquisition Partner for Agilisys, part of the Blenheim Chalcot portfolio, to scale their IT and consultancy teams, before moving to Paymentsense as the first Talent Acquisition Manager, building out their recruitment processes and initial talent function.

In 2023, Kathryne stepped into her new role as VP UK, leading a team of Talent Directors and providing strategic guidance and oversight.

Keri joined Talentful with seven years’ experience in recruitment and leadership for high growth companies. She is passionate about leading teams, building close partnerships with her clients, and is excited to help expand Talentful’s US footprint. 

Prior to joining Talentful, Keri was instrumental in building out Russell Tobin’s San Francisco presence, which included scaling recruitment and account management teams as well as identifying and pursuing commercial opportunities.

Malte has 11 years of recruiting and management experience, predominantly in Berlin. Since joining Talentful, he has helped launch and grow our physical presence in Germany and is responsible for our continued success with German partners.

Before joining Talentful, Malte was pivotal in several growth initiatives in both Fintech and Healthcare, with his tenure at Finleap being a particular highlight.

Calum Geraghty is a CIM qualified international B2B Marketing Director with over ten years of marketing experience within the Tech industry. Calum holds a BSc Honours Degree from Oxford Brookes University in International Business, Marketing & Event Management and also a CIM Diploma in Marketing from the Oxford College of Marketing.

Calum has worked in marketing in the USA, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and most recently the UK, where he has led global marketing teams for a number of successful SaaS organisations. He joined Talentful as Global Marketing Director in March 2020 and brings with him a track record in delivering profitable marketing campaigns.

Ben has eight years of experience in recruitment and has been working with some of the world’s most innovative companies since joining Talentful in 2016.

After studying modern languages at University, Ben began work at a small, tech-focused agency, before joining Talentful. Since then he has led successful growth at companies including Gram Games, Depop, Tractable and WealthSimple.

Ben is currently based in Edinburgh, but frequently travels to London, and can often be found trying to find “London’s best coffee” – a mission which he is yet to complete.

Natasha joined Talentful in 2018, initially as a Senior Talent Partner, before moving into a Client Lead role which preceded her current position as a Talent Director. Prior to that, Natasha spent six years in a commercial agency environment and also gained additional experience within media advertising in a sales and customer success capacity.

Natasha is passionate about people and performance and is dedicated to providing talent teams with the tools and guidance required to support effortless recruitment processes and, in turn, generate client happiness!

Ling has over a decade of recruitment experience managing international teams across APAC, EMEA and US. 

Prior to joining Talentful, Ling has worked in both agency and in-house. Most recently, she worked for Hogarth WW (WPP Company), where she had the privilege of building their talent function from the ground up for their largest account, Apple.

Ling enjoys leading by example. She is passionate about sharing ideas and experiences to help her team and clients think creatively to solve problems.

Gareth has over a decade of international experience in leadership, consulting and recruitment spanning US, UK and APAC markets.

Prior to joining Talentful, Gareth led the establishment and growth of the Talent function for the digital innovation hub of Hallmark Cards in Santa Monica, CA. He also provided growth consultation and embedded recruitment services to numerous tech startups, scale-ups and digital transformation programmes in Sydney and Los Angeles before returning to the UK.

With an approach defined by transparency and collaboration, Gareth has a keen interest in organisational psychology and neurodiversity as a driver of innovation and growth.

Kelly has over a decade of international experience in Talent Acquisition, working both in-house and agency side across a diverse portfolio of companies, sectors and markets.

Prior to joining Talentful, Kelly was most recently the Head of Talent and Inclusion at MATCHESFASHION after moving back to the UK from Sydney, where she was Group Talent Partner at WPP AUNZ.

Now, as Talent Director, she oversees a portfolio of EMEA-based clients where she manages the embedded TA teams and strategic consultancy. Outside of Talentful, Kelly is an independent Career Coach and she also helps bring a sense of zen to her teams as a yoga teacher in London.

Abigail joined the Talentful team with a background in hospitality that translates directly to the way she interacts with internal and external customers alike. Prior to joining Talentful, Abigail managed a mid-sized agency that assisted startup to enterprise customers scale at speed. 

When Abigail isn’t working to provide outstanding customer service to all parties involved, she can be found in the mountains, playing first person shooting games or in the sky where her passions lie. Abigail prides herself on creating impactful, lasting professional relationships while problem solving with highly efficient results.

Bryan has over 12 years’ experience in sales, recruitment, and leadership within small to enterprise level companies. Half of that time was spent mentoring, coaching, and developing teams. He has a passion for helping those around him to realise their personal and professional goals and to level up to become better versions of themselves. 

Prior to joining Talentful, Bryan led the talent acquisition function for Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer and Corporate Strategy groups. He also brings expertise in Engineering, IT, and Sales recruitment. He leverages his varied background to provide consultative advice for clients to solve complex business challenges.

When not working, Bryan loves to spend time with his wife Sarah, daughter Madison, and two pups Cody & Lucy. He enjoys hiking, camping, cycling, running, and generally spending time outside in the mountains or at the beach.

Evie joined Talentful in London in 2016, initially partnering with early-stage technology startups as a Talent Associate. She has worked on multiple Talentful projects across a wide range of different industries and has rapidly progressed through different levels into a strategic leadership role. 

Evie now leads Talentful’s Alphabet portfolio, including X, the moonshot factory, Wing and Intrinsic, having moved to the United States in 2020. She consults some of Alphabet’s most exciting and innovative companies on how to scale sustainably and is passionate about Equity, Inclusion and Diversity. In 2022, Evie swapped West Coast for East Coast to help set up Talentful’s New York headquarters.

John joined Talentful as a Talent Lead to manage a global team working as Catapult Sport’s talent function out of Boston, Massachusetts. After a successful year and a half as Talent Lead, John transitioned into a Talent Director role where he oversees delivery and management of a portfolio of clients.

Leaning on his operational background, John thrives in a fast-paced, high growth environment and is passionate about helping tech companies reach their goals as they scale. Prior to joining Talentful, John worked for a unicorn company based out of Boston, Toast, which went public in 2021.