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Built from the inside of hiring.

I help people approach their next move intentionally — most often executives, senior leaders and specialists, in and around technology and life sciences.

The work is simple to describe and hard to find: making visible the reality most people only understand in theory — how important hiring decisions are actually made.

About half my clients are in Switzerland, or on their way here. The rest are across Europe, with others in California, New York, Singapore and Australia.

250

Companies hired for

750+

Hires made

CHF

150m+

in offers negotiated

What I’ve Seen

Most people watch the outcomes of hiring. I've watched the decisions.

Fifteen years in search and talent. Executive and niche hiring for a Fortune Global 500 company, seeing decision-making from the inside. Launching and growing the Swiss arm of a specialist search firm — which outpaced the market and was acquired. And, more recently, building AI products that help applicants differentiate themselves authentically.

That combination changed what I thought I knew. I had spent years on the search side, watching the outcomes of hiring decisions. Inside the company, I watched the decisions themselves: the conversation after the candidate leaves the room, the calculus a panel runs when two people are equally qualified, the small reasons one is chosen and the other is not.

The Basel Job Coach

It started over coffees. Word travelled.

Since 2024 I’ve coached more than a hundred people to take control of their search and get where they wanted to be. It began because people sought my advice when other routes hadn’t worked — talented people, PhDs, MDs and MBAs, caught on the wrong side of a transformation, who had been through outplacement and state services with no change in their results. What was missing was specialist counsel with genuine been-there, done-that expertise.

What started as a passion project became the focus. It became clear that informal advice wasn’t enough — what these people needed was structured, hands-on support shaped by how decisions actually happen.

Today, most of my time goes to people already in a role who want a new one — internally or externally — though supporting those between roles remains core. I also work with people exploring consulting and independent work, refining their approach through a commercial lens.

“Top of my list of recommendations to those seeking practical, common-sense and impactful guidance on their job search. Always the one with a fresh, unique, leading-edge perspective.”

Alison Barber · former Global Talent Leader, Novartis

How I Work

Building for you, not lecturing at you.

No lectures, no busywork. Understanding HR and talent processes helps; understanding why leaders make the hiring decisions they do is the crucial part. The frameworks I’ve developed are drawn from hiring reality, not hiring theory. I build with you and for you, rather than telling you how and leaving you with questions — and I work with the fact that you have a busy life, not a rigid formula to follow.

For most, that means rebuilding CVs and LinkedIn from scratch, the value proposition beneath them, and an answer to “tell me about yourself” that reflects the role they want and the person they want to be. For others, that plus an authentic, organic networking strategy and the confidence to use it. 

For senior leaders, it is bespoke counsel: multiple positions for multiple audiences, executive presence, the calculus boards and investors apply, and daily access through a longer move.

Making connections for others is a pleasure, where relevant. Several have led to spin-out opportunities and new company ideas as well as hires.

Clients arrive with a problem framed as “I need a new role.” They leave with new habits — in how they connect with others, how they present themselves, how they decide. The new role is the immediate outcome. The change in how they operate is the lasting one.

“What I didn't expect was that this would become the first job search I genuinely enjoyed. More than finding a role, the process changed my habits and how I build connections.”

Bea McDonald · VP

Basel

Moving a career across borders, while moving a life across them.

I’m British, and I’ve lived in Basel for thirteen years. My family and I are raising children here — house builds, the long version of expat life as it actually is, rather than as the relocation brochure describes it.

The people I work with are often doing the same: moving a career across borders while moving a life across them too.

Who this is for

For people who want to be in control of what happens next.

This is for...

People who know they’re good at what they do and want to be deliberate about their next move — even when they don’t feel as confident as they should. Senior professionals, executives and specialists. People moving between roles, weighing an offer, facing a restructure, or discreetly looking before they look openly.

This it NOT for...

People looking for a magic bullet. Life doesn’t work that way. If you’ve arrived hoping for one phone number from my network, a three-month guarantee or a pivot from mining rocks into mining crypto with no thesis

The Next Step

A conversation is the right first step.

If you’re thinking about your next move, internal or external, and you want to approach it more intentionally than reactively — let’s talk.

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