Nov 2025 – Present · 6 mos

• As part of Raven’s evolution, I have transitioned into an external, strategic partnership through Gale & Co, where I continue to serve as Raven’s exclusive, embedded talent partner.
• I work directly with Raven’s leadership and clients to:
• Align talent strategy with capability-building programmes.
• Define vacancies and profiles.
• Attract and secure talent that fits their needs and context.
• Ensure organisations can scale design, product, and technology teams effectively and sustainably.

Nov 2023 – Nov 2025 · 2 yrs

• I help organisations build world‑class design, product, and experience teams — and I do it in a way that sticks.
• Sure, I can find you a great hire. But my real job?
• Making sure you hire the right people, in the right roles, with the right set‑up so they can actually thrive, and your business gets stronger because of it.
• I work directly with C‑suite leaders, founders, and design heads to:
• 1) Recruit senior & leadership talent in UX, product design, service design, brand design, and research.
• 2) Source hard‑to‑find specialists in design systems, content design, accessibility, design ops and more.
• 3) Build high‑performing design & product teams that thrive in complex environments (not just survive them)
• 4) Strengthen leadership capability, ways of working and culture.
• 5) Help teams leverage AI and emerging tech so they work smarter, not just harder
• Specialist areas:
• Design Recruitment | UX Recruitment | Digital Product Recruitment | Senior Design Hiring | Executive Search | Organisational Capability Building | Talent Acquisition Consulting | Design Leadership Hiring | Service Design Recruitment | Brand & Creative Recruitment
• Some wins I’m particularly proud of:
• Helped a high‑growth company hire a multi-disciplinary team of 20, who later became the blueprint for culture org-wide.
• Helped an agency win £1Millions in new business by leveraging a new fractional consultant model to support their pitch work.
• Created a design hiring framework for a scale‑up that slashed time‑to‑hire in half - and made the hiring manager actually enjoy recruitment, apparently (yes, really).
• At Raven, we’re not in the business of quick fixes.
• We don’t just drop someone into your org and walk away.
• We help you build capability, culture, and leadership so your team can keep winning long after we’ve left the room.
• sam@trustraven.com | trustraven.com

Nov 2025 – Present · 6 mos · Hybrid

• After 10 years in design + product recruitment, I’ve seen the same problems again and again:
• Badly defined roles.
• Endless interview loops.
• Hiring too fast… or too late.
• And teams built around guesswork, not clarity.
• So I started Gale & Co.: A specialist talent partner for design, product, delivery, and tech.
• Here’s what I actually do:
• Help leaders define the right role
• Make tough hires simple
• Spot talent others overlook
• Build teams that are built to last
• Bring design literacy into hiring conversations where it's badly needed
• If you’re trying to hire and it’s harder than it should be, I can help.

Aug 2024 – Present · 1 yr 9 mos · London Area, United Kingdom

• We've entered into a strategic partnership with Design For Good to support their mission of bringing together designers around the world with a shared goal of improving life through design.
• Our involvement is three fold:
• Utilise our team building models to support team formations.
• Build and lead a new mentorship program to support each of the design teams.
• Provide guidance on research best practice to drive insights and direction for the project teams.

Feb 2022 – Sep 2023 · 1 yr 7 mos

• My role as Head of Retained Partnerships and Community has two core focuses:
• Retained partnerships:
• Focused on winning and delivering on retained projects which includes:
• Design Leadership roles (Head of, Director, Chief, VP)
• Volume hiring. Helping to build and scale cross-functional design teams from Manager level down to Junior.
• Managing a delivery team of consultants focusing on our retained clients.
• Community:
• Continuing to drive Zebra’s community engagement through events partnerships and content.

Apr 2021 – Feb 2022 · 10 mos

Jul 2019 – Apr 2021 · 1 yr 9 mos

• Focusing on Digital Product, UX/UI, UI and Visual Designers.
• We are Zebra People. Involved with the industry beyond our desks we are constantly involved with events, either hosting our own (Zebra Labs) or sponsoring industry related events or simply attending events in order to better our knowledge of industry related trends. We pride ourselves on being industry thought leaders, listening to both the needs of our candidates and clients and responding to this in the form of workshops, events as well as producing related articles to share with the industry.
• www.zebrapeople.com

Jan 2018 – Jun 2019 · 1 yr 5 mos

Jun 2017 – Dec 2017 · 6 mos

May 2020 – Jun 2023 · 3 yrs 1 mo

• I have now paused my ADPList involvement due to time constraints.
• Supporting designers around the world with careers and employability and recruitment related advice including:
• CV writing and presentation.
• Portfolio reviews & tips.
• Interviewing and Interview preparation.
• Support making job applications.
• Career mapping and bench-marking (Primarily for the UK)
• General jobseeking Q&A.
• Hiring for your own team
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Writing job specs
• Interview process planning
• Attracting design talent
• Defining a role
• Salary Benchmarking

Jul 2016 – May 2017 · 10 mos · London Area, United Kingdom

• Specialising in Creative, Design + Studio, I work with fantastic industry clients, placing;
• Designers
• Copywriters
• Artworkers
• Art Directors
• Visualisers
• Retouchers
• Proofreaders
• Presentation Specialists

Jun 2015 – Jun 2016 · 1 yr · The Waggon & Horses

Oct 2014 – Nov 2015 · 1 yr 1 mo · Nottingham, London

Jun 2013 – Jun 2013 · 0 mo

May 2010 – Jun 2015 · 5 yrs 1 mo · The Fishery, Elstree

Jan 2010 – May 2010 · 4 mos · The Village Hotel, Elstree