Introducing Susan Bandow – Principle Consultant: United States of America

Red Sea Executive Search is excited to announce the appointment of Susan Bandow as Principal Consultant: United States of America.

Susan has more than 30 years of experience building recruitment procedures and executing integrated executive talent acquisition for international organizations. She is passionate about approaching recruitment in a holistic manner, amalgamating all aspects and needs of an organization to ensure quality and sustainable appointments.

Susan has recently served at World Vision International as the Global Talent Leader and Interim Chief People Officer where she led numerous executive searches. Previously, Susan has worked within recruitment across various industries. Holding positions as Vice President Talent Acquisition at First Data Corporation and Principal at Korn Ferry International. Through her deep experience recruiting executive talent and by travelling and working in over 80 countries, Susan has acquired an extensive global perspective and in-depth business understanding.

Interview with Susan Bandow

The professional journey so far 

“There are many accomplishments I can share during my time at World Vision International, such as creating an integrated talent acquisition and talent management function, a talent acquisition center of excellence for the organization introducing an in-house leadership search function. As such, we did the majority of the leadership recruitment across the partnership, as well as the field operations and relief recruiting. Through a holistic talent management lens, we focused on the leadership and executive talent needs by creating internal and external talent pipelines and succession plans with a view on gender and Global South leaders.

It was an exciting and humbling opportunity, and we changed how World Vision International recruited, sourced, assessed, and placed candidates – we were at the forefront of positive ‘talent’ changes across the humanitarian sector.”

Passionate about recruitment

“I started my career in retail and manufacturing before transitioning into executive search. I have a diverse human resource and business background, yet I was always pulled towards recruitment and building in-house talent teams essentially finding talent. My interests started when I was in college and I was Head of membership in my sorority, so cultivating, building relations, and bringing in talent has been in my DNA for a long time. What motivates me is the challenge of finding the right person for the organization. So not only focusing on the short-term needs but also looking at the longer-term potential and benefit a candidate may bring to these positions. I am passionate and deeply enjoy listening, inquiring, and understanding what motivates people – their experiences, skills, and values, and how this applies to or ‘fits’ with an organization. This takes time during the interview process, but it’s about building relationships with candidates, hiring managers, and clients which have proven to yield very good results over the years.”

Working at Red Sea Executive Search

“Red Sea Executive Search facilitates the personal client/candidate relationship and management that I am passionate about. It means there is a focus on spending time getting to know organisations, diagnosing and understanding their needs, being able to come alongside, and partner with them throughout the search process. 

Red Sea Executive Search feels like the perfect fit. It is an incredible lifestyle brand and very much a values-driven organization. I am excited to take everything I have learned so far in my professional career and apply it here.”