LONDON — Heidrick & Struggles, the global executive search firm, has promoted Caroline Pill to the new role of Global Sector leader, Luxury, where she will have oversight across different sectors and practices, including fashion, luxury and beauty.
The company said Pill will continue to lead global accounts while “coaching and advising” colleagues in viewing executive recruitment from a cross-sector, and cross-cultural perspective.
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A first-class networker with a sharp eye for talent, and corporate matchmaking, Pill has made high-level executive placements at publicly listed firms including Richemont, Puig, L’Occitane, and Estée Lauder, and at private enterprises and start-ups.
She has emerged quickly as a leader in the niche — and relatively new — area of high-level luxury recruitment.
Amanda Worthington, global practice managing partner for the consumer markets at Heidrick & Struggles, said Pill’s “focus on executional excellence, and near-constant intensity in calling on the market, has driven much of our growth in the luxury sector. Strategically, she will help us connect dots across sectors and practices, including where luxury touches products, retail, hospitality and beyond.”
Worthington added that Pill, along with some of her colleagues, has also “revolutionized what it means” to go to market with ancillary services that complement the executive search process, such as leadership assessment, and culture shaping within organizations. Worthington said Pill and her team have also tapped into new client bases.
Pill said the company’s luxury practice “aims to represent the modern voice of luxury for our clients. In today’s complex market, we believe it is important to look at the industry in an holistic way, not only the obvious players in the fashion, luxury goods and beauty sectors, but also to include certain subsectors such as hospitality, automotive and other companies that work across luxury experiences.”
She added that her new role “will allow for a speedier, more robust and cohesive approach to the market. I wholeheartedly believe that there is a great opportunity in thinking about the expanded luxury landscape. It will encourage more cross-sector moves and a continued reflection” around the definition of luxury.
Pill joined Heidrick & Struggles two years ago as a partner within its consumer markets practice, and served as the organization’s fashion and beauty expert.
Originally from Antwerp, she began her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer, and holds a master’s degree from Yale Law School. She later moved into the field of executive recruitment, and has spent more than a decade placing managerial talent at start-ups, and at top luxury, fashion and beauty brands.
Pill also holds a certificate in life and career coaching from The World Coaching Institute and Henley Business School. She is fluent in French, English and Flemish.
Heidrick & Struggles, which is quoted on the Nasdaq, says it provides “global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, serving the senior-level talent and consulting needs of the world’s top organizations.” It was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Chicago.
