Global HR Update Q3 2023

Abby is a Managing Director with ChapmanCG’s EMEA practice. She leads complex searches across the UK, Continental Europe and the Middle East, and works closely with the global team to identify senior HR leadership talent across the region.

Abby has enjoyed over 20 years working in the executive search industry, based in both London and Dubai. Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Abby worked with a major international search firm and a boutique legal search business, leading teams and advising clients on senior level executive assignments across Europe and the MEA region. She has an excellent reputation for her consultative approach.

Outside of work, Abby can be found buried in cookery books, preparing for half marathons and looking after her two young and very active daughters. She is an avid skier and is always looking for new travel opportunities. Abby holds a Bachelors Degree in Modern Languages (German and Italian) from University of Exeter.

Fiona Jury is the Senior Director, Global Research and Market Intelligence at ChapmanCG. She is passionate about excellence in search delivery and leads ChapmanCG’s global research and market intelligence team in identifying top-quality HR talent.

Fiona’s executive search and recruitment career spans over 20 years, working across multiple markets including Asia Pacific, the United States, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand. A search consultant at heart, Fiona understands the unique needs of clients. During her time with ChapmanCG, Fiona has delivered on CHRO, Global HR Director, Regional HR Director, Global Talent Head, Global Head of Reward and many other high impact searches.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Fiona held a variety of leadership and senior consulting roles at Talent2 and at Morgan & Banks/TMP. She possesses broad industry experience across pharmaceuticals, FMCG, financial services, media, professional services and IT & Telecommunications.

Fiona originally qualified as a Chartered Accountant and spent her early career with Coopers & Lybrand. She holds a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) from Monash University in Melbourne. Outside of work, Fiona enjoys spending time with family and her three children. She enjoys all sports and is fascinated by human ingenuity and positive psychology.

Jeff Wilbanks is a Director at ChapmanCG. He has a strong track record of successful executive search assignments across a wide breadth of industries and HR specializations. Jeff has led engagements ranging from clients that are scaling quickly and looking for their first HR leader to clients that are more mature, progressive HR organizations in early stages of transformation. He has partnered with publicly traded, PE-backed, and non-profit organizations domestically and globally.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Jeff sat on the leadership team for a retained executive search boutique that focused solely on Human Resources and provided recruitment solutions to hire top talent across the US for companies of all different shapes and sizes.

Jeff resides in Kansas City with his wife and two children. Away from his desk, he loves to travel, spend time with his family, and enjoy the outdoors.

Stefanie Cross-Wilson is President and COO at ChapmanCG, based in Los Angeles. Along with the other members of the company’s executive team, Stefanie is responsible for the day-to-day running of ChapmanCG. She also leads complex HR searches globally for ChapmanCG’s top clients.

Before joining ChapmanCG, Stefanie was President, Recruitment & Talent Management for North America at Hudson (NASDAQ: HSON). Prior to that she lived and worked in Asia for over 20 years, most recently as Hudson’s Asia CEO.

Stefanie has worked extensively with leading multinational employers across a broad range of geographies and industries. Working closely with HR and business leadership teams, she advises on the development and implementation of best practice HR and Talent strategies.

Stefanie is originally from Chicago and a graduate of Sydney University in Australia. She is an international speaker and subject matter expert on global Human Resources and Talent Acquisition trends, and working cross-culturally.

Steve has worked for over two decades in the executive search and talent industry across multiple international markets, including the UK/Europe, Australia, Singapore, the Chinese mainland, and Hong Kong. Throughout his career, he has successfully executed numerous high-profile HR searches at the Chief, EXCO, and regional levels, spanning diverse industry sectors. His true passion lies in fostering lifelong relationships with CHROs, HR Leaders, and CEOs, advocating for a skills-based approach to enable inclusive and connected workplaces.

Steve is responsible for leading our world-class consulting team across APAC and EMEA, helping companies transform and accelerate growth by identifying and placing the best commercially astute CHROs and HR leadership teams who will elevate, drive, and sometimes challenge, the people agenda. By promoting the recognition and utilisation of diverse skill sets, we can drive creativity and exceptional performance.

Steve is a member of the Executive Committee at ChapmanCG.

Expertise: Delivering searches at group, international, regional, and market level for CHROs and their direct reports across HR business partnering; HR COO; talent management; people capability; organisation development; talent acquisition; total rewards; people analytics; diversity and inclusion; well-being; and ESG.

Christopher (Chris) Kouns is a Director with ChapmanCG, based in Atlanta, GA. Chris leads searches across North and South America and represents US and Americas based talent internationally via ChapmanCG’s consultant network. Since joining the firm, Chris has enjoyed success identifying HR leadership talent on behalf of complex and highly matrixed public companies, private equity, and pre-IPO organizations. Chris is known for working quickly and creatively, producing positive outcomes for ChapmanCG’s clients in talent-short locations and where hard-to-find ‘unicorn’ profiles are required.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Chris was a Senior Executive Search Consultant with a leading search firm. In that role, he appointed Director and Vice President level leaders in Fortune 500, mid-size, and start-up environments. Earlier in his career, Chris spent 20 years as a collegiate soccer coach. He led his Capital University (OH) team to the NCAA Final Four, was a finalist for the NCAA National Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year, and is the author of two books for World Class Coaching Publications.

Chris holds a BA from Mars Hill University and completed master’s coursework at UPENN. He enjoys travelling and is a founding member and season ticket holder for Atlanta United.