Our new partner in Washington
Kennedy Executive Search & Consulting, a global network of privately owned executive search boutiques, welcomes its 15th partner. With Washington, DC based firm TH Bender joining, the network now has offices in Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen, Denver, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, Milan, Monaco, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Vienna and Washington DC. The step further underlines the international footprint of the network. Clients can now benefit from Kennedy’s services around the world and around the clock.
TH Bender focuses on the executive search needs foreign companies have in the United States and Canada. With over 300 completed search assignments, 90% commissioned by companies outside of the United States, including dozens for country managers guiding the North American operations of European and Asian corporations the firm is the go-to-address for the executive recruiting needs of non-American companies across the high-tech, industrial, financial, life-sciences, energy and automotive industries. Addressing the strong belief of its founder that the world energy generation and transportation needs to de-carbonize, TH Bender is also well-established recruiter serving the renewable industry working with American, European and Chinese companies. Germany-born Tilman Bender, who still leads many of the search assignments today, founded the company in 2005 after ten years working as an executive recruiter, including most recently as a principal for a Fortune 500 executive search company and a multi-year work assignment in Hong Kong.
Jorg Stegemann, CEO and founder of Kennedy Executive Search & Consulting: “European companies tend to focus on the East Coast where the issue of time differences is less prevalent in Washington DC than in Denver, Colorado where we already have a US partner office. Adding to this, the very obvious international experience Tilman and his team offer, sparked our interest even more. As a global network we need psychical presence in all parts of the world but also international and diverse culturally specific expertise to offer a true and seamless service to our clients.
Tilman Bender: “We have always worked across international borders and helped companies to successfully navigate the North American market. Over the last decade we realized how similar the business issues of all global companies active in North America are. We feel that with Kennedy we can accelerate our international footprint beyond our core German-language market. In today’s global society we see an increase of demand for global executive search on a high level. Partnering with Kennedy Executive firstly opens up more doors on the European continent, where many partners are located or focused on; secondly, we hope that Kennedy’s continued global expansion will allow us to also connect with non-European companies to expand on our successful track-record helping non-European companies built up significant businesses in the States. But it will also allow us to learn from the knowledge and expertise of the other partners and gives us a chance to share best practices. This in turn will benefit the level of service we can all provide to our clients – both foreign and domestic. I am very excited to be part of the Kennedy network and look forward to contributing to its global reach”.
Tilman Bender is not the first partner of the Kennedy Executive partner network that works in another country then where he or she was born. Caroline Frisenberg, of Frisenberg J. & Associates/Kennedy Executive Monaco was born in Sweden. In Johannesburg, Evolve International/Kennedy Executive South Africa is run by UK native Adam Ginster. Lens/Kennedy Executive The Netherlands is headed by Carl Lens and Dave Heilbron, the latter holding both Canadian and Dutch citizenship. Furthermore Kennedy Executive founder and CEO Jorg Stegemann was born in Germany but lives in Paris. The true international footprint of the network is present also in the fact that between the partners 30 languages are spoken.
“When looking for new offices to join our network, we try to meet as many as possible from a list of criteria”; says Stegemann. “We look for a minimum of 10 years experience in executive search for instance. Tilman can look back on 21 years in executive search alone, so ticks that box more than well. But when it comes to that other important criterion, an international footprint, we strive to look for more than ‘just’ experience with international clients. A true global mindset often stems from a person’s character rather than the company’s experience. Tilman was born in Germany, grew up in Canada, worked in Hong Kong and the US and is a true global citizen. This is reflected in his professional career, his education as well as his character. With that, he also meets one of the other important criteria; he fits in the team. We are thrilled to have him and his team on board”.
About Kennedy Executive
Kennedy Executive Search & Consulting is a global partner network of retained search boutiques in Europe, Africa, North America and Asia Pacific with offices in Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen, Denver, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, Milan, Monaco, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Vienna and Washington. The network covers 360 degrees of talent management: executive search finds and assesses the right talent in the market, consulting develops people and organizations. With the addition of TH Bender, Kennedy is now active on 4 continents with 15 offices in 14 countries and offers a global reach. Between the 75+ consultants and researchers, 30 languages are spoken. As a network Kennedy will run 365 strategic recruitments all over the world this year. Kennedy Executive Search & Consulting helps organizations to achieve their goals and people to enhance their careers every day.
Want to know more, please contact our office at +31 (0)20 462 30 60 or hello@lens.careers.