Sam is our national executive search lead specialising in Commercial, Customer, Sales, Marketing, Digital, and Strategy roles. She collaborates closely with Boards and senior leadership teams to appoint C-suite executives across a variety of industries, including high-growth companies, consulting firms, private equity, NZX-listed organisations, and scale-ups.
With over 11 years of experience in recruiting senior leaders and building dynamic teams, Sam is recognised for her strategic mindset and ability to deliver bespoke solutions that align with organisational objectives. Whether guiding clients through transformative periods or helping them establish new leadership structures, she consistently delivers impactful results. Her innovative approach and extensive global network allow her to identify exceptional talent for critical positions.
A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in executive recruitment, Sam ensures equitable hiring practices that benefit both organisations and candidates. In addition to her recruitment expertise, she regularly facilitates thought leadership events for senior executives across New Zealand, fostering meaningful connections and knowledge-sharing within her professional community.
At Robert Walters, we believe our success comes from the success of our clients and candidates. We're not just recruitment experts; we're partners in crafting your success story.
The team at Robert Walters were instrumental in the search, selection and shortlisting of candidates for board and subcommittee positions. Their extensive networks yielded perfect matches as well as non-traditional options which supported the diversity targets.
Recruiting for a senior People & Culture role was an important appointment for our business, and Sarah and Chrissy were trusted partners throughout the process. They took the time to understand our organisation, culture, and strategic direction, which meant I always felt confident the process was being managed in a way that aligned with who we are.
Their communication was excellent—I was always clear on progress, next steps, and where decisions were needed. They were also flexible and responsive to adjustments along the way. Most importantly, they took ownership of the process, allowing me to stay focused on running the business while knowing the recruitment was in capable hands.
I’m confident the successful candidate will be an excellent fit in our team and look forward to welcoming them into our business very soon.
As Growing Future Farmers transitions from a successful start-up into a more mature and scalable organisation, we recognised the importance of strengthening both our leadership and governance capability. The team took the time to understand not only our operational needs, but also our purpose and the unique role we play in developing future talent for New Zealand's food and fibre sector.
They understood that organisations like ours require leaders who can balance commercial discipline with a genuine commitment to impact. The quality of candidates presented, and the appointments made have positioned us strongly for our next stage of growth.
“As Growing Future Farmers transitions from a successful start-up into a more mature and scalable organisation, we recognised the importance of strengthening both our leadership and governance capability. The team took the time to understand not only our operational needs, but also our purpose and the unique role we play in developing future talent for New Zealand's food and fibre sector.
They understood that organisations like ours require leaders who can balance commercial discipline with a genuine commitment to impact. The quality of candidates presented, and the appointments made have positioned us strongly for our next stage of growth."
We had a great experience working with the team on our recent benchmarking project. Communication was seamless throughout, and the project was completed with great efficiency and professionalism. I’d highly recommend Robert Walters to any organization seeking expert, data-driven market intelligence. Many thanks once again!
Robert Walters was amazing with supporting our business on the salary benchmarking project, it was incredibly thorough, with excellent collaboration across their departments. The consultative approach ensured the insights were both relevant and actionable—truly a valuable support to our strategic planning.
Collaborating with Robert Walters has been fundamental in advancing our gender diversity initiatives. Their professionalism and dedication have enabled us to develop effective and sustainable strategies.
With their support, we are closer to achieving our equity goals and fostering a corporate culture that values and celebrates diversity.
Additionally, we have gained a clearer focus on our priorities, better appreciated the initiatives already in place, and gained a deeper understanding of their impact.
Having recently established our Internal Talent Acquisition function we were keen to hold up a mirror and ensure our recruitment practices met our values and ambitions to be an organization with diversity, equity and inclusion at its heart. Robert Walters was a stand-out partner for us to work with given their proven expertise in this space. We were looking for a partner who could not only audit our current practices but also share solutions and best practices to enable us to become an exemplary organization in this space.
The Diverse Hiring diagnostic provided us with a clear understanding of opportunities to become a more inclusive and welcoming organization. Supported by best practice recommendations, we have been able to develop a clear roadmap that will enhance our approach across all the lenses we reviewed.
Continually improving the candidate experience at Uber is our North Star in Talent Acquisition. It is our obsession and so much work goes into constantly evaluating the candidate journey to see what works and what can be improved while keeping pace with changing candidate sentiment and change. However, it was truly enlightening to engage with Robert Walters as an external partner was not only a fresh pair of eyes but a tremendous amount of expertise in the space. The key thing for us is to identify actionable items that we can make happen at speed and at scale with impact, so to be able to achieve this with the diagnostic approach was fantastic.
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