Meet the Team
Anna Bagneris
Associate Researcher
Anna is a recent graduate from Goldsmiths University, gaining a BA degree in English and American Literature. Whilst volunteering for Livingstone Tanzania Trust, she realised her passion for community work. After her degree, she completed two online courses: ‘International Women’s Health and Human Rights’ at Stanford University and ‘Management of International Development’ at Università Bocconi. Alongside this, she volunteered for community projects around London and became a Project Leader for Food Cycle in 2021. She will continue this role during her time as an Associate Researcher at Red Sea Search. Anna is eager to explore her interests in the charity sector, both in London, where she lives, and internationally, helped by her French and American roots.
Becky Snead
Client Services Director
Becky has been working cross-culturally in global development for the last 15 years. She started her career with Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL in West Africa working first as a lexicographer before changing direction and becoming the SIL Personnel Director for Togo and Benin. Upon returning to the UK in 2013, she joined Oxfam International, where she most recently served as Resourcing Manager, recruiting Executive, Global, Regional and Country leaders across 25 countries. Becky is fluent in French, holding an MA in International Relations and French from St. Andrews University and is passionate about languages and gender diversity and inclusion in recruitment.
Bianca Portal
Associate Researcher
Bianca has been in sourcing and recruitment for eight years. She began in this industry as a Sourcing Specialist for World Vision International, where she sourced for Country Directors, Chiefs of Party, and other hard-to-fill NGO positions, globally. During this period, Bianca earned her Blackbelt in Internet Recruitment, through SocialTalent. After years in the NGO space, she turned toward tech, and became a Senior Sourcing Recruiter for Intuit. Bianca loves recruitment because of the ability to connect talented candidates with the right opportunities for them. These days, Bianca keeps busy by recruiting and providing career counseling to students. Bianca holds a Master of Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in Human Resources and Organizational Development.
Charles Patterson
Associate Consultant, Africa
Charles has over 25 years of work experience across international non-profit and for-profit organizations combining HR leadership, management and consultancy focusing on the delivery of superior organizational people outcomes. Before going into consultancy practice, Charles served at senior management levels with Oxfam International, Management Sciences for Health, Merlin UK, World Vision International, PSL Group, Academic Services Limited among others. He has led complex OD and change management processes across different organizations in Africa.
Charles is passionate about people and uses his experience to support individuals and groups to discover themselves and grow their careers and, ultimately leading fulfilling professional lives. A Certified Master Trainer, Facilitator, Mentor and Executive Coach, Charles is a Member of the Institute of Human Resource Management(Kenya) and the Institute of Economic Affairs(Kenya). He holds BA in Economics, MBA in Human Resources Management, Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Huma Resource Development, Advanced Certificate in Executive Coaching, Certificate in Organizational Development among other professional qualifications.
Christie McGuire
Head of Research
Christie is a Talent Sourcing Specialist with 15 years of international NGO recruitment and search experience. Previously, Christie lead the sourcing efforts at World Vision International, specializing in sourcing senior leadership across the globe. Christie has run hundreds of complex searches utilizing strategic and creative search techniques resulting in strong candidate lists with competitive, top performing talent. As a leading Talent Sourcer and Researcher, Christie has successfully found and placed candidates such as Regional Directors, Country Directors, SDOs, Technical Programming Specialists, Emergency Relief and Global IT Leaders throughout the Americas, Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Christie is passionate about connecting talented professionals with unparalleled opportunities to use their skills and experience for the greater good. As a Recruitment Consultant, Christie has contracted with numerous private companies and not-for-profit organisations. She holds a Bachelors of Social Work and Art from Azusa Pacific University, is a certified Blackbelt in Internet Recruitment/Sourcing from Social Talent and is a LinkedIn Certified Professional – Recruiter.
Gareth Griffiths
Senior Partner
Gareth has an extensive background in recruitment going back 20 years and working in several different sectors from Pepsico and G4S to the NHS and the care home industry. For the past 5 and a half years, he has led global resourcing for Plan International and Marie Stopes International, sourcing senior candidates from all over the world, including Country and Regional Directors, Chief of Parties and Executive Team members. Gareth has a BA in Law from Aberystwyth University and originally qualified as a barrister before changing direction to recruitment.
Irene Gikemi
Senior Consultant, Africa
Irene is a seasoned Human Resources Leader with over 20 years’ experience designing & executing integrated Talent Acquisition & Management solutions as well as leading Human Resources functions for complex, multinational organizations. In the course of her career Irene has served various organizations across Africa such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Diageo, Bharti Airtel and most recently Oxfam International. During this time, Irene has developed a keen perspective and passion for Africa having travelled to and worked in over 45 African countries. Irene is passionate about building an African Talent Engine and devotes her time as an Executive Coach working with emerging and established leaders. She also serves as a Mentor on YALI – Young African Leaders Initiative. Irene holds a Master of Arts Degree in Communications from the University of Nairobi – School of Journalism and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Kenyatta University.
Javier Cantera
Principal Consultant Europe and Latin America
Javier has worked in global development and humanitarian operations for more than 15 years, primarily for Oxfam Spain and Oxfam International. He has worked in more than 20 countries in Africa and Latin America, resourcing talent, fostering leadership and developing organizational and individual capacity. Career Coach and Associated Professor at the Deusto University in International Careers. Javier holds a master’s degree in Political Science & International Relations, with a specialization in peace and conflict management, from Uppsala University in Sweden. Based currently in Barcelona, Javier is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
Khetsiwe Dlamini
Senior Advisor, Africa
Khetsiwe has 30 years of international development experience which spans all continents and several sectors. She has worked in managerial roles for the IFC, the World Bank and most recently the United Nations as the Chief of Staff at UN Women. Khetsiwe is a qualified global business leader and has a Doctorate in Business Leadership as well as a Masters in Business Administration, amongst other qualifications. Khetsiwe has shown great aptitude for talent acquisition and management in local, regional and global contexts and is passionate about gender diversity and inclusion. She is a co-founder of Triple C Advisory – a gender lens and impact advisory firm.
Marietha Schoonbee
Finance & Administration Manager
Marietha has 17+ years of administrative and secretarial experience across various private sector organisations. Marietha is currently the Finance and Administration Manager for Red Sea Search and oversees the administrative functioning and coordination of logistics with clients, candidates and the search process. She has experience coordinating logistics throughout various countries and overall time zones. Marietha is based in South Africa and is fluent in English and Afrikaans languages.
Melissa Nicholson
Project Manager
Melissa has 19+ years of experience in secretarial, administrative, and virtual assistance experience in various sectors. Six of those years have been spent in an administrative support role for the Executive Search INGO sector. Melissa is currently the Search Project Manager for Red Sea and assists the Red Sea Consultants to ensure that all searches are conducted at the highest level. Melissa is based in South Africa and is fluent in English and Afrikaans languages.
Sheerin Dariani
Associate Researcher
Sheerin brings her ethos of creating value for partners, experience in international development and humanitarian relief and cultural understanding of the Middle East to our executive search services in this region. With 15 years of experience in communications, corporate responsibility, fundraising and philanthropy, Sheerin has worked for corporate communication agencies, international and intergovernmental organisations in the United Kingdom and Middle East.
After beginning her career in London at Grey Communications Sheerin moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates and joined MSL Group where she led brand communications and corporate responsibility for a leading multi-national consumer goods client. She then followed her passion and transitioned into non-profit work, initially consulting for the UNICEF Gulf Area Office. Her next role was at SOS Children’s Villages International, Gulf Area Office, where she led private fundraising and partnerships for the organisation. A UK national with Middle Eastern roots, Sheerin is fluent in English and Farsi and holds a Bachelor’s .
Susan Bandow
Principal Consultant: United States of America
Susan has more than 30 years’ experience executing integrated executive talent acquisition & management and leading Human Resources for complex, multinational organizations. She is an expert in identifying, assessing and placing exceptional leadership talent that results in improved organizational performance and growth.
Most recently, Susan served as the Interim Chief People Officer and Global Talent Leader for World Vision International, where she led numerous executive searches and she has previously conducted executive searches, for Korn Ferry International. Susan has developed a strong global perspective by travelling to and working in over 80 countries. Having worked within a variety of industries, including retail and manufacturing, executive search, financial services, and non-profit, Susan has a unique business understanding of various organizational dynamics, people and processes. She also has an extensive background in building and leading diverse & inclusive teams, as well as delivering high-quality, on-time results to clients.
Susan holds a B.S. in Communications Arts, minor in Political Science from James Madison University.
Suzanne Harbour
Brand, Communications and Marketing Executive
Suzanne’s background is in content writing, marketing, branding and communications, primarily in the charity sector. She has a passion for writing and attended university as a mature student in 2015, gaining a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing (First Class).
Since studying, Suzanne’s gained further experience in content writing, editing, blog writing, rewriting website content, and content/scriptwriting for social media. She loves storytelling, working creatively, generating new ideas, rewriting complicated content to make it engaging, and improving branding.
Tim Wingrove
Managing Director
Tim Wingrove is the founder and Managing Director of Red Sea Executive Search. He has been working in INGO search at Executive level for the last 10 years and has recruited across Africa, Asia, Europe and the America’s. Clients include the likes of Oxfam International, Amnesty International, Plan International, WWF, Gain, Care International, ActionAid International, Practical Action, Sightsavers, Tearfund, Marie Stopes, WaterAid, Medair. Tim has placed candidates in the US, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Kenya, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Senegal, South Africa, Mozambique, South Sudan, Nigeria, DRC, Turkey, Jordan, UAE, Russia, China, India, Philippines, Thailand and more. Tim has an active interest in geopolitics and serving civil society.
Join Our Team Today!
Red Sea is a growing company, and we are always interested in hearing from consultants who would like to work with us. To register interest, please write with your details to [email protected]