Our team

Will joined Maven in February 2019 to help to drive the next stage of its growth – from global specialist financial services executive search firm to multi-industry talent solutions provider. His energy and positive outlook owe as much to winning a past battle with cancer, as to his lifelong love of cycling.

Will co-manages the firm with Gaurav globally and his personal areas of expertise span Global Markets, Investment Management, Investment Banking and Technology. Prior to joining Maven, he was a Partner and Global COO at Hogarth Davies Lloyd for 12 years, having started his career in a multinational recruitment company.

A craft beer aficionado and diehard Liverpool fan, Will studied Maths and Philosophy at King’s College London.

Gaurav founded Maven in 2007 with no sense whatsoever of the financial crisis to come. Since then, despite this lack of clairvoyance, he's driven the growth of a business that began with one small office in London into a global executive search firm with an established presence in London, New York and Hong Kong.

Gaurav has led searches across the Investment Banking, Investment Management and Global Markets businesses and now focuses on Maven's most senior mandates and relationships. Before founding Maven, he ran the Asia-Pacific practice for a large multi-national search firm.

Prior to the start of his professional life, Gaurav spent several years in academia, earning two Master’s degrees from the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge.

When not working, Gaurav can be found diving into a new hobby, which could be anything from golf to Mandarin – though he has now resolved to enjoy the latter vicariously through his children instead.

James is a Managing Partner & COO, having joined Maven’s London office as Chief Operating Officer. He oversees day-to-day operations of the US, EMEA and APAC businesses, as well as holding other specific management responsibilities. Prior to Maven, James worked at UBS Investment Bank where he managed the EMEA Investment Banking Recruitment and Global Markets Recruitment teams. In these roles, he worked closely with the senior leadership of the business, and led change programmes across Diversity & Inclusion and UK apprenticeship.

In 2004, James graduated with an honors degree in Business Studies, before working at global executive search firms focusing on financial services.

Drawing on his knowledge and experience of recruitment business ownership over the last 20+ years, Justin works with Maven's senior leadership team on the global growth of the organisation.

Prior to joining Maven, Justin founded the HC Group, an executive search firm focused on the international energy and natural resource sector. Following a successful management buyout in 2019, Justin now pursues a portfolio career advising executive search leaders on how to scale their organisations.

A father of four, Justin enjoys wide a variety of extracurricular activities including yachting, dinghy sailing, skiing, classic car restoration and watching his sons play rugby.

Based in New York City, Erin leads our Investment Management team in the Americas. Before joining Maven, Erin built and led the Global Equities practice at a boutique search firm, where she and her team were able to successfully partner with some of the world’s leading hedge funds and fund-seeding platforms. She has also covered the Commodities sector, successfully placing physical and financial North American Oil Trading talent across trading houses, hedge funds, and banks.  

Specializing in placing Portfolio Manager and Analyst talent across asset classes, her approach is to be both a partner and advisor for clients and candidates alike.

Erin earned an MSc in Commerce from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School in 2015. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science at Bucknell University. While she ran competitive track for four years at university, she now gets her competitive energy out in intermural soccer and attending Buffalo Bills games.

Tom joined Maven in February 2022 to further build and lead the Quantitative Finance, Technology & Data team. Tom’s work is defined by true headhunting with absolute discretion, and he has proven this during his involvement in securing the movements of some of the brightest and most influential technologists in the industry. 

Prior to joining Maven, Tom built his career in executive search specialising in technology roles, where he demonstrated his ability in successfully delivering on global senior and lead technology searches for a variety of financial institutions including hedge funds, high-frequency trading firms, and investment banks. A keen sportsperson, having competed nationally at cricket and football, Tom devotes his weekends to lowering his golf handicap.  

Wendy joined Maven in August 2021 from Caldwell Partners where she was a member of the global Financial Services & Private Equity Practice. After two years as a Partner in the Investment Banking team, she became our Head of People in September 2023 with an internal focus on leading learning, development and mentoring across all levels of our teams globally, and an external focus on the search for the best talent to join Maven. 

She began her career in Equity Sales for a major European Investment Bank and moved into executive search in 1998, setting up the Equities practice for a London boutique, before co-founding her own firm in 2013.  A lover of the outdoors, Wendy spends as much time as she can running, walking her dog, and cheering on her two boys from the side of a cold and muddy sports pitch. She read Modern Languages at the University of Bristol and speaks German and French.

William joined Maven in September 2024 to help establish its Hong Kong office and regional presence in APAC. He has been in Hong Kong since relocating from the UK in 2013 for what was supposed to be 6 weeks, quickly falling in love with the city and region.

William has over 20 years' experience in executive search across APAC and EMEA. He advises on leadership, performance culture, and succession planning to C-Suites and Managing Directors in Investment Banks, Securities Brokerages, Financial Conglomerates and Web3 & Digital Assets. Prior to Maven, William was a Partner in Heidrick & Struggles' Financial Services Practice.

Outside of work, William's spare time is filled with learning Chinese, playing guitar, acting as chauffeur to his son and chef to his wife. He wishes he had more time to play squash.

Tom joined Maven's London office as a Principal in May 2023, as part of the Quantitative Finance, Technology & Data business. His role involves partnering with hedge funds, private equity firms, and venture capital firms to support impactful emerging tech-focused "centre of excellence" units and AI lab build-outs.

Prior to joining Maven, Tom was an Associate Director at Robert Walters, where he built the technology business with teams covering Research Science, Applied Analytics, Product, and InfoSec. These teams focused on identifying initial functional hires and strategic leadership for early-stage, venture-backed startups. Tom has also worked in the Netherlands and Hong Kong. He values the collaborative relationships he has built with top universities and their alumni networks.

In his personal time, Tom enjoys spending time with his young family, working on improving his "very average" golf handicap, and exploring new international cuisines.

Charles joined Maven in 2017 and is a key member of the Investment Management team. Charles focuses on Global Macro Portfolio Management & Trading, and has successfully executed searches in the UK, Continental Europe, North America and Asia. In July 2023, he relocated from London to New York.

Charles studied Economics at City University London where he was also a member of the Rugby 1st XV. He’s also passionate about basketball and getting to Kitzbühel to ski as often as he is able to.

Emilia is a member of Maven’s global Investment Management team in London, focusing on European Equities. She brings significant experience covering buy-side market making and investment banking executive search across the US, EMEA, and APAC. Emilia has successfully executed key C-suite hires and led team builds across core middle office functions, including Risk, Compliance, and Legal.

Emilia holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from Royal Holloway, University of London and an MSc in Clinical Neuroscience from King’s College London. 

Beyond her professional achievements, Emilia is passionate about animal welfare.  She has volunteered in Africa and Greece, and partnered with Chimney Farm Animal Rescue, supporting international rehoming for cats and dogs. She is an avid traveller and enjoys discovering London’s up and coming restaurants.  She is fluent in English and Greek.

After reluctantly dropping his teenaged ambition to play tighthead prop for Scotland, Angus joined Maven in 2018. Having cut his teeth in our US Investment Banking practice, he now leads the firm’s efforts to stay at the cutting edge of innovation within Executive Search through use of careful and precise Data Analytics. 

An enthusiastic techie and budding chef with a penchant for holidays in the Hamptons, Angus obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Marketing from Aston University.

Since joining in 2023, Max has offered his expertise across the firm to improve Maven’s capabilities in all the data driven aspects of executive search; from creating systems and automations to help the teams internally, to building visualisations of Maven’s data for better presentation to clients. Before joining Maven, Max honed his skills at 42 Network, where he developed a passion for conceptualising and building advanced data-mining and automation systems.

Outside of work and driven by an unwavering curiosity about the world, Max continually seeks out new, unique, challenges. Whether it's unicycle hockey, competitive wheelbarrow racing, or showcasing his love for cuisine in master chef competitions, he approaches every opportunity with enthusiasm.

Nataliia joined Maven in September 2022 as a Data Entry Administrator to assist the team in maintaining Maven’s database, keeping it accurate, comprehensive, and up to date.

Prior to joining Maven, she was a reporter at a global news agency covering Ukraine’s economy, finance, and banking sector. Her many years of journalistic experience in searching news and facts has helped her master the role and become a reliable teammate.

Originally from Ukraine, Nataliia graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University with an honors degree in Journalism and later earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Kyiv International Institute of Management.

Passionate about art and culture, Nataliia enjoys her time in London, taking every opportunity to visit museums, theatres, explore charming parks and gardens as well as learn rich British traditions.