DEI is at the heart of everything we do.

Our speciality is around building impactful diversity programmes, making sure our customers avoid bias and look at wider talent options.

Sylvia Phillips

Meet our Founder and Managing Director

Sylvia has 20 years’ global experience in delivering talent solutions for multinational corporations, securing their most senior and strategic hires.

Over the past decade Sylvia has built numerous in-house Executive Talent teams in oil and gas, energy, mining, infrastructure, construction, manufacturing & retail/consumer/luxury industries, amongst others.

In her in-house tenure, she managed over 600 confidential searches into both functional roles such as finance, HR, Technology, IT, Legal, Data and Business Unit leaders on their wider talent needs, and the board. Her assignments have been diverse both in geography and product. She led projects and teams in the UK, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Canada, CIS countries, the US & Latin America, India, China, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Europe.

Sylvia brings a deep understanding of all aspects of the executive search and leadership development process and proven expertise as a trusted advisor supporting her customers in developing effective talent strategies that lead to successful career transition.

Sylvia holds a Masters in Strategic Human Resources Management and is certified in PRINCE2, Agile Scrum and Talent Economics. Her early career was in generalist HR and business operations within a mining company before moving into the talent space.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, she has resided in the multi-faceted city of London with her family for most of her adult life. She is a frequent traveller and enjoys playing badminton in her free time, long walks and anything related to fashion.

As an executive search leader and DEI champion, I pride myself in facilitating opportunities partnering with the ExCo teams in bringing innovative and detailed talent insights and solutions to enable you to achieve talent strategies aligned with your business goals. We're people first, always have been and always will be.

80+ years in industry

Our Consultants

We leverage the experience of a team of consultants who have deep industry knowledge and strong networks. Together, we have over 80 years in industry across three continents.

We believe in an intelligent and specialised service to deploy and develop talent that meets your needs.

A personalised approach

We are committed to delivering exceptional results through a deep understanding of our clients' unique needs and a relentless pursuit of top-tier talent. Our team boasts extensive knowledge and expertise in the industry, enabling us to identify and attract the most qualified candidates. We prioritise client focus, building strong partnerships based on trust, transparency, and open communication. By combining these elements, we consistently exceed expectations and deliver extraordinary outcomes for our clients.

Excellence

Confidentiality

Diversity

By choosing us to source your talent needs, we will deliver a service that is considerate of:

We understand the sensitive nature of executive-level searches and are committed to maintaining the highest level of discretion. We build trust with our clients through open and honest communication, ensuring that all interactions are handled with the utmost integrity. By prioritizing confidentiality, we protect the interests of both our clients and candidates, fostering a secure and collaborative environment.

We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, where individuals from all backgrounds are valued and empowered. At Xec Link, embracing diverse perspectives is to enhance our ability to identify exceptional talent in a competitive market and provide our clients with a wider range of qualified candidates. We strive to create a culture of equity and inclusion, where everyone has the opportunity to contribute their unique skills and experiences.

We firmly believe that diversity drives innovation, performance excellence and strengthens organisations.

Working with us

I have been interacting with Sylvia for a year and am amazed with her diligence in work, interpersonal skills, resourcefulness, friendly and cooperative work ethic.

We seldom find people like her who are very pleasant to deal with and go that extra mile to help and resolve issues.

Our bespoke service is available to you whether you are a CXO looking for a new role or an in-house function looking for talent.

Read more from those who have worked with us below:

Sylvia was instrumental in identifying and engaging with suitable candidates, helping us understand their unique backgrounds and capabilities and providing us with an opportunity to meet with a number of top people in their field. Throughout the process, I was struck by Sylvia's ability to understand our needs as a proponant organisation, to provide balanced and accurate assessments that enhanced our decision making and to serve as a partner rather than simply provider of services.

In addition, her personality, professionalism and insights made what could have been a very complex, high pressue situation an enjoyable process and, for me, a valuable learning experience.

LEADERSHIP EDGE PROGRAMS | BUSINESS STRATEGY

RELIANCE, INDIA

MEMBER, CORPORATE AFFAIRS RESEARCH & ADVISORY GROUP

SAUDI ARAMCO, SAUDI ARABIA

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Excellent communication and engagement throughout. Clear, helpful, available and commercially switched on - Xec Link team have re-defined my experience of working with search firms and I would strongly recommend them to both in-house HR and executives seeking confidential recruitment support.

RIKAZ PROPERTIES, SAUDI ARABIA

Sylvia Phillips is a exceptional high quality executive search partner which sets her apart from other firms in this space.

Characterised by her authentic, friendly, professional and yet highly personal approach with a strong focus on continuous engagement, I couldn't recommend Sylvia enough.

Sylvia is a champion of diversity, understanding how it supports innovation with exceptional talent insights, and it's been a pleasure partnering with Sylvia across my roles.

For the exec search market, she is breathe of fresh air

DEVI VIRDI, FORMER VP GLOBAL HEAD OF DEI | CULTURE & TALENT

CBRE

Questions?

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