Finding a job is easy. Finding a good job is hard. Finding a job that can make your career is even harder.
But good recruiters help adlanders find the jobs and careers that help them flourish and thrive. To them, the process of helping someone get a new job is not simply a transaction — it’s a vocation, built on trusting and deep relationships.
And given the state of the job market at the moment, the best recruiters are more valuable than ever.
For this year’s Best of the Best Recruiters list, we’re looking at the Independent recruiters who place senior and specialist staff at agencies, client-side marketing roles or media owners. Anyone working in an in-house recruiting role isn’t included in this list — though many are in our Best of the Best People Leaders list.
As part of this we’ve considered each recruiter’s standing within the industry, as well as the quality and longevity of the talent placed in roles. It’s an inexact science but so are relationships.
We’d also like to take a moment to shout out Mark Buckman at Hourigan International. Buckman has made quite the career pivot into recruitment and we have it on good authority and to be making quite the stir in the sector
Coming up soon in B&T’s Best of the Best, we’re looking at Film & TVC Directors, Media owner sales bosses and media agency investment bosses.
10. Esther Clerehan, founder, CLEREHAN
Esther Clerehan is a living legend in Australia’s advertising industry and a trailblazing figure in many respects.
In 1993, she founded her eponymous recruitment firm and set about placing some of the most important names at some of the most important agencies around the world. David Droga to Saatchis Asia as its regional ECD and Wieden+Kennedy’s first international creative hires — to name but two. We could go on.
Clerehan has devoted countless hours to giving back to the industry too. She has been involved in AWARD since the early nineties and has judged at Cannes Lions, the ADC and more.
Clerehan is mainly in the advice business these days and her counsel and advice is sought by hundreds across Australia’s advertising industry (and beyond). But she still finds the time to place the best people in the best roles.
Clerehan was unsure whether she should even be part of this list. But we simply couldn’t have it without her.
9. Amy Lee, chief runner, Talent Run
Amy Lee has been running (pardon the pun) Talent Run since January 2024 after spending seven years managing the Ad Council’s operations in Victoria.
In that time, Lee has made quite an impression on the market, B&T understands and was widely praised for her energy and drive to deliver results for the businesses that she works with.
In September last year, she partnered with Lution to launch a new specialist arm dedicated to sourcing creative, production and media talent for internal marketing teams. It’s a move that reflects the changing dynamics of the market and Lee’s business could run, and run, and run with this new focus.
8. Corinna Hartas and Annabel Craig, directors, Hartas & Craig
Corinna Hartas and Annabel Craig are well known and much-loved recruiters who specialise in creative recruitment.
The pair have been described as operating a “personable” business that “understands every brief” and “pro-actively” recommends creatives to other businesses.
It’s little surprise, then, that their eponymous business has been running for nearly the last 18 years. Hartas, in particular, has been praised for her work helping students get into the industry as well as placing mid-to-senior talent. “Lots of people talk,” one industry insider told B&T, “Corinna is a do-er.”
7. Justin Randles, director, Mercury Talent
Justin Randles is a leading figure in the sector — not least for the regular and comprehensive reports he sends to the trade press about hiring patterns!
Randles mainly focuses his efforts on the media owner and brand sides of the industry. That’s no accident, given Randles’ experience with senior roles at the likes of Fairfax, Lighthouse and Australian Traveller Media. Randles is also taking an active role in the fight against fake job ads — something that plagues recruiters and prospective employees alike and should be commended.
6. Sarah Jones Palmer and Courtney Clancy, directors, The Human Co
Sarah Jones Palmer and Courtney Clancy were recommended to B&T very highly by some well known figures in the space. The pair founded The Human Co in December 2022 after taking senior recruitment and talent roles at the likes of M&C Saatchi and Publicis Groupe.
The pair are well known in the industry and have been responsible for some seriously impressive and effective placements in the industry. We were told that Palmer, in particular, lured one chief creative officer from New York to an Australian agency that won a Cannes Grand Prix this year — we’ll let you fill in the blanks.
Needless to say, it’s proven one of the shrewdest placements in recent years.
5. Damian Tynan, partner, Omera Partners
Damian Tynan moves up a place from last year’s list and with good reason, given he was very highly spoken about by industry insiders when approached by B&T.
Tynan remains one of the most well-respected and connected recruiters in the industry and has played a “significant” role in establishing Omera’s reputation in the sector after departing Hourigan in 2015.
Tynan focuses much of his efforts on the customer, marketing, digital and corporate affairs side of the industry. Again, not surprising given his time as a client-side marketer at the likes of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. A quick scan of his LinkedIn alone will show you just how well connected Tynan is.
4. Nick Williams, founder and CEO, Williams International
Like Tynan, Nick Williams moves up a spot from last year’s list. He’s seriously plugged into Australia’s creative advertising community and has a range of testimonials from some of the industry’s most well-respected names.
But perhaps the most glowing testimonial of Williams’ work is to be found in a slightly more unusual place — the Effies shortlist.
As Williams posted on LinkedIn just the other day, ”It’s a proud parent moment when 48 (I think) of this year’s Effies finalists come from agencies where we’ve placed the strategy leaders”.
How’s that for effectiveness?
3. Michael Kean, global CEO, FBI Talent Co.
Last year, Michael Kean celebrated 20 years(!) with FBI Talent. That milestone is significant, to say the least and shows just how impressive FBI’s run has been.
The business isn’t sitting still, however, and Kean is ably supported by Georgie McMaster and Stephen Fenn in its operations. Together, they continue to place impressive people in impressive roles around the country and overseas alike. We also hear that Keany is ramping up his viticulture venture.
FBI’s industry engagement should also be commended. Its recent LAUNCH program was a free-to-enter initiative for student and emerging creative teams in Sydney and Melbourne that landed TBWA’s Mads Catanese and Izzi McGrath spots on the global LIAisons virtual coaching program and $10,000 in prize money.
2. Karen Taylor, CEO, Hourigan International
Taylor has been the CEO of Hourigan for four years and has forged a reputation that commands serious respect.
And not least for the calibre of staff working under her including the aforementioned Buckman and former HiPages and CommBank marketing executive Stuart Tucker, who’s due for a career pivot at the end of the week.
In the past year, under Taylor’s leadership, has placed some of the most consequential moves in the industry. How’s James Taylor to oOh!media, for instance? Or Dr Kate Cornick as CEO of Tech Council of Australia or Deirdre Boyle as chief customer officer of Foodstuffs NZ.
1. Lea Walker, founder, Mrs Walker
There can only be one and this year, as with last, it’s Lea Walker. We wrote last year that no one is more important or impactful in the world of creative recruitment than Walker. That hasn’t changed.
Walker continues to place some of the most important creative talent in the industry. That’s a given.
But what really set Walker apart from the pack this year is her industry engagement. At a time when many in the industry are finding themselves out of work, Walker has stepped up to provide counsel and advice for creatives wondering what’s next or where they go from here.
Her ‘Ask The Mrs’ series of events saw her offer advice and mentorship to those in the sector who need it, covering topics including the transition to people and business management and talent pipeline for junior members of staff. We understand that she is one of the principal driving forces within the AWARD Council, to boot.
We also have it on great authority that the depth of her relationships within the industry and personal, sensitive approach to her work make her an exemplar for the sector at large, not just its recruiters. And that, perhaps, is the most important thing of all.
