Chris Smith

Chris is a Partner with Leathwaite based in the London office. Chris leads Leathwaite’s global Human Resources practice, while also leading the firm’s ongoing growth and diversification across sectors.

Chris brings fifteen years of global search and advisory experience across HR, Human Capital, and the Corporate Officers landscape, acting as a key partner to business leaders, Boards and CHROs seeking to ensure they have the very best and most progressive talent at the top of their organisations. He has worked globally across multiple sectors and has strong track record of working with private and publicly held organisations.

Chris joined Leathwaite in 2022 from Korn Ferry, the world’s largest global executive search and organisational consulting firm, where he was a senior partner in the global HR practice and led the UK&I HR practice. Prior to Korn Ferry he spent over a decade with a leading search boutique working globally in across the HR, talent and human capital market. Before moving into search, Chris worked in the television industry researching and producing documentary programmes and had a successful early career in Real Estate.

Chris grew up in Vienna, Austria and is a graduate of the University of Leeds.