Anita van de Velde
Managing Director
With many years working on both the agency and client side in the UK, Anita developed integrated marketing communications strategies for a number of Blue Chip clients. As a direct marketing expert, she was an early advocate of digital channels. Anita, a British national, has worked with numerous e-commerce organizations, including Amazon and Sainsbury’s To You. Diversity has been a keen area of interest to Anita since the beginning of her career. In 2004, she was a founder member of the IPA Diversity Committee, responsible for bringing diversity to the fore in the UK advertising industry. She continues to support diversity and sustainability as an executive search consultant. Anita founded DeVelde International following a management buyout of the O’Connell Executive Search business.
Anita draws on almost 20 years’ experience in the digital, marketing and communications industry and has proven expertise in e-commerce and big data. She has worked both agency and client side in the UK, where she developed integrated marketing communications strategies for a number of Blue Chip clients. As a direct marketing expert, she was an early advocate of digital channels. Anita, a British national, has worked with numerous e-commerce organizations, including Amazon and Sainsbury’s To You. Diversity has been a keen area of interest to Anita since the beginning of her career. In 2004, she was a founder member of the IPA Diversity Committee, responsible for bringing diversity to the fore in the UK advertising industry. She continues to support diversity and sustainability as an executive search leader. Anita founded DeVelde International following a management buyout of the O’Connell Executive Search business.
At the helm of DeVelde International, Anita has built a ‘one stop consultancy’ offering executive search solutions for business-critical roles; established leaders, their teams and highly sought-after high potentials who will become the leaders of tomorrow. Passionate about creating impact and enabling people, Anita has a track record in placing successful leaders and working together with them to craft the teams required to achieve their goals.
In her role as Managing Director, Anita’s focus is C-Suite and Senior Leadership positions. Her extensive knowledge of the business world, commercial aptitude and well-honed intuition, make her the ideal sparring partner for businesses looking to secure innovative and forward-thinking solutions for their senior executive search needs.
Anita’s story
The current chapter of my professional story really began when I moved to the Netherlands in 2009 to be with my husband, who owns a business here. I happily relocated. With a successful career in advertising and marketing in the UK, I felt confident that I’d be able to continue my career trajectory here in the Netherlands too. That was not the case in a recession. I applied directly to companies through their HR departments and worked with recruitment agencies. It quickly became clear to me that many of these recruiters simply didn’t understand my background and my experience, and ultimately didn’t seem interested in me as a person. When I was interviewed, questions were limited to the degree I’d taken and very few people took the time to understand the kinds of work I’d done, the capabilities I’d built up and how that may fit with a specific role.
I was lucky enough to eventually work with a few recruiters who were human and communicative; people who took the time to understand me and look at the right fit for me. O’Connell was one of the agencies I worked with – they did understand me and I ended up joining them. I hadn’t expected to move into a new profession, to become an executive search consultant but I realized that the executive search world desperately needed more people with a human focus.
All of this experience has shaped the way I view my role as an executive search consultant. I understand the importance of being heard and understood – the importance of the individual, the importance of communication and transparency; the importance of ensuring a match between company and candidate. I’ve learnt to spot early on when things will just not work and I’m honest about that. I want the journey to be a good one and every touchpoint valuable. These are the principles I put into everything I do at my own company today.