Success Stories
We’ve been fortunate to partner with some great brands and love hearing about the impact our candidates have in their new venture.
Below are some examples of customer feedback.
Ben Chisell
Chief Product Officer
Fintech Scaleup
Positions Hired:
Product Director - B2C
Product Director - B2B
"I’ve known Allen for 10+ years, and have worked with him both as a candidate, and a hiring manager a number of times.
As a candidate, I have always appreciated his ability to thoughtfully understand where I have been in my career, and proactively explore his very extensive network for opportunities tailored exactly to my needs. He has a great understanding of the needs of product candidates at different levels of seniority, and the needs of organisations at particular stages, so is able to accurately match candidates and companies with good success.
Building on my experiences with him as a candidate, Allen then became a trusted partner in finding product talent for my teams. He’s been able to understand the specific needs in my team at that moment in time; the culture in the team; and the experience and subject matter expertise needed. With this, he has always brought a really impressive candidate shortlist (especially with respect to candidates that combine great product fundamentals with really deep subject matter experience); managed the recruitment process seamlessly; and has managed to help close the preferred candidates by honestly selling the merits of the company and opportunity."
Leah Sharma
Head of Talent
SaaS Startup
Positions Hired:
Staff Product Designer
Product Marketing Lead
"Luke and I recently worked together at Sequence when he helped to place two key roles for us. Luke was a delight to work with from day one. He was clearly very knowledgeable about the design landscape and was able to immediately give advice on guidance on the profile we were looking for. He was conscientious in his approach and ensured his pipeline always represented a diverse set of candidates.
I couldn't recommend Zest enough and look forward to working with them again soon."
Natalia Avdeeva
Chief Product Officer
Marketplace Scaleup
Position Hired:
Senior Product Manager
"Allen is a veteran in the product recruitment industry. I've worked with him multiple times over years, and I've come to appreciate Allen's excellent grasp of product and his great network in the product space. What sets Allen apart is his commitment to quality and efficiency; he consistently delivers a strong pipeline of very relevant candidates.
I really appreciate Allen's approach to building relationships. He's super responsive, supportive, and just an all-around great guy to work with."
Matt Kennedy
Recruitment Manager
Marketplace Scaleup
Positions Hired:
Director of UX Research
Product Design Lead
"I recently worked with Luke on placing a Lead Product Designer and a Director of UX Research. Not only did he navigate the complexities of the hires with ease, his market knowledge and network shone through. He is measured, fair and an expert within his field. He both delivered and received feedback exceptionally and truly built a relationship with us, rather than trying to strong-arm at any stage. The conversation was always a sincere and honest one, delivering updates on the pipeline, the market and deeper insights into the talent pool.
He certainly stands out from the crowd and is a true reflection of why/how Recruitment Agency partnerships are valuable when done right. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Luke, nor hesitate to partner with him again"
Paul Birch
COO
SaaS Startup
Position Hired:
Product Director
"I would strongly recommend Allen and the team at Zest based on a recent hire they delivered for us at General System. It was for a senior role - Product Director - but with a specific niche focus based on the novel and groundbreaking technology that we are building. Blending deep tech knowledge/experience with strategic product management (in a completely new market segment) was the priority, which made the search particularly challenging and nuanced. Allen delivered!
We're delighted with our new hire who is already making a big impact, and it wasn't by chance that we found him. Thanks Allen for delivery on a challenging but critical brief!"
Eduardo Gomez
Co-Founder
SaaS Startup
Position Hired:
Fractional Design Advisor
Staff Product Designer
Senior Product Designer x2
"Luke's been instrumental in helping me build and recruit Emitwise's design team from the ground up, and has consistently gone above and beyond. As well as sending me excellent, hand-picked candidates, Luke has given me great advice around recruitment practices and processes for product design.
He is receptive to feedback, able to adjust quickly to changing circumstances, and is an efficient talent partner, qualities that are vital if you're working with fast-growing startups."
Stephen Scanlan
Co-Founder
SaaS Startup
Position Hired:
Product Lead
"Zest helped us place our Product Lead at Jigsaw. This was a very hard hire for a fast-growing company like ours, but we couldn't be happier with the placement and the support Zest gave us along the way.
Would happily recommend to any other product teams looking to scale"
Daniela Bachmann
Talent Lead
SaaS Scaleup
Position Hired:
Product Design Lead
"Once we started working with Luke on our Product Design Leader position, our candidate pipeline improved significantly. The profiles he has sourced and introduced to us were always on point and matched with the criteria we had for this specific role. Each time he sent us a candidate, I understood why he thought they could be a match.
Thanks to Zest, we were able to successfully fill this position with the best talent for the team and company!"
Mathieu Ayel
Chief Product officer
SaaS Scaleup
Positions Hired:
Senior Product Manager x2
"Allen is a thoughtful recruiter who takes pride in understanding in depth your company, your goals and what you are looking for in order to both find the right fit for your role and to advocate effectively for the opportunity to join your organisation.
Strongly recommend Allen and the team at Zest if you are looking for great talent in product or design!"
James Thornton
Talent Lead
Fintech Scaleup
Position Hired:
Product Director - B2C
Product Director - B2B
Director of Product Design
Product Design Lead
Senior Product Designer
"Over the 6 months working with Zest, I have been hugely impressed with their market knowledge and ability to provide candidates that have the required skills, but also align with our Paysend principles.
The team at Zest have shown they have a wide spectrum of product & design leadership candidates they can draw from, after hiring 5 people for Paysend.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Zest and will certainly be using them in the future!"
Bernat Vasquez
Ex Talent Lead
SaaS Scaleup
Positions Hired:
Snr Director of Product Design
UX Research Lead
"Luke helped me place a Snr Design Director position at Typeform. It’s really hard to find someone who deeply understands the design industry and he was definitely the best partner I could have. He did a really good job understanding the challenge, introducing great candidates and also very proactive sharing market insides that helped us make the right decisions.
I’ve already recommended Luke to several companies because I feel very comfortable with his capacity and I'd recommend him to anyone that is looking for an outstanding partner"