About Ali
Ali Palmer is a Partner in Caldwell’s London office and a member of the firm’s Human Resources Practice. She advises boards, chief executive officers and chief people officers on the recruitment of senior human resources and business leaders, helping organisations build leadership teams that enable growth, transformation and long-term performance. With more than 20 years of executive search and leadership advisory experience, Ali partners with listed companies, private equity-backed businesses and privately held organisations across all sectors but in particular consumer, retail, industrial, financial services, pharma and technology. She leads executive search assignments spanning the full human resources function, including chief people officers, chief human resources officers, HR directors, heads of reward, learning and development, talent acquisition, organisational development and organisational effectiveness leaders. She also advises clients on interim leadership and talent intelligence solutions across Europe, North America and the DACH region.
Experience
Prior to joining Caldwell, Ali was a Partner and head of the global People & Culture practice at Savannah Group, where she led executive search and leadership advisory engagements for multinational organisations. Prior to that, she spent more than 17 years with Odgers, ultimately serving as Partner and Head of Consumer & Telecoms, where she built and led senior executive search and interim leadership assignments across multiple sectors. She has also served as senior director of Executive Experience at Avanade, where she was a member of the HR leadership team. This combination of executive search and in-house leadership experience provides Ali with a practical understanding of the strategic talent challenges facing organisations and enables her to serve as a trusted advisor to both clients and candidates.
Education
Ali serves as Deputy Chair of Governors at St Paul’s School, where she chairs the Nominations and Remuneration Committee and serves on the Finance Committee. She is also Chair of Governors at Durston House School, a member of the St Paul’s Group. An advocate for advancing women in leadership, Ali regularly convenes senior executives through leadership events and forums focused on strengthening diverse leadership pipelines. She holds a BSc (Hons) in business studies from Cardiff University.
