Core capabilities
Key appointments we deliver include:
- Chief Executive Officer / President
- Chief Operating Officer / Venue & Operations Leads
- Chief Financial Officer / PE Value Creation Lead
- Chief Revenue Officer / Commercial Director
- Chief Technology Officer / Digital & AI Lead
- Board Chairs, Non-Executive Directors & Governing Body Officers
The Essenta difference
Why Essenta?
We help sports and media organizations de-risk critical talent decisions, bridging traditional governance with modern commercial capability.
Deep sector expertise
As sports and media specialists, we combine operational insight with entertainment Executive Search – bringing genuine passion, constructive challenge, and deep market context to every brief.
Global talent networks
Connecting ambitious clients across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific to proven executives in media leadership and modern sports governance.
Proprietary Discovery Process
Going beyond technical experience to evaluate candidates for resilience, adaptability, fan empathy, and long-term cultural alignment.
Context-led Assessment
Executive Search, Interim, and Advisory operating as one team to solve your immediate talent challenges while strengthening sports leadership bench depth.
James Kenyon
Partner, New Ventures
Media and Entertainment
London
Phillippa Dunlop
Consultant, Technology and Digital
Technology and Digital
London
Nanda Veldink
Senior Partner, Consumer
B2C
London
Jessica Osborn
Project Coordinator, Consumer
B2C
London
Sebastien Cavanagh
Senior Partner, Consumer
B2C
London
Connect with James 
Email James Professional overview
James leads sports, media and entertainment at Essenta, working where sport, media, entertainment, technology and culture meet. With more than 15 years of international experience, he advises businesses, brands and investors, and partners with franchises, rights holders, leagues, governing bodies, agencies and broadcasters across North America and Europe.
Much of his time goes on advising clients on board and C-suite appointments. He also works closely with colleagues on succession planning, team effectiveness and leadership development. His approach pairs strategic thinking with practical execution, helping clients navigate change, unlock growth and build businesses that resonate with audiences around the world.
Before joining Essenta, James helped establish the international business at US boutique Acertitude, and prior to that, was a consultant in the Private Equity and Corporate Officers practices at Russell Reynolds Associates.
Personal perspective
In my experience, great leaders set the direction, create belief, and foster an environment that gives talented people the freedom to deliver. A key part of my work is to find this talent, so that leaders can nurture it and continue succeeding. It’s incredibly fulfilling and really speaks to the “people aspect” of what we do.
Professional overview
Phillippa advises organizations on appointing senior technology, digital, product, data and AI leaders, at moments of growth, transformation or change. Her clients range from established corporates to high-growth and entrepreneurial businesses, and she helps each one define the leadership it needs, make sense of an increasingly converged, platform-dominated market and secure the right individual for the context.
She works closely with boards, CEOs and senior leadership teams on appointments that fall within the remit of the CIO or CTO. Her approach is evidence-led and market-informed. It weighs the individual against the organizational context they’ll need to succeed in, and the balance of technical and commercial capability that will help them do it.
Before joining Essenta, Phillippa spent more than 15 years in Executive Search, in senior search and research roles at several boutique firms. Her experience spans technology, digital and TMT leadership, working with large corporates and entrepreneurial, growth businesses alike. She has delivered senior assignments across a range of technology and digital disciplines, and is expert at identifying and assessing leaders who can connect technology strategy with commercial and organizational priorities.
Personal perspective
The job description is rarely the whole story, so I spend time understanding what is really driving an appointment and what needs to change. A good search does more than present strong candidates. It gives clients a clearer view of the market and of what will genuinely work for them, whether or not that’s the person we first expected to find.
Professional overview
As a Senior Partner at Essenta, Nanda co-leads its global B2C practice, advising listed, privately owned and private equity-backed businesses on senior leadership appointments and broader talent matters. Her work spans health and beauty, CPG and FMCG, retail, lifestyle, luxury and fashion, across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.
Nanda has lived and worked in eight countries, including Singapore, the Middle East and the UK, and now divides her time between London and New York. The result is a culturally fluent, international perspective.
Clients value how closely Nanda listens, how well she understands their context and culture, and the care and credibility with which she represents their brand in the market. She also draws on the full breadth of Essenta’s unified talent offering to meet their evolving leadership needs and help build stronger, future-ready organizations.
Nanda has more than 15 years’ experience in Executive Search, and she specializes in complex, cross-border consumer appointments and has a strong record of challenging conventional talent assumptions to find diverse and unexpected leaders. Her international experience helps her read local nuance within a global context, and advise clients with both cultural sensitivity and commercial rigour.
Personal perspective
The best outcomes are co-created, and the real work is listening with curiosity to understand the business, its culture and context, where it wants to go and what leadership it will need to get there. That takes being personally invested, agile and creative, whether we’re shaping a role before it formally exists, benchmarking the market, assessing leadership or running an unconventional search.
I want clients to experience us as a trusted extension of their team: honest in our advice, committed to quality and able to represent their brand with real conviction. Understanding both the immediate need and where the organization is heading means we can find not just an impressive candidate, but the right leaders to close critical gaps and deliver its ambitions.
Professional overview
Jessica is a Project Coordinator in Essenta’s B2C team, supporting partners across Executive Search delivery and business development. She is involved at every stage of an assignment, managing client expectations, coordinating communication and keeping searches moving, from the initial briefing through to completion.
Day to day, that means organizing candidate and client interviews, scheduling update calls and preparing detailed candidate profiles, so partners and clients go into every meeting fully informed. She also coordinates prospective client and business development meetings, along with travel for the partners she supports.
Jessica has built broad experience across customer-facing, office support and PA roles. It started on a fruit and vegetable stall at Borough Market, then into student accommodation management, supporting international students and handling bookings, payments and office organization. She later became PA to the south regional manager at Fleurets, the UK’s leading leisure property specialist.
Personal perspective
I believe an exceptional client experience comes from clear communication, thoughtful organization and always staying one step ahead. Starting out on a market stall taught me to connect easily with people, and I bring that same warmth to every client and candidate I work with.
Professional overview
Seb has spent more than 25 years helping consumer organizations build their boards and management teams. A member of Essenta’s Senior Leadership team, he co-heads its Consumer divisions and is responsible for building the firm’s reputation across consumer industries in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific.
He is also closely involved in developing Essenta’s broader offering, including Assessment, Advisory, Interim and referencing. Seb’s time is split equally between publicly listed and private capital-backed businesses, which gives him a clear sense of what each requires, separately or together.
Having worked globally for most of his career, Seb has supported organizations and investors with both domestic and international growth ambitions. His clients range from public companies to private equity-backed businesses building towards secondary, tertiary and IPO capital events.
Personal perspective
A strong leader creates followership. A healthy balance of EQ and IQ builds the trust and loyalty at the heart of high-performing teams, and finding and qualifying those teams is what motivates me. That’s why executive referencing is now so focused on those qualities, particularly when growth and transformation sit at the heart of a business’s strategy.
Let’s build your next leadership team
Tell us what the business needs to achieve. We will give you an honest read on the leadership challenge in front of you, and how you should approach it.