Confidential Executive Search: How and Why It Works
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA confidential executive search is conducted discreetly — without advertising the role or revealing the company until late in the process. Businesses use it when disclosure would be sensitive: replacing an incumbent, a strategic move not yet public, or protecting the brand. It is one […]
President vs CEO: What’s the Difference?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA CEO holds ultimate accountability — strategy, the executive team, and the external face of the business. A president is typically the senior operational leader beneath or alongside the CEO, often running the business day to day or leading a major division or market. Where […]
What Does a Chief Product Officer Do? The CPO Role Explained
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Product Officer owns the product vision and portfolio — what gets made, why, and how it evolves. In beauty and consumer businesses that spans development, innovation, and the pipeline that keeps a brand relevant, connecting consumer insight, science or design, and commercial strategy […]
What Does a CFO Do? The Chief Financial Officer Role Explained
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Financial Officer owns financial leadership — reporting, controls, planning, and capital — and, in strong businesses, partners with the CEO on the decisions that drive growth and value. The modern CFO is a strategic and commercial leader, not just a steward of the […]
What Does a COO Do? The Chief Operating Officer Role Explained
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Operating Officer runs the operational engine of a business — turning strategy into execution across operations, supply chain, and functions. The remit varies enormously, from broad second-in-command to focused operations leader, and is defined by what the CEO needs. It is the hire […]
How to Scope an Executive Search: Writing the Brief That Attracts the Right Leader
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerThe most important part of an executive search happens before it starts: scoping the role. A strong brief defines the real mandate — the outcome you are hiring for, the challenges the leader must solve, what they own, and how they will be judged — […]
What Does a Board Director Do? A Guide for Consumer & PE-Backed Businesses
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA board director provides governance, oversight, and counsel — holding management accountable, guiding strategy, and bringing independent, experienced perspective. In consumer and PE-backed businesses, non-executive directors and chairs often bring specific sector or functional expertise, and the right board becomes a genuine asset rather than […]
Interim vs Permanent Executives: When to Use Each
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire an interim executive when you need experienced leadership immediately and for a defined period — covering a sudden gap, leading a transformation, or bridging to a permanent hire. Hire permanent when the need is enduring and long-term fit matters most. They solve different problems, […]
Executive Onboarding: Setting a New Leader Up to Succeed
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerExecutive hires rarely fail on capability — they fail on fit, unclear expectations, and weak early integration. Treating a senior leader’s first quarter as a deliberate onboarding period, with a clear mandate and the relationships to deliver it, is what turns a good appointment into […]
How to Hire a Fashion Creative Director
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerThe creative director sets a fashion brand’s aesthetic and vision — one of the most consequential and most scrutinised appointments a house makes. Hiring well means matching a designer’s creative identity to the brand’s, through a confidential, relationship-led search, and setting up the creative–commercial partnership […]
