Growing or changing organisations often need real structure around their people function, but structure that adds complexity is its own kind of problem. Samantha builds fit-for-purpose HR and recruitment infrastructure that leaders can actually implement, without losing the agility or culture that got the business here.

She’s a Fractional CHRO based in Johannesburg with 10 to 15 years of experience across South Africa and the US, working with global tech startups, JSE-listed corporations and SMEs across technology, digital health, financial services, pharmaceuticals, engineering, construction and education. Her expertise spans people strategy and organisational design, talent acquisition and recruitment function development, HR operations, governance and compliance, employee relations and performance management, and culture and leadership development. She holds Accredited Individual Staffing Professional status through APSO, and brings dual expertise in both recruitment and broader HR, a combination that’s less common than it should be.

At LifeQ, she built and led the internal recruitment and people function across South Africa and the US as the company scaled from roughly 45 to 114 employees. In 2021 alone, she recruited and onboarded 84 team members into highly specialised technical and scientific roles, while implementing BambooHR and establishing the processes, policies and infrastructure the company needed to support that growth. She progressed from Internal Recruiter to Director of People in three years, a trajectory that tracks the impact she was having.

Samantha works best with practical, growth-focused founders who want honest advice and are open to being challenged. Her belief is straightforward: people practices should make a business stronger, not more complicated.