Who we are.
Our team commits to:
Daring to Disrupt: We challenge the status quo and seek groundbreaking solutions.
Courageous Innovation: We embrace bold ideas and conscientiously push boundaries.
Standing Up for Diversity: We champion inclusive environments and opportunities for all.
Valuing Progress Over Perfection: We prioritise building and flying our plane simultaneously.
We believe in levelling the playing field for founders, innovators and entrepreneurs and we hold our ourselves to that standard.
Meet our creators.
James Burke – Founder & Head of Executive Search
James is the driving force behind the firm’s talent and growth advisory model. He has built the leadership teams behind many of Australia’s most visionary digital businesses and brands, and helps our clients design growth strategies that win market share and drive scale.
Co-creator of Talent OS and Growth OS, James focuses on bringing the right talent, technology and intelligence together so companies can compete in today’s economy. He also provides strategic counsel on how AI can reshape talent strategy and operating models.
Rebecca Ferreira – Head of Talent Advisory
Rebecca leads our Talent Acquisition offering across Asia Pacific, Europe and the US, drawing on more than 15 years of experience across start-ups, scale-ups and private equity-backed businesses. Her approach combines deep technical expertise with strong commercial judgement.
With more than 100 growth-stage projects to her name, Rebecca manages the full recruitment lifecycle, from employer brand and sourcing through to screening, interviewing and onboarding. Her strength lies in building high-performing, diverse teams.
Fay Theiss – Partner, People & Culture
Fay delivers strategic People & Culture support to a diverse portfolio of clients, partnering with leadership teams to solve complex workforce challenges and drive business outcomes. With 15+ years of experience in fast-growing start-ups, she brings an outcomes-oriented approach.
From building HR functions from the ground up to implementing workforce planning and performance frameworks, Fay focuses on the talent metrics that connect directly to a company’s growth agenda. She is also an active career coach within the tech community.
Sophie Needham – Head of People & Culture
Sophie shapes the people strategies that help clients perform and grow. An experienced HR leader across technology, media, digital and consulting environments, she specialises in turning organisational complexity into clear, commercially grounded people strategy.
A trusted adviser to CEOs and leadership teams, Sophie connects people decisions to business performance. Known for her straight-talking advice and collaborative style, she helps organisations build high-performing cultures that attract exceptional talent locally and globally.
Chris Jowsey – Head of Fractional Advisory
With more than two decades of leadership experience as a CMO in global technology businesses, Chris leads High Performance People’s fast-expanding fractional advisory team. His background spans product-led growth, sales, marketing and eCommerce.
Chris works with founders, CEOs and boards to identify growth constraints, set clear priorities and drive execution. He has led global rebrands and international expansion for companies including Microsoft, Dell and Lenovo, and is known for his clear-headed, outcomes-focused approach.
Vlad Mehakovic – Head of Technology & Growth
Vlad works at the intersection of marketing, data and technology, with experience spanning early-stage ventures through to ASX-listed businesses. He engineered Forebrite’s analytics and financial forecasting engine, bringing our Growth OS to life.
Known for turning complexity into clear insight, he helps founders and leadership teams overcome product-market barriers, sharpen growth strategy and drive revenue. His experience as a CMO, CTO and CEO gives him a rare perspective on what it takes to build and scale in competitive markets.
Emma Delory – Head of Business Operations
Emma leads the firm’s day-to-day operations, continually improving the systems and workflows that keep it running smoothly. A research specialist and systems thinker, she brings structure and clarity across delivery, marketing and internal performance.
An early adopter of emerging technology, Emma oversees HPP’s AI stack and integrates tools including ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity into client projects. She works across systems, strategy and execution to help the business operate with greater speed, clarity and consistency.
Sam Yee – Partner, Product Strategy
Sam leads product strategy at High Performance People, helping clients connect market insight, commercial priorities and consumer experience to capture market share. Her skill set spans analytics, research and digital product development, turning data into competitive advantage.
A former Chief Product Officer, Sam brings experience from Guardian News, SWM, Kayo and AFL, along with the judgement to cut through ambiguity and resistance to change. Purpose-driven and commercially minded, she now works across the firm’s healthcare and SaaS clients.