# Built for technical, culture-critical and cross-border management hires. - URL: https://kitalent.com/about - Language: en - Family: core_support_corpus - Description: KiTalent is an international management and executive search firm for technical, culture-critical and cross-border mandates, founded in Turin in 2016. ## Page Content About KiTalent # Built for technical, culture-critical and cross-border management hires. An international management and executive search firm for senior management, specialist leadership and selected executive mandates. Four hubs: Turin, Nicosia, Almaty and New York. [Discuss a Search Mandate](/contact?intent=mandate-brief&source=about-hero#hubspot-contact-page-form-container) [Meet the Team](#team) ## The work we are built to do. KiTalent is an international management and executive search firm for roles that require more than candidate flow. We are brought in when the brief is technical, culture-critical, cross-border or time-sensitive. The role may be a country manager, a head of function, a senior technical leader, an actuarial or risk specialist, a financial controller, an investment leader, a transformation manager or a selected C-suite mandate for a client we know well. What these searches have in common is not only seniority. It is difficulty. The right candidate must understand the sector, operate inside the client culture, lead in the right way and often move across markets, languages or reporting structures. That is where our search discipline is strongest. [See our services](/services) [Read our methodology](/methodology) --- ## Founded in London and Turin, built internationally. KiTalent was founded in 2016 by Alessio Montaruli, who had spent the prior four years in London building his executive-search practice in one of the most demanding international markets in the world. The firm was established with founding operations in London and Turin, drawing on the cross-border experience the founder had developed in the UK. As the firm grew, the European headquarters consolidated in Turin and the international footprint expanded through hubs in Nicosia, Almaty, and New York. The model was built around a simple frustration with the recruitment market. Too many firms were asking clients to trust the fee before seeing the work. Too many shortlists were shaped by active applicants, database matches and generic role titles. Too few searches were calibrated around the real reasons senior hires succeed or fail: technical accuracy, leadership context, cultural fit, motivation, compensation reality and market reach. KiTalent was created to reverse that sequence. We [map markets](/talent-mapping) continuously. We approach passive talent through [direct headhunting](/headhunting). We do not send blind CVs. We present interview-ready candidates with context, motivation, compensation information and assessment notes. And for suitable mandates, our [Proof-First model](/interview-fee-model) lets clients validate the shortlist before the first material commercial commitment. Proof-First is one commercial model. The operating core is deeper: we have systematized market mapping and early candidate engagement so they run in parallel rather than sequentially. This lets us cover candidate markets at a scale and depth that network-led search rarely reaches inside the same timeline. Speed is the consequence of more relevant coverage, not less. ![Alessio Montaruli, Founder & CEO of KiTalent](/assets/img/director/alessio-montaruli-portrait.webp) > "The best available candidate is rarely the best candidate in the market. Search creates value by closing that gap." **Alessio Montaruli**, Founder & CEO [View LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiomontaruli) --- ## How we fit between internal TA, local agencies and global search firms. Strong internal talent teams are often excellent at repeatable roles, employer-brand-led attraction and internal stakeholder management. They still need outside support when a search requires confidential access, cross-border mapping, specialist candidate engagement or bandwidth in a market the team does not own. Local agencies know their market, but many are too narrow for international assignments that involve relocation, language requirements, multi-country competitor sets or corporate stakeholder complexity. Large retained search firms are strongest when a board-level or C-suite mandate requires a long advisory cadence and a very senior relationship network. Recurring senior management and specialist leadership mandates are different. The candidate pool is broader, more varied and more time-sensitive. Those searches reward the firm that can map a market and engage qualified candidates at scale, in parallel, on a timeline measured in weeks. KiTalent sits in that practical gap. We support corporate talent and leadership teams with executive-search discipline applied to business-critical management roles. We can work through Proof-First Search, retained search, talent mapping or advisory, depending on the role, confidentiality level and how your organization buys search. --- ## What we believe. ### Search should start before the brief. If a firm only starts mapping the market after the client signs, the first weeks are spent catching up. We maintain talent intelligence continuously across priority sectors and markets, so each new mandate starts with a clearer view of who exists, who is reachable and what the market will realistically accept. ### Reach and timing are quality inputs. The pool of technically-aligned, reachable, ready-to-move candidates is time-bound. The right person today may be unreachable in two months: a promotion lands, another offer arrives, family circumstances shift. Technical understanding identifies who fits the brief, but what changes shortlist quality is the ability to engage every aligned candidate who is reachable now, before the window closes. That is why we map and approach in parallel rather than sequentially. Alessio explains this operating belief in the editorial note [Speed Is Not the Enemy of Quality in Executive Search](/editorials/speed-is-not-the-enemy-of-quality-in-executive-search). ### Culture fit is not a personality shortcut. [Culture fit](/culture-fit-assessment-senior-hires) means leadership style, decision rights, pace, stakeholder complexity, reporting context, company maturity and the operating conditions the candidate will inherit. We assess those factors before outreach, not after interviews fail. ### Proof should come before major commitment where possible. For new partnerships and suitable mandates, the first material commercial commitment happens only after the client has validated the shortlist. For confidential, C-suite, succession and mission-critical work, we also run retained search with the same search standard and deeper advisory cadence. --- ## Performance, measured after the hire. 8+ years average partnership · NPS 72 · 96% one-year retention · 200+ organizations served since 2016 [How we measure performance](/methodology#performance-metrics) ![IVECO Group](/assets/img/referral-IVECO.svg) ![BNP Paribas](/assets/img/referral-BNP.svg) ![Generali](/assets/img/generali-logo-1.svg) ![LVMH](/assets/img/referral-lvmh.svg) ![Kering](/assets/img/referral-Kering.svg) ---
## The people you work with. Every mandate is led by a senior director with clear accountability for the outcome, supported by sector-specialist consultants and regional partners. The person running the search is visible to the client. The shortlist is not delegated into anonymity. ### Alessio Montaruli ![Alessio Montaruli](/assets/img/director/alessio-montaruli.webp) **Founder & CEO** Nicosia Hub · EN · IT · FR · ES · DE 14 years leading executive search teams. Spent 2012-2016 in London before founding KiTalent in Turin in 2016, around continuous market mapping, direct approach, and proof before major commercial commitment. Academic background in Philosophy. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiomontaruli) ### Chiara Giacoletti ![Chiara Giacoletti](/assets/img/director/chiara-giacoletti.jpeg) **Associate Director, Central & Eastern Europe** Turin HQ · EN · IT · FR Nine years at KiTalent, co-leading the Turin HQ. Background in finance and management. Supports CEE expansion and cross-border management searches across regulated and specialist markets. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiara-giacoletti-a5280b139) ### Sonia Sarnataro ![Sonia Sarnataro](/assets/img/sonia-sarnataro.webp) **Associate Director, Southern Europe** Turin HQ · EN · IT · ES Eight years driving KiTalent's growth. Strategy and management background. Co-leads the HQ and supports Southern European search mandates where technical requirements and culture fit both matter. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-sarnataro-023800176) ### Katia Belous ![Katia Belous](/assets/img/director/katia-belous.webp) **Director, Middle East & Asia** Almaty Hub · EN · IT · RU · ZH Lived and worked across China, Switzerland and Italy. Oriental Studies background. Leads cross-country executive and management recruiting from the Almaty hub, with particular strength in multilingual and relocation-led searches. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/katia-belous-698049113) ### Milena Vitale ![Milena Vitale](/assets/img/milena-vitale.webp) **Senior Manager, Legal · KiLawyers** Turin HQ · EN · IT Leads KiLawyers, KiTalent's specialist division for lateral partner moves and senior legal talent. Sector-native expertise in law-firm and [legal-services search](/financial-services-and-professional-services-recruitment/legal-recruitment). [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/milena-vitale-981512155/) ### Denise Ozbasaran ![Denise Ozbasaran](/assets/img/denise-ozbasaran.webp) **Office Manager, New York** New York Hub · EN · TR Anchors the New York office and supports executive-search delivery across major US metropolitan demand centers, with a focus on managerial and specialist roles in international companies. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-o-485392242) ### Abdulla Nader ![Abdulla Nader](/assets/img/abdulla-nader.webp) **Senior Client Manager, Energy & Strategic Accounts** Nicosia Hub · EN · AR Coordinates multinational energy-sector relationships across E&P, power and renewables. Owns Cyprus market coverage from the Nicosia hub. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdullanaderr/) ### Manuel D'Angelo ![Manuel D'Angelo](/assets/img/manuel-dangelo.webp) **Key Account Manager, Private Equity & Venture Capital** Turin HQ · EN · IT Coordinates [private equity and venture capital](/financial-services-and-professional-services-recruitment/private-equity-recruitment) relationships, connecting funds with leadership talent for deal origination, portfolio-company growth and specialist management mandates. [LinkedIn](https://it.linkedin.com/in/manuel-d%E2%80%99angelo-2634801b6) ### Nicholas Finato ![Nicholas Finato](/assets/img/nicholas-finato.webp) **Business Development Manager, Americas** New York Hub · EN · IT · FR Supports North American growth markets across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with a focus on managerial and specialist roles in regulated sectors. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-finato-79a95222b/) --- ## Four hubs, one operating standard. ### Turin European HQ and origin of the firm. Core coverage across Italy, Southern Europe, industrial markets, financial services, legal, consumer and luxury-linked mandates. [Explore Turin](/turin) ### Nicosia Mediterranean, Middle East and strategic accounts hub. Useful for confidential, multilingual and regional searches connected to Cyprus, GCC, energy and cross-border corporate structures. [Explore Nicosia](/nicosia) ### Almaty Central Asia and Asia-facing hub. Supports searches across Kazakhstan, CIS, Asian growth markets and multilingual assignments that require regional understanding. [Explore Almaty](/almaty) ### New York Americas hub for North American searches and international mandates involving US-based leadership, investors, regional headquarters and cross-Atlantic coordination. [Explore New York](/ny) --- ## What we do not try to be. We are not a volume staffing agency. We are not a CV-forward database broker. We are not only a boardroom advisory firm. We are not the right partner for every open role. We do not present speed as a substitute for assessment. We are the right partner when the role is important enough to require direct search, and practical enough to demand speed, accountability and market evidence. --- ## Speak with the director responsible for your market. Discuss the role, the sector and the constraint that makes the search difficult. We will tell you whether the right next step is a Proof-First mandate, a retained search, a talent map or a more focused feasibility review. [Discuss a Search Mandate](/contact?intent=mandate-brief#hubspot-contact-page-form-container) [Request a Capability Briefing](/contact?intent=capability-briefing#hubspot-contact-page-form-container) --- ## Frequently asked questions. ### What is KiTalent's focus? The center of our practice is senior management and specialist leadership search: country managers, heads of function, department directors, senior technical leaders, risk and investment leaders. We also handle selected C-suite and board mandates, especially for established clients where we already understand the culture, sector and leadership context. ### Why do corporate TA teams use KiTalent? They use us when a role requires external reach, direct headhunting, cross-border mapping, specialist assessment or confidential access to passive talent. Many mandates sit below classic board-level search but above standard recruitment. ### Do clients work directly with senior people? Yes. Every mandate has senior accountability. Consultants and directors are visible to clients, and the search is run through weekly pipeline visibility rather than anonymous CV flow. ### What is Proof-First Search? Proof-First Search is one of our engagement models. For suitable mandates, the client validates an interview-ready shortlist before the first material commercial commitment. [Retained search](/retained-search) is also available for confidential, C-suite, succession and mission-critical assignments. [Full details on the Proof-First page](/interview-fee-model).