Chicago, Illinois, United States, December 2025 – Katie Kinkead has started a new position as Senior Director, Operations and Human Capital at Ferguson Partners, marking a significant progression in her leadership journey within the firm. In this expanded role, she will continue to integrate people strategy with operational excellence, supporting the firm’s global growth and its work across executive search, leadership consulting, and human capital advisory services.
In her current role as Senior Director, Operations and Human Capital, Katie Kinkead is responsible for overseeing firm-wide people and operational priorities, aligning human capital practices with business strategy. Her appointment reflects the trust she has earned through consistent performance and her ability to scale people and operations functions in a global professional services environment.
Prior to this role, she served as Director, Human Capital at Ferguson Partners for over a year, where she led core human capital initiatives and strengthened people processes across the organization. Before that, she held the position of Vice President, People and Operations, playing a key role in shaping the firm’s people-first culture and operational frameworks during a period of continued expansion.
Earlier in her tenure at Ferguson Partners, Katie Kinkead worked as Operations Manager – HR Assistant, building a strong foundation across HR operations, internal processes, and leadership support. Collectively, she has spent more than four years at the firm, growing steadily into senior leadership responsibility.
Before joining Ferguson Partners, she was associated with Aisle Rocket, where she spent several years as an Executive Assistant, supporting C-suite executives and managing workplace operations, corporate events, and cross-functional coordination. She also held executive support and HR coordination roles at Target Data, Starwood Retail Partners, Aggeus Healthcare, HealthSource of Chicago, and Douglas J Institutes & Salons, developing deep experience across operations, people coordination, and organizational support.
About Ferguson Partners
Ferguson Partners is a global talent management and organizational consulting boutique with a strong concentration in real assets, healthcare, hospitality, infrastructure, and private equity. Founded in Chicago in 1989, the firm specializes in executive and board recruitment, compensation consulting, diversity, equity and inclusion, leadership consulting, and management consulting.
With offices across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Australia, Ferguson Partners conducts hundreds of C-suite and board-level searches annually and delivers a full suite of leadership services, including succession planning, leadership assessment and coaching, and team effectiveness. The firm is also recognized for its extensive compensation consulting and industry survey practice, supporting clients with deep sector-specific insights worldwide.
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