Our Team

Jane Neale is a co-founder of Hattonneale and has over 10 years of experience as a Managing Director and trusted advisor for Chief Executive Officer, C-Suite and Board level appointments across ASX listed and private companies.

Prior to Hattonneale, Jane spent 20 years in the advertising industry at George Patterson, (Australia’s largest agency), including three years as Managing Director, consulting on a vast range of blue chip, multi-national and local clients across Retail, FMCG, Media and major sporting events including the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Rugby World Cup.

Jane’s primary focus at Hattonneale has been working with Boards and Senior Executives across Retail, FMCG and the Digital, Technology and Media sectors. She is passionate about helping businesses build Board and senior Executive capability to tackle digital disruption and achieve greater diversity.

Jane has served on a number of Boards throughout her career and was previously a Non-Executive Director of Sydney University Football Club and the Shore Foundation. Earlier in her career Jane served on the Boards of the Australian Association of National Advertisers [AANA] and the Advertising Federation of Australia.

Jane completed a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) at UTS and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Grace Atkinson joined Hattonneale as an Associate Partner in 2016 and has been completing Executive search assignments at Board and C-Suite level for the past eight years.

Prior to Hattonneale Grace spent six years with Third Sector People where she was responsible for Executive appointments in the Health, Human Services and Charitable sectors. Since joining Hattonneale Grace’s experience has been both broad and deep encompassing a diverse range of sector and role functions. In particular, she has developed an in-depth knowledge and experience of Health, Medical Research, Aged Care, Human Services, Community Services and Humanitarian organisations as well as Technology and Hospitality.

Previously, Grace worked with Sotheby’s for six years across the London and Sydney Offices. She commenced her career in search following a brief stint with a private contemporary art gallery, as Head of Private Clients.

Grace completed a Bachelor of Arts (Art History and Psychology) at the University of Sydney.

Darryl Mills has been in the search and selection industry for over 20 years, both in the UK and Australia, specialising in Executive search research. Darryl is an experienced Research Director who has developed and led research teams to provide industry best practice solutions on challenging national and international assignments. Throughout her career Darryl has managed the research capability of several international firms on a project basis, to successfully deliver global research solutions on international projects.

Darryl’s experience has been both broad and deep encompassing a diverse range of industries and role functions. In particular she has developed in-depth knowledge and experience of the agribusiness, asset management, financial services, resources, energy, infrastructure, construction, engineering, professional services, higher education, industrials and technology sectors.

In recent years Darryl established an industry-wide Researchers and Associates Group for the leading Executive search firms in Sydney. The Group meets regularly to share information and ideas on industry best practice. Darryl has completed the Association of Executive Search Consultants’ Certified Researcher / Associate curriculum and is also a Certified People Sourcing Professional.

Nick Burnham has been in the Executive Search industry since 2001, having lived in Singapore for the 18 years before returning to Australia in late 2019. Nick has built an extensive track record of placing Senior-level Executives for clients across some of the globe’s best known financial services firms across the Asia Pacific region.

Nick began his Executive Search career working for a boutique search firm as a Consultant, ultimately responsible for running the Singapore office and Global Markets Practice for Asia. He was then the Founding Partner of two start-up boutique Executive Search firms for 10 years, before joining a global search firm where he was most recently the Head of Financial Services for the APAC region for the past three years. Before joining the Executive Search Industry Nick worked on the Sydney Futures Exchange, working for UBS, where he was Head of Trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange.

Nick specialises in finding Senior Executives (including C-Suite and Managing Directors) and Non-Executive Directors across Institutional and Investment Banking, Corporate Banking, Global Markets (both debt and equity), Wealth and Asset Management (Traditional and Alternative), Super Funds, Insurance, Private Equity, and Real Estate Finance.

Rhian joined Hattonneale in 2020, after nearly 10 years working at the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), the past seven years in Board Diversity. As the Board Diversity Manager, Rhian was responsible for driving and expanding the AICD’s diversity agenda. Some of her key initiatives included AICD’s highly regarded Chair’s Mentoring Program, the Quarterly Gender Diversity Progress Report, diversity policy and research.

From 2015 until 2019, Rhian was the Executive for the Australian Chapter of the 30% Club, a global movement focused on increasing the number of women on boards and in senior executive roles. She authored several thought leadership pieces and managed initiatives spanning from investor activism, executive search practices and ASX 200 Chair member recruitment.

Rhian completed a Bachelor of International Communication and a Master of Museum Studies at Macquarie University and a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact at the University of New South Wales.

Ryan Mason is a Partner in Hattonneale’s Sydney office, and a key member of Caldwell’s Global Industrial Practice, focusing on the oil and gas, energy, mining and metals, and infrastructure sectors.

With over 12 years of Executive Search experience, Ryan has acted for global and national companies leading searches that range from Board to Senior Management including functional leadership roles in finance, corporate development/M&A, human resources, HSESQ (health, safety, environment, security and quality), engineering, exploration, projects and operations.

Additionally, he partners with private equity firms to appoint key leadership positions within their portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Hattonneale, Ryan lived and worked in Perth, London, Houston and Sydney with Gerard Daniels, an international executive search firm specialising in Board and senior leadership appointments across the oil, gas and mining sectors.

Ryan holds a Bachelor of Behavioural Science and a Bachelor of Marketing and Public Relations from the University of Notre Dame, Australia.