Sergio Salvador

Innovative and strategic leader harnessing 15+ years of experience elevating human resources and
organisational development, spanning countries and continents, and encompassing digital native,
multinationals, and startups.

Adept at heading human capital transformations, harmonising multifaceted organisational structures, and creating performance-centric cultures. Skilled at strategising and rolling-out scalable People strategies, with proven success in talent acquisition, development, and retention. Renowned for formulating compensation frameworks, supporting leaders through executive coaching, and agile curricula development, ensuring seamless alignment of business goals with talent-centric strategies. Charismatic communicator with a knack for forging strong relationships and integrating iterative training methodologies. Seasoned in leading organisational narratives, measuring performance, and drive continuous development, supported by a deep-rooted commitment to organisational excellence.

Group Chief People Officer, CARSOME, Singapore, Malaysia 2023 – Present

Orchestrate complete overhaul of People strategies, ensuring alignment with broader organizational goals. Governed development and harmonization of People-related processes and policies. Institute companywide OKRs to 4500 personnel, embedding a culture of measurable performance across diverse employee tiers. Establish specialized People Development and Organizational Design teams. Manage thorough organizational re-titling and re-banding initiative. Steer formulation of a harmonised compensation strategy. Facilitate robust onboarding methodologies. Nurture executive leadership capacities through continuous development programs. Play a decisive role in the Compensation Committee.
A few highlights of my experience include:

Reorganised and grew the People & Culture team's to 106 members across 6 locations.

Introduced the YEAR performance review process and system alongside a comprehensive mid-year review, enhancing feedback mechanisms.

Launched the CARS engagement survey, resulting in actionable department-specific improvement strategies.

Onboarded pivotal leadership roles, strengthening leadership structure thruogh a CFO, Chief Product Officer, and a GM for Thailand.

Saved ~$500k in costs in People & Culture operations, supporting the company to reach its financial targets.

Rolled out company's first-ever Onboarding, and Executive Onboarding Programmes.

Closely worked with 12 key organisational leaders through a dedicated Executive Development Programme.

Principal & APAC Digital Practice Lead, Egon Zehnder, Singapore 2017 – 2022

Collaborated on aligning business strategies with talent-centric objectives, driving organizational alignment. Formulated a global cultural blueprint, ensuring its integration across employee touchpoints. Scoped and pinpointed talent requirements tailored to distinct growth stages and functional requirements. Built compensation frameworks to bolster talent acquisition and retention. Orchestrated executive coaching sessions, leadership seminars, and agile training curricula. Directed construction and governance of comprehensive HR functions. 

A few highlights of my experience include:

Identified and led the hiring of key leadership talent across different functions as well as for different growth stages, and designed compensation strategies to support talent acquisition and retention

Partnered with my clients to develop business strategy and goals aligned with people objectives and a talent-oriented culture, and translated them into organisational strategy and goals

Led the Digital Segment of Egon Zehnder’s Technology Practice in Asia Pacific, using deep expertise in digital transformation to guide talent innovation for both disruptors and disrupted.

Developed well-defined company cultures for my clients, embedding them throughout the employee lifecycle through strategic storytelling and well-designed processes

Conducted executive coaching, leadership training and learning programmes.

CEO & Co-Founder, Leadership Coach, Success Coaching, Tokyo and Singapore 2016 – Present

Establish and drive a client-centric coaching venture with agility at its core. Provide executive coaching, tailoring strategies to senior leadership for optimal outcomes. Guide leaders in recognising and leveraging their innate strengths. Design personalized roadmaps to aid leaders in conquering self-sabotaging mindsets.
A few highlights of my experience include:

Elevated leadership trajectories of numerous senior executives, driving clarity in goal-setting and action alignment.

Secured sustained business growth by ensuring leaders consistently met or exceeded their professional targets.

Director of New Partnership Products & Innovation APAC, Google, Tokyo 2015 – 2017

Spearheaded innovative trends identification, emphasizing Digital Out of Home and VR/AR sectors. Delved into untapped business arenas to discover potential collaborative avenues. Oversaw conceptualization and realization of innovative business ideas. Supervised internal career coaching under the Guru+ initiative, fostering professional growth of fellow employees.

A few highlights of my experience include:

Built a multitude of Googlers through tailored coaching, catalysing their career advancement within the company.

Earned accolades as a distinguished hiring authority and manager, solidifying a legacy of leadership excellence.

Global Head of Gaming and Mobile Partnerships, Google, Singapore & Tokyo 2013 – 2015

Directed cross-platform gaming partnership initiatives, emphasizing business consultancy, monetization, and expansion. Forged relationships with game developers, publishers, and other strategic partners to pioneer innovative business models. Constructed and mentored global teams dedicated to fortifying the gaming industry's progression and monetization. Incepted and led a novel global vertical emphasizing mobile and gaming, enhancing product and strategy alignment for the sector. Engaged in high-stakes collaboration with industry giants, such as Nintendo, ensuring cohesive business growth and innovative product integration.

A few highlights of my experience include:

Mobilized new business avenues, realizing revenue streams exceeding US$20m+ (from zero) through strategic collaboration with industry frontrunners.

Headed Google4Games initiative, culminating in Google's debut presence at key global events and an amplified gaming narrative via the C-level G4G framework.

Catalyzed the monetization potential of online video streaming in competitive gaming, spearheading a groundbreaking programmatic video business in China, generating between $20m-$50m in 2017.

Head of Global Partnerships (Southeast Asia), Google, Singapore 2011 – 2013

Constructed and mentored the inaugural partnerships team in Southeast Asia, emphasizing the augmentation of business relations. Piloted multi-disciplinary teams dedicated to publisher monetization, distribution, mobile integration, and forging high-calibre partnerships with pivotal regional entities. Envisioned and executed sophisticated sales strategies tailored for the Southeast Asian demographic, fostering establishment, and nurturing of strategic publisher relations. Commanded executive leadership ensemble in cultivating synergistic relationships, furthering the One Google and Google 4 Publishers agendas. Effectuated cross-functional, inter-regional initiatives geared towards fortifying APAC's involvement in global projects and optimizing partner business solutions.

A few highlights of my experience include:

Augmented strategic publisher revenue from a nascent stage to an impressive USD14m annually within an 18-month timeframe, incorporating partnerships with industry titans like Viki, Mediacorp, and Sanook.

Championed the integration of search bars into 50,000 feature phones alongside an Indonesian collaborator, propelling search outreach in the region by a substantial 6% between 2011-2012.

Cultivated and launched the SEA advertising partnerships frontier, inflating business worth from ground zero to tens of millions within a 2-year span, subsequently ensuring a smooth leadership transition post a 2.5-year tenure.

Ph. D English Literature (In Progress)

University of Zaragoza, Spain

Master of Arts in English Studies, Dates

University of Zaragoza, (One year at Trinity College, Dublin through Erasmus)

Graduate Certificate in Organisational Psychology, Golden Gate University

Qualified Teacher Status, University of Zaragoza