Richard Freeborn in

Richard Freeborn

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Group Head of Talent Acquisition at Howden
📍 London, England, United Kingdom

Richard Freeborn is the Group Head of Talent Acquisition at Howden, where he is elevating the global function to meet ambitious hiring plans. His extensive career includes leading global talent acquisition and employee experience at adidas and transforming the function for BNP Paribas in the Americas. He holds both a BA and an MBA from Durham University.

He has spoken publicly on the strategic importance of early careers programs, viewing them as a key metric for the health and forward-thinking ability of an organizations HR function. He advocates for adaptability and responsiveness in talent functions to keep pace with rapid business changes.

An interesting aspect of his career was his relocation from London to New York to lead a successful transformation of the Americas Talent Acquisition function for BNP Paribas CIB.

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Experience
12 Years
Current Role
Group Head of Talent Acquisition
Job Level
Mid-senior
Location
London, England, United Kingdom
Personality Overview

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Priorities

Topics Richard cares about

Global Talent Strategy
Currently leads group-wide talent acquisition at Howden and previously managed a team delivering over 10, 000 hires annually across all geographies at adidas.
Early Career Programs
He believes early careers programs are a crucial metric for an HR function's health and implemented a multi-award winning strategy for them at BNP Paribas.
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Career

Work history

2-2025
Group Head of Talent Acquisition
Howden
3-2022 - 3-2024
VP Global Talent Acquisition & Global Employee Experience
adidas
8-2021 - 3-2022
VP Global Employee Experience
adidas
8-2018 - 8-2021
Americas Head of Talent Acquisition
BNP Paribas
9-2015 - 8-2018
EMEA Head of Campus Recruitment & Development
BNP Paribas
In the press

Media appearances

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Education
2010 - 2011
MBA
Durham University Business School
2002 - 2005
BA (Hons)
Durham University
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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