Sarah Palmer (she/her) is passionate about connecting exceptional talent to compelling leadership opportunities in higher education, aligning skills, values and competencies to position both individuals and institutions for success. Sarah views her work as a search consultant through a varied and experienced lens, having served within academia as a talent manager, recruiter, human resources expert and admissions professional. She applies a holistic approach to talent that appreciates the interconnectedness between workforce planning, talent development, retention and recruiting.

Prior to joining WittKieffer, Sarah spearheaded the talent acquisition and talent management functions in the human resources department at Simmons University in Boston for over six years. In this role, she was a strategic business partner to senior leadership during a time of significant transformation for the university, providing effective workforce planning and talent management consultation to advance the mission and culture of the university. Among her key contributions at Simmons, Sarah led the talent acquisition strategy and execution for executive-level strategic hires across the president’s senior leadership team, along with multiple academic dean positions for established and inaugural colleges. In addition, Sarah was instrumental in advancing inclusive hiring practices.

Before Simmons, Sarah worked in professional services and was responsible for the national recruitment of management consultants for various industries. In addition, she spent over four years in Washington, DC, at a boutique legal staffing firm delivering specialized staffing solutions to prominent law firms, corporations and associations. Sarah’s talent acquisition skills were developed early in her career when she served in admissions roles, recruiting students for proprietary education institutions.