Privacy Notice

Last updated: December 10, 2025

 

1. Who We Are

Welcome to Ward Howell International GmbH, Koenigsallee 74, 40212 Duesseldorf, Germany, together with its subsidiaries in countries around the world (collectively, “Ward Howell”, “WHI”, “we”, “us” and “our”). We are the second oldest executive search firm in the world and serve many of the world’s most respected organizations. We offer a range of services to clients and other parties, including, without limitation: (i) executive and board search (“Search”); (ii) executive assessment, development andcoaching;

(iii) board advisory, such as board evaluation and succession support; (iv) C Suite succession; (v) team development; (vi) organizational design; and (vii) digital transformation. Items (ii) through (iv) are referred to collectively as “Advisory”. Search and Advisory together are also referred to as our “Services”. More information about our Services is available at https://ward-howell.com/about-us/. Our consultants deliver these Services globally from offices in more than 25 countries.

We respect the privacy of our clients, candidates, and other users of our Services (“you” and “your”) and are committed to handling your personal data and information in accordance with applicable law. This privacy policy (“Policy”) explains how we collect personal data and information, the extent to which we process it, and the purposes for which we do so.

Ward Howell takes its responsibilities regarding the processing of your personal data and information seriously, whether youprovide it through our website, by email, via social networking platforms, in person, or through any other channel.

For purposes of this Policy, the controller of personal data is Ward Howell International GmbH and any of its subsidiaries listed at https://ward-howell.com/about-us/offices/, as applicable. Our principal contact details are set out in the “How to Contact Us”section at the end of this Policy.

 

 

2. Definitions

In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Policy, the following expressions have the meanings set out below throughout this Policy:

“Candidate” means any candidate, prospective candidate, or employee or board member of a Client who is considered, evaluated, assessed, coached, or developed by Ward Howell in connection with the Services.

“Client” means any organization or individual that engages our Services.

“Personal Information” means any information that either (a) identifies a natural person personally; or (b) relates to an identifiable natural person, meaning someone who can be identified directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to that person’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity; or (c) constitutes individually identifiable information about a consumer that we collect online through our website and maintain in an accessible form; or (d) is otherwise protected under applicable data privacy laws, including national, international, and supranational data protection and privacy laws, directives, regulations, and comparable legal acts. Examples of Personal Information include contact details such as your name, email address, birthday, or telephone number, as well as details concerning your professional education and experience, skills, preferences, or membership in professional organizations.

“Processing” and variations such as “Process” mean any operation or set of operations carried out on Personal Information or sets of Personal Information, whether or not by automated means. This includes collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment, combination, blocking, restriction, erasure, or destruction.

“Sensitive Personal Information” means Personal Information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, as well as the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose ofuniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health, or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.As a general rule, Ward Howell is required to obtain consent when Sensitive Personal Information is processed.

“Site” means https://www.ward-howell.com/ and all web pages hosted under that domain, including, for example, the careerspage at https://ward-howell.com/careers/.

 

 

3. How We Process Your Personal Information

3.1 For our Services

We perform our Services based on data held by, or made available to, Ward Howell International.

If you are interested in becoming a Candidate for one of our Services, you may provide us with information relating to your personal and professional background (“Candidate Information”) that we may consider as part of the relevant Services. For example, you may share this information directly with one of our consultants or upload your CV through our Site.

Providing Candidate Information is entirely voluntary. While it is generally true that the more information you choose to share withus, the better positioned we are to assess you and your potential suitability for an executive or similar management position, weencourage you not to provide Candidate Information that is unlikely to be relevant to the respective Client Service.

Where and to the extent you share Candidate Information with us, we may contact you using the details you have provided in order to clarify questions or request additional information. If you are a Candidate for Search, we may also (i) assess your professionalprofile and search for information regarding your personal and professional life that is publicly available through social media services (e.g. Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and X), on the Internet, or within data you have previously provided to us, where suchinformation may be relevant to the Services; and (ii) obtain Personal Information about you from third party data providers (e.g. BoardEx), while taking appropriate steps to confirm that such providers are legally permitted or required to disclose that information to us. Any information obtained in this way will be treated as Candidate Information and processed together with the Candidate Information you originally provided.

Depending on your interactions with us, your Candidate Information processed by Ward Howell and or selected Ward Howellpartners may include: (i) your contact details, such as your name, address, telephone number, and email address; (ii) biographical information; (iii) details of your professional education; (iv) educational credentials, professional diplomas, and certificates; (v)information and responses you provide in relation to evaluations, surveys, and interviews; and (vi) any Sensitive Personal Information that you choose to disclose to us and explicitly consent to us processing. If you are a Candidate for Search, your Candidate Information may also include (vii) your employment and compensation history, subject to applicable law; (viii) ourassessment of your suitability for Client opportunities based on our review of your professional profile; (ix) information concerning your personal and professional life that is publicly available via social mediaservices (e.g. Meta, Google, LinkedIn, X), other online sources, or third party data providers, where relevant to the Services; (x) information connected with your travel for interviews during a recruitment process, where we or our selected partners arrange such travel, such as your name, email address, telephone number, passport number and date of birth where required, travel destinations, and means of transportation; and (xi) where appropriate and permitted by applicable local law, information that maybe categorized as “diversity information”, such as racial or ethnic background, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs, and or socioeconomic background. Some of this information qualifies as Sensitive Personal Information, or protected legal characteristics under certain laws, and where this is the case enhanced protection measures required by law will apply.

The legal basis on which we collect and use your Candidate Information in connection with the Services depends on the specific processing activity and the circumstances in which the information was obtained. Accordingly, the legal basis may be our legitimate business interests or your consent.

As part of our Services, your Candidate Information may be processed on the basis of Ward Howell’s legitimate interests,provided those interests are not overridden by your fundamental rights and freedoms, for the following business purposes:

• providing Services on behalf of our Clients, including the processing of your Candidate Information in connection with your integration, assessment, coaching, or development within assignments undertaken for our Clients;
• maintaining and operating the databases in which your Candidate Information is stored; and
• analyzing your information through analytical tools and comparing results against those of other Candidates or potential Candidates, including categorizing Candidates using profiles generated by software, in order to support our delivery of Services.

 

If you are a Candidate for Search, your Candidate Information may also be processed for the additional business purposes of:

• conducting searches for potential Candidates on behalf of Clients seeking to fill executive or similar management positionsor board directorships, including assessing your suitability for Client opportunities, presenting you to Clients as a Candidate, verifying educational credentials, diplomas, and certificates, conducting background related searches, where appropriate and legally permitted using your diversity information to provide Clients with diverse pools of qualified Candidates, and ensuring that you are not approached for another Client unless you request to be considered for other opportunities;
• informing you about executive or similar management roles that may be of interest to you;
• sending you information or materials we believe may be relevant or of interest, such as reports, research, invitations tonetworking events, or information relating to our Services, publications, and surveys; and
• contacting you as a Client contact in connection with the introduction of other Candidates or as a source of information regarding potential Candidates for third party Clients.

 

If you are a Candidate in connection with Advisory assignments, your Candidate Information may also be processed on the basisof Ward Howell’s legitimate interests, insofar as those interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms, for the following additional business purposes:

• carrying out the Advisory assignment and producing survey results;
• providing analysis, supporting data, and advice to your employer or our Client in connection with those results and your responses;
• debriefing with you and obtaining your feedback; and
• improving our Advisory work and, where appropriate, implementing suggestions arising from your

 

On the basis of Ward Howell’s legitimate interests, provided those interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms,we may also process your identity, contact, and professional experience data in order to send you information or materials that webelieve may be of interest to you, such as reports, research, invitations to networking events, or information about our Services, publications, and surveys.

Your Candidate Information will not be used for purposes unrelated to the Services for which it was originally provided or intended.

Your Candidate Information will primarily be processed by Ward Howell and on its behalf. Depending on how and where the Services are performed in your case, your Candidate Information may be shared with the following recipients:

• Consultants and administrative staff: Through our internal databases, your Candidate Information may be accessible to Ward Howell consultants and administrative staff in various countries worldwide for the purpose of delivering the Services.
• Clients: If you are a Candidate for Search, and subject to our discretion, we may disclose limited extracts of your Candidate Information, such as aspects of your professional education and employment history, to particular Clients inorder to determine whether they may be interested in you as a Candidate for an executive or similar management role of which they have informed us. Any disclosure will be limited to what is necessary for that purpose. We will not share your full Candidate Information or present you to a Client in detail without first obtaining your consent.
• Selected partners: Your Candidate Information may be processed by selected partners with whom we cooperate onparticular projects in the course of delivering Services, including third party travel
• Software service and application providers: Your Candidate Information may be processed by software and application providers acting as our processors, such as Microsoft Corporation or Zoom Video Communications, Inc., located anywhere in the world, subject to binding contractual obligations requiring them to process your Candidate Information only in accordance with our written instructions and to implement measures designed to protect the confidentiality and security of your Candidate Information, together with any further obligations imposed by applicable
• IT infrastructure service providers: Your Candidate Information may be stored on servers or systems located in the European Union and or the United States. Those servers or systems are managed by, and accessible to, designated Ward Howell employees as well as third party service providers acting on our behalf and under our instructions for purposes such as website management, information technology, and related infrastructure support.

 

In this context, please note that various Ward Howell companies, most third party providers operating the relevant servers orsystems, and some Clients or selected partners to whom limited Candidate Information may be disclosed, may be located in countries outside the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland that have not been recognized by the European Union, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data. Similarly, the countries to which your Candidate Information, or parts of it, may be transferred under the arrangements described above may include the countries in which the different Ward Howell companies operate and, in exceptional cases, any country worldwide. Thismeans that your Candidate Information may be transferred to countries that do not provide a level of protection considered adequate by the European Union or Switzerland. However, we have implemented appropriate safeguards to ensure that your Candidate Information remains protected in accordance with this Policy. These safeguards include the use of the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers of Personal Informationwithin the Ward Howell group of companies and with our third party service providers and selected partners, requiring them toprotect Personal Information originating from the EEA in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

 

3.2 Personal Information Pertaining to Children

Our Services are not intended for minors, and we do not seek to collect information from minors. We therefore ask that suchinformation not be shared with us. If a parent or legal guardian believes that a child has provided Personal Information to us, please contact us using the details in the “How to Contact Us” section below, and we will delete that Personal Information, subject to applicable law and this Policy.

 

 

4. Our Data Security

Protecting your personal information is a priority for us. We maintain a broad set of technical and organizational measures designed to guard against unauthorized access, unlawful processing, and accidental loss of personal data. These measures include, among other things, encryption of communications with us using up to date Secure Sockets Layer technology so that your data remains secure and confidential. We regularly review and strengthen our security practices in order to respond to evolving threats and preserve your trust.

 

 

5. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right: (i) to obtain information about the Personal Information we process about you; (ii) to request correction or completion of inaccurate Personal Information; (iii) to request deletion of the Personal Information we process; (iv) to object to our processing of your Personal Information or request restriction of that processing; and (v) to requestreceipt of your Personal Information in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format and to ask us to transmit that Personal Information to you or directly to a third party. To make such a request, please use the contact details provided in the “How to Contact Us” section below.

In addition to the rights set out above, you may also lodge a complaint with the competent local data protection authority if you believe that Ward Howell’s processing of your Personal Information violates applicable data protection laws.

 

 

6. How We Retain Your Personal Information

We retain your Personal Information for as long as we have an ongoing consent or legitimate interest in doing so. Please note thateven after our relationship with you has ended, your Personal Information may remain relevant for current or future legitimate business purposes. For example, we may need to retain certain Personal Information: (i) for business recordkeeping purposes; (ii)in order to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights; (iii) to demonstrate compliance with applicable law; or (iv) to evidence that wehave fulfilled, or continue to fulfill, obligations toward our Clients in connection with Services in which you may have been involved.

 

7. Amendments to This Policy

From time to time, we may change our business activities and or our policies and procedures relating to the processing of Personal Information. Where appropriate, and subject to applicable law, we may revise, supplement, or replace this Policy. When we do so, we will publish the updated version and amend the effective date shown at the beginning of the Policy.

Where required by law, we may also provide advance notice of changes to this Policy and give you an opportunity to object. If youexercise your right to object, the relevant changes will not apply to your Personal Information, but your ability to use our Services may be terminated or affected. We will notify you of the consequences of objecting or not objecting to the extent and in the manner required by law.

 

 

8. Additional Information if You Are a Resident of California

8.1 Notice at Collection

We collect the categories of Personal Information, as defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), listed below:

 

Category of Personal Information Collected	Sales or Sharing for Marketing or Analytics Purposes	Disclosures to Clients for Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Purposes	Disclosures for Business Purposes to our Consultants, Administrative  Staff, Selected  Partners, and other Service Providers
Biographical Information or Identifiers, including yourname, email address, phone number, or other contact details	No	Yes	Yes
Digital Identifiers, such as your cookie ID, IP address,or device identifier	Yes	No	Yes
Characteristics of protected classifications under California and federal law, such as gender	No	Yes	Yes
Internet or other electronic network activity information,including your interactions with us on our website andyour social media or online presence	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education Information, including educational background, details from your CV, and educational references	No	Yes	Yes
Professional or employment related information, includingprofessional education, CV details, professional references, experience, skills, preferences, and membership in professional organizations	No	Yes	Yes
Inferences drawn from the above categories ofPersonal Information to create a profile about a Candidate	No	Yes	Yes
Sensitive Personal Information, meaning PersonalInformation revealing racial or ethnic origin, politicalopinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade unionmembership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health, or data concerning a naturalperson’s sex life or sexual orientation	No	No	No

 

As further described in Section 3, we generally collect and use these categories of Personal Information for business purposesconnected with providing the Services on behalf of our Clients. We retain Personal Information as described in Section 6. Sourcesof Personal Information include you, our Clients, publicly available online sources, referees, and third party data providers such asBoardEx.

Certain data collection activities on our website by third parties for interest based advertising and other marketing or analyticstools may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” under California privacy law. We may sell or share Personal Information associatedwith your use of the Site with third parties providing these tools, including advertising technology vendors, analytics providers, and social media companies. You may opt out at any time by following the options described in our Cookie Policy. We do notknowingly sell or share, as those terms are defined under the CCPA, the Personal Information of individuals under 16 years of age.

 

8.2 Your Rights

If you are a California resident, you may exercise the following rights:

• You may request, up to two times per year, that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which the Personal Information was collected, the business orcommercial purpose for collecting it, the categories of Personal Information disclosed for a business purpose, any categories of Personal Information sold about you, the categories of third parties with whom your Personal Information has been shared, and the business or commercial purpose for selling your Personal Information, where applicable.
• You may request deletion of Personal Information we have collected from or about If we are unable to delete all of yourinformation, we will inform you of the reason, such as where the information is needed to complete a transaction or must be retained for legal reasons.
  
  
• You may request correction of inaccurate Personal Information that we maintain about you, subject to presentation of documentation supporting the requested correction.

Your authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf, provided that proof of authorization is submitted in accordance with California law.

To exercise any of the above rights, or if you have questions regarding those rights, please contact us at dataprivacy@ward-howell.com. We will respond within 45 days unless additional time is required, in which case we will let you know. We may take steps to verify your identity before responding. If you exercise any of these rights, we will not discriminate against you, for example by denying access to our Services or restricting your access to Services of a certain level of quality.

 

8.3 Sales and Sharing of Personal Information

Certain collection of data on our website by third parties for interest based advertising and other marketing or analytics tools may constitute a sale or sharing of Personal Information under California privacy law, or targeted advertising under other local laws. Youor your authorized agent may request to opt out at any time by using the Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link at thebottom of the relevant page. You may also choose to activate an online tool that automatically communicates your opt out preferences, such as the Global Privacy Control (GPC). Where such signals are detected, we will treat them as a request to opt out of the sale and sharing of Personal Information.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising your opt out rights. Your authorized agent may also submit an opt out request on your behalf, subject to proof of authorization in accordance with California law.

 

8.4 Sensitive Personal Information

To the extent that we collect, use, or disclose Sensitive Personal Information, we limit such use or disclosure to permitted business purposes in accordance with California law.

 

 

9. Additional Information Regarding South Africa

If and to the extent that the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) applies, the terms “Personal Information”and “Sensitive Personal Information” shall have the following meanings throughout this Policy:

“Personal Information” means any information that either (i) personally identifies a natural person and or a juristic person; or (ii)relates to an identifiable natural person and or a juristic person, meaning an individual or company that can be identified directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, company logo, location data, online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to that person’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity; or

(iii) constitutes individually identifiable information about an individual or juristic person who is a consumer, which is collected online through our website and maintained by us in accessible form; or (iv) is otherwise required to be protected under applicable data privacy laws, including national, international, and supranational privacy and data protection laws, directives, regulations, and similar legal acts. Examples include your contact details such as your name, email address, company logo, birthday, or phonenumber, together with details of your professional education and experience, skills, preferences, or membership in professionalorganizations.

“Sensitive Personal Information”, also referred to as Special Personal Information under POPIA, means Personal Information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, as well as the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health, or dataconcerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation; or information concerning a person’s criminal behavior to the extentthat it relates to

(i) the alleged commission of an offence by that person, or (ii) proceedings relating to an offence allegedly committed by a data subject, including the outcome of those proceedings.

 

 

10. Additional Information Regarding Türkiye

10.1 Definitions and Relevant Terms

If and to the extent that the Law on Protection of Personal Data No. 66G8 (“DP Law”) applies, all references in this Policy to applicable law shall be interpreted as references to the laws of Türkiye. In addition, the defined terms used in this Policy shall havethe meanings assigned to them under the DP Law.

 

10.2 Your Rights

Under Article 11 of the DP Law, you are entitled to the following additional rights:

• to request the erasure or destruction of your Personal Information where the original reasons for processing no longerapply, regardless of whether the Personal Information was initially processed lawfully, and to request that we notify third parties to whom your Personal Information has been transferred of that erasure or destruction request;
• to object to any adverse outcome arising from decisions made solely through automated processing of your Personal Information. For the avoidance of doubt, we do not use automated processing as the sole basis for decision making; and
• to seek compensation for damages suffered as a result of unlawful processing of your Personal

 

 

11. How to Contact Us

We welcome your questions and comments regarding this Policy and our privacy practices. Please contact us using the detailsbelow and we will respond as soon as reasonably possible:

 

Ward Howell International GmbH

Koenigsallee 74
40212 Duesseldorf Germany
Email: dataprivacy@ward-howell.com

For more information about our cookie policy, please see the relevant link on our website.