Heike Hiss

Heike Hiss

Senior Director, Global Executive Search, Box

For Heike Hiss, recruiting was never just a job—it was a calling she discovered almost by accident and never looked back from. Raised and educated in Europe, Heike entered the workforce after college and found herself at a woman-led executive search firm. What began as an apprenticeship in a highly relationship-driven business quickly became a lifelong passion.

From the very beginning, Heike knew executive search was where she belonged. While she briefly supported broader recruiting efforts, she realized that senior leadership hiring—complex, high-stakes, and deeply human—was the work that energized her. Executive search offered the rare combination of business development, strategy, and relationship-building, all grounded in the human impact of shaping leadership teams.

Her early career took her through some of the most respected firms in the industry. After joining Korn Ferry in Frankfurt, she learned global executive search from world-class partners before transferring to the firm’s San Francisco office during the height of the internet boom. What began as a winter visit to California turned into a defining career move—and a permanent one.

In Silicon Valley, Heike transitioned into technology leadership hiring, later becoming one of the first members of Apple’s internal executive search “SWAT” team. While the model was ahead of its time, it gave her firsthand insight into what in-house executive search could become. She returned to the search firm world with Heidrick & Struggles for eight years, advising technology clients before being recruited to Juniper Networks, where she helped build one of the earliest in-house executive search functions.

Twelve years ago, Heike joined Box, just prior to its IPO, when the company was still under 1,000 employees with little formal recruiting infrastructure. Since then, she has built and scaled what is now a fully internal executive search organization—designed to deliver the same, if not better, partnership and rigor as a retained search firm. Today, Box leaders rely on her team as strategic advisors in building the company’s senior leadership.

What Energizes Her Most

Heike views recruiting not as a support function, but as a core business discipline—one that solves organizational problems through talent. Her team operates in close partnership with business leadership, deeply embedded in strategy rather than execution alone.

While she remains personally involved in C-suite searches, what brings her the most fulfillment today is enabling her team. She finds joy in removing obstacles, offering perspective, and stepping in when needed—while giving her team the space to operate at their highest level.

Beyond internal leadership, Heike is deeply committed to mentoring. In a market where even senior executives now face career uncertainty, she spends significant time advising, listening, and helping people make sense of transition. For her, recruiting has always been about people first—and that purpose has only deepened over time.

How Recruiting Is Changing

Working in executive search has insulated Heike from much of the automation frenzy reshaping volume recruiting—but not from the opportunities AI presents when applied thoughtfully. At Box, her team uses AI selectively: for research, summarization, talent mapping, and administrative efficiency. These tools free up time for what matters most—high-touch, in-person engagement with leaders and candidates.

However, she is clear on one thing: executive hiring cannot be automated. Senior leadership assessment requires depth, nuance, and trust built through real human connection. While AI can assist with preparation and research, it cannot replace the art of finding, evaluating, and advising leaders.

Heike sees technology as an enabler—not a substitute. Used well, it allows talent partners to focus more deeply on relationships, context, and long-term business impact.

Heike’s Advice for 2026

Her advice for the future is deceptively simple: PAUSE.

In a world obsessed with speed, instant response, and constant execution, Heike urges talent leaders to slow down—intentionally. Not every moment is urgent. Strategic work requires space to think, to listen, and to reflect.

She believes that becoming a true trusted advisor means resisting the pressure to react immediately and instead asking better questions, absorbing context, and engaging deeply with stakeholders before taking action. The difference between “urgent” and “important,” she notes, is often where leadership is defined.

She also emphasizes sustainability. Talent leaders are human—not machines. Without pauses for perspective, burnout becomes inevitable, and both individuals and organizations suffer.

“If you want to be strategic,” she says, “you have to give yourself permission to think.”

That philosophy—rooted in clarity, humanity, and long-term impact—is what defines Heike Hiss’s approach to leadership. It’s also what makes her a standout voice in executive search and a deserving member of the Talent 100.