Sara Kahlau

Sara Kahlau is a principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Sydney office and a member of the global Technology & Services Practice. She focuses on executive search and leadership advisory for B2B technology, professional services, and private equity (PE)-backed growth companies.

Sara has more than a decade of senior commercial and operational leadership experience spanning strategy consulting, C-suite roles, and talent marketplace businesses. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, she was managing director and chief product officer at Outsized, building the Australia and New Zealand business from inception.

She has extensive expertise across the technology, financial services, and professional services sectors, with particular experience in executive transitions, leadership team development for growth-stage and PE-backed businesses, and C-suite assessment. Her operator background—including leading profit-and-loss responsibilities, scaling teams, and navigating complex organizations—gives her a practitioner's perspective that informs her approach to executive search and leadership advisory.

Previously, she built and scaled Toptal's global customer experience and innovation consulting practice. She also had leadership roles at icare, one of New South Wales' largest insurers, including chief customer officer, chief of staff, and general manager of transformation.

Sara began her career in strategy consulting at Booz & Co. (now Strategy&).

University of Technology, Bachelor of Business