William Holodnak President VCF Card     Print Version

William A. Holodnak is Founder and President of J. Robert Scott. In addition to managing the firm since its inception in 1986, Bill conducts senior level search assignments in a variety of industries including For-Profit Education, Biotechnology, Medical Devices, Financial Services, and Technology. His practice emphasizes assignments for Chief Executive Officers and Members of the Board of Directors.

Prior to joining J. Robert Scott, Bill was a Vice President of a retainer-based executive search firm which serviced the Venture Capital and High Technology industries on a national basis. Previously, he was a member of the professional audit staff of PricewaterhouseCoopers' Boston office and holds a CPA certificate in Massachusetts. Before joining PWC, Bill successfully managed the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bill holds an MBA from Boston University (1976) as well as a graduate degree in Medieval History from The Johns Hopkins University (1971). His undergraduate degree is from Canisius College (1968) in New York. He has taught courses in History and Film Criticism at both Johns Hopkins and Boston University respectively. He has spoken at Harvard Business School, Northeastern University, Babson College and Boston University on organizational development, succession planning and career management. Bill is a Trustee of the Berklee College of Music and Chairs the Membership Committee and serves as an Advisor to the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Bill is married with two children, Lili, a graduate of Princeton University and the creative writing program at Boston University, and John, a graduate of Amherst College.

Back to top

Aaron Lapat Managing Director VCF Card     Print Version

Aaron has been with J. Robert Scott since 1993 and built the firm's high tech practice.  He leads senior level search assignments across a range of industry segments, including Software, Communications, Semiconductors/ Microelectronics, Specialty Materials and CleanTech. His practice emphasizes recruiting CEOs and functional leaders for growth-oriented and venture-backed companies.

Additionally, Aaron oversees the creation of the annual Compensation and Entrepreneurship Report in Information Technology at www.compstudy.com.

Prior to joining J. Robert Scott, Aaron spent four years with a retainer-based executive search firm that serviced the high technology industry.

Aaron holds a B.A. in Anthropology as well as an M.B.A. from Boston University.  He serves on the Board of Advisors of Stax, Inc., a privately-held consulting and market research firm.  Aaron and his wife Lauren have two children, Sophie and Sammy.  In his spare time, Aaron plays tennis, runs and listens to music.  On the off days, he can be found stoking the embers of his VW-sized Texas BBQ, mixing up a homemade hot sauce, or trying to create the perfect play-list from his ever-expanding record (mp3) collection.

Back to top

Bruce R. Rychlik Managing Director VCF Card     Print Version

Bruce Rychlik has spent his entire career with J. Robert Scott, joining the firm in 1990. Bruce's practice focuses on recruiting Chief Executive Officers as well as functional leaders for primarily venture-backed Life Science companies including Chief Scientific, Technical, Medical, Financial and Business Officers at a national level.

Bruce has recruited extensively in the Life Sciences for Corporate Boards, for Academic/Research Institutions in the area of Technology Transfer and for Global Health NGOs. In his career, he has also worked on numerous international recruiting projects throughout Asia, particularly Japan, as well as Europe.

During the course of his fifteen year career at J. Robert Scott, Bruce has worked as a Research Associate, Research Manager, Candidate Developer and most recently as an Account Manager, a role in which he conducted and managed searches for business executives and scientific professionals at biopharmaceutical and medical device companies throughout the U.S.

In addition, Bruce spearheads the production of the Compensation and Entrepreneurship Report in Life Sciences, an annual study of executive cash and equity compensation for private, venture capital backed technology companies, done in collaboration with Harvard Business School, Ernst & Young and WilmerHale.

Bruce earned an MBA from Boston University (1997) and a BA in Political Science from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania (1989). He lives with his wife Kristina, daughter Anna and sons Alexander and Robert in Acton, Massachusetts.

Back to top

Jonathan Fortescue Managing Director VCF Card     Print Version

Jonathan Fortescue recently joined J. Robert Scott after eight years at another executive search firm. His practice is national in scope and emphasizes leadership positions in institutions of higher education, not-for-profit organizations, and foundations serving the public good.

Prior to his career in executive search, Jonathan taught at Harvard for eleven years, first in the English department, where he was a perennial recipient of Derek Bok Distinguished Teaching Awards, and then in History and Literature where he won the Alan Heimert Teaching Prize. A scholar of American literature and culture, he wrote the introductions to and the literary chronologies for three of the eight volumes of the Cambridge History of American Literature. He was graduated with honors from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with degrees in English and in Linguistics. A recipient of an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of the Humanities in 1989, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University.

Jonathan lives with his wife Elizabeth, a cardiologist at Children's Hospital, and their son William in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Jonathan is also an avid runner with a personal best marathon time of 2:40:35.

Back to top

Rohit Ambekar Managing Director, Singapore Print Version

Rohit Ambekar joined J. Robert Scott in 2006 and is based in the Singapore office. His practice is global in scope and focuses on Chief Officer and Functional Leader level appointments in the Information and Communications Technology, Private Equity and Venture Capital practice.

Having lived and worked in London, Tokyo, Greater China, India and Singapore, Rohit is an international executive with over a decade of experience in leading cross-border executive searches. He has successfully appointed senior leaders in Greater China, India, Japan, South Korea, USA and the UK. He brings with him a global base of contacts and an astute understanding of international business across different cultures.

Before joining JRS, Rohit led the development of a boutique executive search firm and successfully established their brand in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to this, he worked for one of the large global executive search firms from their Tokyo, London and Hong Kong office.

Rohit was born in India and grew up mostly in the UK where he graduated with a BA in the dual discipline of Japanese Studies and Business Management from the University of Sheffield. Besides his fluency in the Japanese language, he is also fluent in several Indian languages.

As one of the leading search partners in the Asia Pacific region, he is a frequent contributor to the press and television media having been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and appearing on live interviews on CNN, NDTV and other local media.

Outside of his passion for work, Rohit is an avid movie buff and amateur filmmaker. He also enjoys traveling to new and exotic destinations with his wife, Babita and children, Siya and Shiv.

Back to top

Dandan Zhang Managing Director, Hong Kong VCF Card     Print Version

Dandan Zhang joined J. Robert Scott in the summer of 2007 to develop the firm's presence in Greater China.

Dandan has search expertise across both Financial Services and Technology companies and a focus for bulge-bracket and top European investment banks, leading private equity and venture capital firms, management consulting clients and Fortune 100 multi-national corporations. Examples of each sector are Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Capital, A.T. Kearney and GE. She started her executive search career in Hong Kong in 1997 and worked for several leading search firms prior to joining J. Robert Scott. Early in her career, Dandan was a highly accomplished sales professional at MetLife in the United States and in CITIC Group's head office in Beijing.

Born and raised in Shanghai, Dandan is fluent in both English and Chinese. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University and a Masters of Arts, Public Administration from Carleton University. Dandan is married with two children and currently resides in Hong Kong.

Back to top

Karen Skillen Managing Director VCF Card     Print Version

Karen Skillen has recently joined J. Robert Scott as Managing Director, Life Sciences and will focus her energies on building our business on the West Coast. Although based in San Francisco she is broadly experienced in global recruiting and business development.

Before joining J. Robert Scott, Karen most recently led the Biopharmaceutical and Biotechnology practices for BioQuest, providing executive recruitment and consulting services to companies across the broad spectrum of life sciences, including pharmaceutical products, nutraceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, devices and consumer medicines. Before joining BioQuest, Karen was a Senior Client Partner in Korn/Ferry International's Life Sciences Practice, based in San Francisco. Karen joined Korn/Ferry in Prague, the Czech Republic, where she spent three years responsible for coordinating activity in the Central and Eastern European Life Sciences practice. She then transferred to the firm's Princeton office, building a strong network across the East Coast Life Science industry during her four years prior to her move to the West Coast.

Prior to joining Korn/Ferry, Karen headed the Prague office of Antal International, a search firm focused on developing markets. Her early career was in management training and consulting, assessing cultural flexibility and suitability of executives for senior-level international assignments within multi-national organizations. Areas of expertise were the emerging markets of South East Asia and the Far East. Additionally, she has spent more than five years in South East Asia and the Far East and three years in Eastern Europe, working in countries as culturally diverse as China, Taiwan, Japan, Hungary, The Czech Republic, and Turkey, as well as her native United Kingdom. From this experience she has gained an appreciation of cultural values, which she utilizes on behalf of her North American and international clients.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese from the University of London and has completed postgraduate studies at universities in Beijing and Taipei.

Back to top

Andy Smith Managing Director, London VCF Card     Print Version

Andy joined J. Robert Scott in 2008 and is responsible for building the firm's practice in the European region from a London base. He leads searches in the Financial Services sector with a primary focus on asset management clients. Andy has developed an extensive track record of successful searches for clients hiring investment professionals, team leaders and general managers across all asset classes and functions, as well as significant expertise in the distribution business.

Most recently, Andy was a Partner with Blackwood Group, a boutique search firm in London. Over five years, he played a key role in the creation and growth of that firm's asset management practice. His search career began at Russell Reynolds Associates where he served a wide range of UK based and multinational clients. His professional life commenced with Seascope Shipping, where he specialised in brokering international sale and purchase transactions of deep sea oil tankers and bulkcarriers. Andy received his B.A. in Modern History from New College, Oxford.

Back to top

Kathryn Seni Managing Director VCF Card     Print Version

Kathryn Seni joined J. Robert Scott in 2003. As Managing Director, she is responsible for overseeing all internal activities and search operations globally, including infrastructure development, recruitment and training, resource allocation and management, performance evaluation and quality. Her role also involves strategic planning and leading the organizational development of the firm, particularly as it relates to domestic and international expansion.

Previously, Kathryn was an Account Manager for J. Robert Scott, responsible for directing the entire lifecycle of executive level search assignments across all organizational functions, as well as marketing the firm's capabilities to the external business community. In addition to her client responsibilities, Kathryn served as Director of Recruiting Operations.

Prior to joining J. Robert Scott, Kathryn was with D.P. Parker and Associates, a retainer-based boutique focused on the life sciences and technology sectors. She entered the industry with CTPartners (formerly Christian & Timbers), a large multi-national executive search firm.

Earlier in her career, Kathryn served as a Counselor for a public school system in North Carolina. She received her MAEd in Counseling (with honors) and her BA in Psychology (cum laude) from Wake Forest University. Kathryn is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a National Certified Counselor.

Back to top

Carlos R. P. Doglioli Managing Director of Finance and Administration VCF Card     Print Version

Carlos Doglioli joined J. Robert Scott in January 2008 and is responsible for overseeing all finance and administrative activities, including IT.

Prior to JRS, Carlos was Vice President of Finance within Devonshire Investors, the private equity investment arm of Fidelity Investments. In this role, he supported the telecom investments within the portfolio companies. Between 2002 and 2007, he was Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer of MetroRED, an integrated communications provider located in Mexico City, where he was responsible for the finance and administrative functions, including Human Resources, Legal, Information Systems, Continuous Improvement (Processes Group), Special Projects and Sales Administration.

Doglioli started working for Fidelity Investments in 1999, initially as a summer intern while attending Business School. Since that time, he has held different positions, including Manager, and later, Director of Business Analysis; first as part of the Corporate Finance Group of MetroRED, and afterward as part of the Fidelity Broadband Group, now part of Devonshire Investors.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Doglioli was a Senior Consultant with Accenture, leading and participating in multiple system integration and reengineering projects.

Doglioli received his bachelor's degree from CAECE University in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and his MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College in Wellesley, MA.

Back to top

Laura Gilmore Principal VCF Card     Print Version

Laura Gilmore joined J. Robert Scott in 2003, and since that time has had a history of rapid advancement in the Research and Candidate Development functions. As an Account Manager, she is now responsible for managing the entire lifecycle of executive level search assignments across all organizational functions, as well as for marketing the firm's capabilities to the external business community. Her primary focus is on searches within the Financial Services and Life Sciences industries.

In addition to these client responsibilities, Laura serves as Manager of Research, a role in which she is responsible for directing the day-to-day operations of this key resource, as well as the recruitment, training and development of the staff within her department.

Laura received her B.A. in Psychology from Boston College.

Back to top

J.J. Marshall Principal VCF Card     Print Version

J.J. is a Principal in the firm's technology practice, having joined J. Robert Scott in 2006.

Most recently, he earned his MBA at Babson College, where he was awarded the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Foundation Global Manager Award for his work on a consulting assignment he completed in Bangalore while attaining his degree.

J.J. completed his undergraduate studies in theater at Vassar College. While there and for some time afterward, he participated in numerous national productions as an actor, director and designer. By fusing these interests with his early career as a systems engineer, he then went on to work in digital post-production at the Oxygen Network and The FeedRoom, among other venues. Both a designer and editor, he authored two "bibles" in his field, each published by Wiley and Sons.

Back to top

Mike DiPierro Director of Operations VCF Card     Print Version

Mike DiPierro joined J. Robert Scott in 2000 as a Financial Analyst and currently serves as Director of Operations for J. Robert Scott, where he is responsible for accounting, administration and maintenance of the information systems of the firm. Additionally, Mike oversees surveying, analysis and production of the annual private company compensation surveys at www.compstudy.com.

Prior to joining J. Robert Scott, Mike was a payment specialist in the Accounts Payable department of Fidelity Investments.

Mike holds a B.S. in Finance from Boston College where he also concentrated Computer Science. An avid rower in college, Mike is also a part-time coach of the men's rowing team at his alma-mater.

Back to top