Helping organisations make better leadership decisions.
I'm Matthew Goddard, Founder of Goddard Talent & Coaching. I partner with scaling technology companies on their most important leadership and critical hiring decisions, from hiring exceptional leaders to ensuring they succeed once inside the business.
My work spans the full leadership lifecycle: helping organisations define leadership roles, hire the right people, support successful transitions and develop leadership capability as they grow. Whether through leadership hiring, talent partnership or executive coaching, the focus is always the same: turning leadership decisions into long-term business performance.
Over the past 15 years, I've worked across agency, in-house and embedded talent roles, partnering with companies including Zalando, Personio and Einride through periods of rapid growth.
From executive search to embedded talent partnership.
I began my career in executive recruitment in the UK before moving to Berlin, where I joined Zalando as one of its first internal Executive Recruiters. Working closely with the Management Board, I led Director, VP and SVP hiring across Technology, Product, Commercial and Corporate functions.
I later joined Talentful, embedding directly with high-growth technology companies including Personio, helping scale the business from around 600 to 1,200 employees. Alongside executive hiring, I partnered with founders and leadership teams on organisational design, hiring strategy, talent capability and long-term leadership growth.
Exceptional hiring alone doesn't guarantee exceptional leadership.
Over time, one pattern became impossible to ignore.
Leadership challenges rarely begin with the hiring decision itself. More often, they emerge after the offer is accepted, in how leaders integrate into the organisation, build trust with stakeholders, navigate complexity and establish themselves in the role.
That insight became the foundation of my work.
Connecting hiring, integration and coaching into one leadership solution.
It led me to develop the HIT Method™ (Hire. Integrate. Thrive.), a structured approach that combines leadership search, post-hire integration and executive coaching into a single leadership solution.
Rather than treating hiring and leadership development as separate disciplines, the HIT Method™ connects them, helping organisations maximise the success of every leadership appointment.
Psychologically informed coaching, grounded in commercial experience.
To deepen this work, I trained as a Master Intuitive Psychology Coach.
Today, coaching forms an integral part of my work, helping leaders strengthen self-awareness, improve judgement, navigate complexity and lead with greater authenticity. Whether supporting newly appointed executives through transition or partnering with experienced leaders over the longer term, my coaching is grounded in both commercial leadership experience and a psychologically informed approach to sustainable growth.
Three connected areas of expertise.
I partner with founders, executives and leadership teams navigating growth, change and complexity through three connected areas of expertise.
Principal Talent Partner
Embedded talent leadership, executive search and strategic hiring.
Book a discovery call→Leadership Hiring & Integration
Connecting leadership hiring with structured integration and coaching through the HIT Method™.
Book a discovery call→Leadership Coaching
Helping leaders successfully transition, grow and perform throughout their careers.
Book a discovery call→I believe great leadership doesn't happen by chance. It happens through thoughtful hiring, intentional development and the right support at the moments that matter most.