I'm Jessica Zwaan.
Published author, speaker, and scale-up executive; currently COO at Talentful.
G'DAY
G'DAY
Jessica is the author of Amazon Best Selling, Built for People, a book about applying product management principles to HR and People Operations. Alongside this she is a hands-on COO who has worked in scaling businesses in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
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Jessica is a regular speak at international events on the methodology of working with product management principles, operational efficiency, and building purpose-driven workplaces.
She finds my joy in diverse, kind, and world-changing companies of excellent people, which is why she is at Talentful, where their mission is to invent the future of recruitment. (✨How fantastic is that?)
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Previously: COO at Whereby, VP People, Culture, an Talent for UK Tech Track #1 Wonderbly, Yieldify, Box (NYSE:BOX), and many more...
Learn more about me
Jessica is the author of "Built for People: Transform Your Employee Experience Using Product Management Principles"and writes regularly for Modern People Leader's Substack series: MPL Build.
Written for all people and business leaders, Built for People explains how to improve workforce and business performance by developing people-centred ways of working, evidence-based decision making and a culture of continuous feedback and iteration.
Jessica Zwaan brings experience as a COO, author, and organisational leader to help companies navigate the changing workplace. Through talks, podcasts, panels, and keynotes, she guides audiences through modern leadership challenges, offering strategies for sustainable growth, better team structures, and meaningful cultural change. Her approach focuses on practical solutions that actually work at scale, helping teams and leaders improve efficiency and create better work experiences.
She regularly appears on panels, podcasts, and at events both locally and internationally, speaking on topics like building positive workplace culture, modernizing HR functions, strengthening employer brands, and treating People Operations like a product. Her focus is on creating more human-centered workplaces that benefit both employees and teams.