Los Angeles independent agency Zambezi appointed Janine Zaim as its first director of recruiting, tasked with managing the agency’s employee initiatives and policies while enlisting new talent. She will report directly to Zambezi chief operating officer Jean Freeman.
“Zambezi is all about our people, and our people are our culture,” Freeman said in a statement. “Janine is joining the Zambezi family and curating our creative. She has ten years experience with some of the greatest agencies in the business. Her superpower is finding creatives, something that’s very important for us. Everything here is rooted in creativity. At the same time we needed someone who can find talent across the board and develop the formation of our talent department.”
Zaim joins Zambezi from Pereira & O’Dell, where she has served as director of recruiting since November of 2014. Prior to joining Pereira & O’Dell she served an eight month stint as director of talent and creative services at San Francisco agency Cutwater, following four months as creative services manager at EVB (also in San Francisco). Before that she spent time with other Bay Area agencies including Doremus—where she was creative project manager working with clients like HP and Visa—and twofifteenmccann, where she served as creative services manager and recruiter while handling full-cycle creative recruiting for both in-house and freelance employees.
Zaim’s appointment follows the arrival of another employee in a newly created position last month: executive director of technology Justice Erolin. The agency also recently hired group strategy director Ryan Richards and account director Gordon Gray in March and executive director, marketing and business development Josie Brown in May, and also recently expanded with a new Culver City headquarters.
“Zambezi is on an exciting trajectory,” said Zaim in a statement. “The people here are amazing and creative; there’s a great energy flowing through these walls, and a family-like culture that makes it really stand out from other agencies. I’ll be bringing in dynamic talent in every department, and also working with current employees to keep them growing and engaged as the agency evolves. I’m here to help shape the face of talent at Zambezi. That’s my ultimate goal.”