Michael Pilnick is a commercially focused Global Human Resources Executive with extensive experience building and implementing human capital and talent strategies that drive enterprise and asset value in complex global organizations. Michael has extensive experience in high growth, established, turnaround environments and in Fortune 500 organizations, private equity-owned businesses from startup/carveout through sale and IPO, and leading consultancies across various industries. A high-energy innovator who understands the levers of growth, Michael is known for partnering with Boards, CEOs, and executive teams to successfully deliver strategic, global business transformation to move businesses into the future.
Michael Pilnick joined First Advantage in 2013 as Chief Human Resources Officer and is accountable for strategic and operational HR leadership of the global HR team and all HR functions across the Americas, EMEA, India, and APAC. He is charged with driving continued growth and innovation through people strategies and systems that directly impact business outcomes and employee engagement. Post IPO, Michael was tapped as and continues to serve as the Chair of the Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee and built First Advantage’s ESG strategy from the ground up, including the company’s efforts in Diversity & Inclusion.
Before First Advantage, Michael was Chief Human Resources Officer for Wolters Kluwer, a publicly traded €3.425 billion global business to business information services leader, where he led the HR function for Wolters Kluwer’s profit centers in the Americas, the UK and Asia/Pacific as well as the global shared services organization. He also held senior HR leadership roles at Harcourt Education, Columbia House, and Accenture.
Michael has a B.S. degree in Education and Anthropology from the University of Arizona and an M.S. degree in Human Resources Management with a specialization in organizational design from the New School in New York. He is a frequent speaker at professional organizations such as the Human Resource Planning Society and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, HRO Magazine and other workforce management publications.