Lydia Shepherd

Lydia Shepherd is a Partner in Riviera Partners' EMEA Practice, where she brings nearly 15 years of experience in executive search and deep expertise in building high-impact product and technology teams across Europe. Her career spans VC-backed scale-ups, growth equity investments, private equity portfolio companies, and public businesses, often in moments of significant transformation including M&A, pre- and post-IPO growth, and post-acquisition integration.

In her EMEA role at Riviera, Shepherd partners closely with founders, boards, and investors to place world-class executives and technology leaders in board and advisory roles, supporting portfolio companies in scaling responsibly and competitively. The firm's focus spans engineering, product, AI, and cybersecurity roles in tech-driven companies.

Career History

• Partner, EMEA Practice at Riviera Partners (joined May 2025)
• Director at The Up Group, leading the Product, Technology & AI Practice and advising across the venture and private equity ecosystem
• Technology and transformation mandates leader at Norman Broadbent
• European arm builder at Candela Search
• Investment banking analyst at Citigroup

Shepherd's career began in investment banking, where she developed a strong foundation in business strategy and market dynamics, before transitioning into executive search, where she has led leadership mandates for companies at varying stages and sizes.

Beyond her recruitment focus, Shepherd is deeply passionate about elevating underrepresented voices in tech leadership through mentoring, advising clients on more inclusive hiring strategies, and helping build processes that surface talent equitably.

What Lydia Shepherd could bring to her EMEA Partner role at Riviera Partners: Drawing on her 15 years navigating complex talent placements across Europe's venture and private equity ecosystem, Shepherd is positioned to expand Riviera's EMEA leadership search capabilities while embedding inclusive hiring practices into the firm's methodology. Her multi-stage company experience and demonstrated commitment to diversity and organizational design suggest she will advance the firm's ability to place engineering, product, and AI leaders while building more representative technology leadership pipelines across Europe.