At Whitewater Recruitment, our superyacht recruitment team brings decades of experience in placing top-tier talent across the marine industry.
Maria - Co-Founder & Estate, Hospitality & Lifestyle Consultant
+44 7579 090 844
Maria is the Co-Founder of Whitewater Recruitment and supports recruitment across estates, hospitality, yachting and premium operational environments. With a strong background in hospitality, wellbeing, business operations and client-facing industries, she brings a relationship-led and people-focused approach to recruitment, with a clear understanding of service standards, professionalism and guest experience.
Before establishing Whitewater Recruitment, Maria built a career across business management, education and corporate operations, including roles within the Ministry of Defence and KPMG, alongside many years working directly with clients within hospitality, health, beauty and service-led environments. These experiences continue to shape her approach today, with a strong focus on communication, adaptability, discretion and long-term relationships.
Maria works across household and lifestyle support, hospitality and guest services, estate operations and shoreside recruitment, supporting placements within private estates, luxury hospitality environments, yachts and premium service businesses. Her background allows her to recognise the qualities that matter most in client-facing and operational roles, including professionalism, warmth, attention to detail and the ability to work seamlessly within high-standard environments.
She believes successful recruitment goes far beyond matching experience on paper. For Maria, the best placements happen through understanding people, working environments and the culture of a business, creating long-term matches built on trust, compatibility and service excellence.
Nick - Co-Founder & Engineering Consultant
+44 7579 090 845
Nick is a former Chief Engineer with over 20 years of seagoing experience. He studied at Warsash and South Shields and holds a Chief Engineer Unlimited CoC. After starting his career in the commercial sector, he moved into yachting in 2017 as Second Engineer on the 82m M/Y Sarafsa, later serving as Chief Engineer on several yachts where he led teams, managed budgets, and delivered reliable planned maintenance.
After stepping ashore to start a family, Nick turned his focus to helping yachts build strong, dependable engineering departments. He’s authored books to support engineers through their exams, coaches candidates preparing for tickets, and gives school talks to inspire future seafarers.
With a deep respect for the engineering department and first-hand knowledge of life at sea, Nick looks after engineers with genuine care—offering honest guidance, ongoing support, and post-placement check-ins. Calm, dependable, and highly professional, he brings the insight of a seasoned seafarer to every placement, recommending only the kind of people he’d have been proud to work alongside himself.
Taryn - Interior Consultant
+44 7832 016 594
Taryn holds a degree in Hospitality and Event Management and began her career working within Relais & Châteaux properties before seeking a more adventurous chapter and joining the yachting industry in 2014. Her hospitality background allowed her to progress through the interior department, and she spent the majority of her 10+ years on board in a Chief Stewardess role, travelling worldwide and developing an exceptional understanding of interior standards across a range of yachting environments.
After deciding the time was right for a more stable life ashore, Taryn moved into recruitment. A natural step for someone with such clear, first-hand insight into what great interior crew looks like in practice. Now part of the Whitewater team, she takes a personalised approach to every placement, ensuring candidates are matched not just on experience, but on suitability and fit for the yacht and its team.
Taryn brings a calm, professional manner and a genuine warmth to her relationships with both clients and crew, believing that trust and honest communication are at the heart of every successful placement.
James - Deck Consultant
+44 7832 046 148
James is a former Captain with 23 years of hands-on experience in the yachting industry and brings an exceptional depth of knowledge that gives him a real understanding of the roles he recruits for. Starting as a Deckhand and working his way through the ranks to Bosun, 2nd Officer, Chief Officer and ultimately Captain, he has firsthand insight into the realities, expectations and demands of every level within the Deck Department. His career includes 8 years serving as Captain on yachts from 30m – 55m, giving him a comprehensive understanding of building and leading teams, managing the daily challenges of life on board and what both crew and employers are truly looking for.
After transitioning ashore, James’ focus is very much on recruitment. He also provides separate yacht crew mentoring support, which gives him additional insight into career development and the challenges crew can face as they progress through the industry. It’s something that naturally adds to his understanding of candidates, their goals, and the decisions they face at different stages of their careers. This brings an extra layer of perspective to the recruitment process without ever taking the focus away from delivering the right placement for clients
James combines a highly professional approach with a genuinely personal understanding of the people behind each CV. Having built, led and managed teams throughout his command career, he knows that great recruitment is not just about matching qualifications to a job description – but it’s about finding the right fit for both the yacht and the individual so that the team can thrive. His experience from both operational and leadership perspectives allows him to assess candidates with clarity and confidence, while offering clients a recruitment service built on industry credibility, honesty and insight
Caroline - Admin Clerk
Caroline supports Whitewater Recruitment in an administrative and back-office capacity, helping to keep everything organised and running smoothly behind the scenes. Her support across day-to-day operations and internal processes plays an important part in the efficient delivery of our service.