Our People

The best leaders create leaders around them.  This is our philosophy and the reason why Design Group boasts an exceptional team of over 100 talented people coast to coast.  Several individuals have built their career with Design Group with experience spanning decades.  The unsurpassed depth of knowledge within our management team is shared everyday with recruitment and support staff alike.  This has led to platinum status as One of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies.

Meet our Management Team:

Dianne King, President

Dianne King provides direction and strategic support to the Design Group Management team and serves on the Executive Committee for Design Group Staffing Inc.  Hands-on and creative, she is the master of figuring out new things.  Colleagues and business partners turn to her to help solve complex situations, from human resources to business operations and recruitment campaigns.  Her experience spans over 30 years and includes the opening and growing of sales operations into highly profitable, service-oriented businesses.  She is a seasoned speaker and engaging presenter who is active in the development and mentoring of staff, and the education of clients and industry leaders on important issues in staffing.

David Shea (Edmonton)

David Shea is Vice-President and General Manager of the Edmonton office - the flagship branch of Design Group and the head office of Design Group Staffing Inc.  David's career began as an Instrumentation Engineer in the United Kingdom.  He is a 35 year specialist in the employment services industry with an accomplished track record in the oil sands business across Western Canada.  He has long-established close and trusted relationships with his clients for whom he staffs large multimillion dollar contracts.  Before joining Design Group in 1998, his quality service was appreciated by companies in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

Guy Christian (Oakville)

Guy Christian is Vice President & General Manager of the Oakville office operations and provides business development leadership for the Eastern region.  He also serves as a member of Design Group Staffing's executive team.   With over 30 years experience within the employment services industry in the UK, Europe, and North America, Guy has extensive connections and the ability to facilitate both local and international recruiting.  Since joining Design Group in 1996, his personable manner and innovative leadership style have resulted in the successful staffing of thousands of permanent and contract positions.

Matthew Williams (Calgary)

Matthew Williams is Vice President & General Manager of the Calgary office in addition to serving as a member of the executive team of Design Group Staffing Inc.  With 25 years experience in the staffing industry and as an active member of the community, Matthew has orchestrated highly innovative and successful recruitment campaigns to meet the explosive staffing demand in the Calgary market.  As a Certified Executive Coach, he has developed extraordinary client relationships and created unique infrastructures that has resulted in his leading one of the largest and fastest growing branches within the company. 

Laura Pratt (Oakville & Markham)

Laura Pratt leads the Permanent Placement team in Oakville and manages the growth of the Markham office.  She joined Design Group with 13 years experience working in the employment services industry opening and growing offices across Canada.  She has an intense passion for both people and business staying busy with internal hiring, training, and supporting account managers. Working externally, she participates in client meetings as required helping to develop recruitment strategies that meet the unique permanent placement staffing needs of clients throughout the region.

Kirsten Quarman (Edmonton, Calgary & Vancouver)

Kirsten Quarman manages teams of people in the Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver permanent placement groups specializing in Engineering, Construction, Property & Facility Management, Mining, Health & Safety, and Environmental.  Hands-on and pro-active, Kirsten possesses expertise in managing and growing grass-root teams.   Keeping her fingers on the pulse of business and a watchful eye on emerging markets, she provides direction in the area of skill marketing and account development to the benefit of clients and candidates alike. Kirsten joined Design Group after 20 years recruitment experience across the globe placing candidates in a variety of specialist industries in the UK, Europe, USA, UAE, Bermuda, Australia, and Canada. 

Kristina Morse (Vancouver)

Kristina Morse is the Branch Manager of the Vancouver operations.  Armed with entrepreneurial spirit and a reputation for working with integrity and consistently delivering results, she is busy growing and mentoring a team of primarily permanent placement staff.  Prior to joining Design Group, Kristina founded an executive search company focused on recruiting strategic personnel for engineering, construction and real estate development clients.  This coupled with her experience working as a Business Development and Marketing Director within the Engineering industry makes her exceptionally capable of delivering the desired results clients have come to rely on. Kristina is active in the professional community, sitting on the Executive Committee for the Urban Land Institute, BC District Council and she is Vice-President of Canadian Construction Women.