James Sainsbury

Managing Director

James joined Criteria way back in 2000, but soon made himself indispensable and now leads the company as Managing Director.

While his years of experience have made recruitment second nature to him, whether that is sourcing FMCG participants with barely a few days' notice or scouring the internet to locate niche targets with an online presence (be they very specific business targets, journalists, policy makers, or even seafarers), James' main day-to-day focus is ensuring the smooth running of the company. He continually adapts and develops Criteria's field management systems, striving to make the recruitment process as effective and efficient as possible, while also leading on client relationship management and compliance.

James cites his IQCS Quality Ambassador award as one of his proudest achievements and has taken part in a number of industry events over the years for the MRS and AQR around fieldwork. This includes combining his love of technological developments and high-quality recruitment to deliver RAS training on social media use in 2021.

James was part of the AQR Committee between 2008 and 2010, contributing to a field panel discussing the issues affecting the industry at that time, and more recently joined as a panellist at the AQR Field & Ops Conference (2025).

James has a first-class honours degree in cultural studies which, not showing his age, he maintains is a degree one would have completed before tuition fees. He later put it to good use while working as a professional melon tester immediately after graduation.

When he is not devoting himself to Criteria, James is an (occasionally) enthusiastic runner and evangelical cyclist, that is when he is not being terrorised by his four young children.