After graduating with a history degree, Sarah commenced her career in retail HR with Marks and Spencer PLC. During her twelve years there she undertook a mixture of high-level operational and strategic HR policy roles.
Following a secondment scrutiny from M&S she moved into general management when she was invited to join the staff at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) as Deputy Chief Executive. This appointment marked the beginning of seventeen years in the health and charity sector, fourteen of which as a CEO.
After three years at the RCP she took the role of Chief Executive at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) for eight years. In 2002 she was appointed Chief Executive and Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council for six years. Sarah moved formally into Search as the Head of the Not-for-Profit practice: Gundersen Partners (formerly Bucher Rugman) at the beginning of 2009. Following the decision of Gundersen Partners to withdraw from the UK and Europe, she set up Thewlis Graham Associates in 2010 with Robert Graham, one of the original team of Bucher Rugman.
Sarah is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. She is a member of the Worshipful Company of Needlemakers. Sarah has a Masters in Medical Law and Ethics. She holds and has held a number of Non-Executive and Public Appointment positions including: Chair of a cancer support charity and Vice Chair of an Independent School. Also Vice Chair of Phoenix Futures; a national charity providing programmes to reduce the impact of drug and alcohol-related harm.