An international chemical manufacturer reached out to us for their next strategic hire. This company is one of the world’s leading specialty chemical companies with over 60 subsidiaries in over 35 countries. The team sought to fill a crucial leadership position, a Head of Engineering in West Germany. This was a critical role with overall responsibility for the engineering function, including people and budget management for a team of up to 30 engineers. Having previously recruited two candidates successfully with the company, we had an established partnership and were entrusted with this search.

Challenge

The primary challenge was the mismatch between the budget and its responsibilities. The offered salary was more suited for a senior engineer rather than a team leader.

Another challenge was that the position had already been open for over a year. The region is highly competitive, with many large companies offering competitive, attractive packages and career opportunities. Convincing a potential candidate to leave a well-established, successful company, especially amid economic challenges like rising energy prices and industry instability, was difficult. Candidates were reluctant to take risks due to fears of redundancy.

 

process technology automation

 

Solution

We are well-established in hiring leadership talent across the industry, so we were able to successfully communicate with the company’s board to adjust the role requirements, aiming to target a very senior engineer looking to advance to a leadership position, thereby aligning with the company’s salary budget. Once this was approved, we quickly identified a pool of talented senior engineers who were within budget, presenting a shortlist of 8 CVs within just two weeks, however, after several interview rounds the hiring manager realised that existing management experience was crucial.

Hence, after another discussion with the hiring community in which we advised them to increase the budget, we successfully secured a change in team structure with more responsibility, allowing them to offer a higher salary. That enabled us to find candidates with leadership experience who fit within the budget.

“We successfully secured a change in team structure with more responsibility, allowing them to offer a higher salary.”

After another shortlist of 6 engineering leaders was presented, 3 moved to the final stage and we successfully hired an engineering leader with over 10 years of experience in the chemical industry, leading teams of up to 20 employees that possessed extensive project and maintenance expertise. Since starting the role, the candidate has expressed their complete satisfaction with the position.

Consistent communication, led by Christina, ensured that both parties were aligned throughout the process and proved successful when reaching out to candidates for this opportunity. For the company, this new hire brought essential leadership skills, fresh ideas, and the ability to manage both engineers and technicians. This has been pivotal in developing the site and supporting its growth. Having filled this critical role, the team are now better positioned to navigate the industry’s challenges and continue its trajectory of success.

 

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