Chief Marketing Officer, based USA
More than 50% of the senior roles we headhunt into are confidential ones, either because our client is doing something new like entering a new market but more often than not replacing an incumbent job holder!
Our client a European owned SaaS vendor needed to replace their US Head of Marketing, who had skills in the wrong areas to those that mattered most, and in replacing this person, sought to simultaneously upgrade the role.
The candidate pool needed to be identified, developed and qualified without the incumbent being made aware that he/or she was to be replaced.
The briefing was undertaken
Candidate profile, search criteria and positioning agreed
People were identified and reached out to, whilst not divulging company name nor inferring identity
Those interested in principle and qualified at a high-level, signed non-disclosure agreements
Candidates, attended two stage interview processes with us, we then submitted comprehensive candidate reports to our client
They then interviewed candidates for themselves
Six candidates attended first interview with the client, three second interview and two went to a finalist stage, of which one was ultimately offered, accepted and took up the position.
The project was commenced c. December tenth, and a shortlist of seven submitted in the third week of January i.e. inside 4-5 weeks which is pretty fast when you've got Christmas and New Year holidays and resultant delays, from which a successful hire was ultimately made.