Case Study - Chief Financial Officer

Our client was opening a new uranium facility in New Mexico and required a Chief Financial Officer who would be prepared to locate (with family) to the area; an area which was not surprisingly remote.  The successful candidate needed a strong finance background and experience of a related sector.  In addition there was also the need to comply with some rigorous US Defence requirements.  It was reorganised by all stakeholders that the profile requirement meant that the target population of potential candidates was going to be both limited and geographically spread.

Hoggett Bowers was one of two Search firms appointed. 

We were given all geographies outside the US.  Our shortlist generated 3 of the 4 candidates taken to final stage discussions.  These had been sourced from Europe, Middle East and Australia.  One of the final candidates we identified was not a US Citizen but was living in the US (albeit not in New Mexico).  On the basis he had not been identified through the US Search, we were allowed to include this individual on our shortlist.  Ultimately, he was the appointed candidate and has now been with the business for 5 years.

Case Study - Global Head

A business spanning physical and paper markets across power, gas, oil and renewables needed to recruit an experienced EWRM who could manage the risk profile of the multinational organisation and report to the board in a non-technical manner. 

This was a wide ranging international search spanning energy companies and trading organisations and the successful candidate was secured from a US energy organisation, on a package that included a base salary of $310,000.

Case Study - Interim General Manager

Our client was a global food company with significant operations throughout the United States.

This business was going through challenging times due to a global cost rationalisation programme and wider market pressures from low cost competitors in Asia. After the retirement of the previous GM, it made sense to bring in an Interim GM accustomed to leading people through transformation before a permanent hire was made for the business which would look very different. All candidates needed to have right-of-abode in the US, due to the urgent nature of the hire. The chosen candidate was secured on the Hoggett Bowers payroll on a daily rate of ca. $2,700/day plus completion bonus and was temporarily relocated within the US for the duration of the assignment. Handover after seven months was completed to the chosen internal candidate.

Case Study - Regional Technical Directors

The Regional President in the Americas, Europe and Middle East required a robust individual with a broad background covering projects and operations. With a remit to prioritise business issues across the region and to help find solutions for difficult situations, these were new positions which required candidates quickly to gain the confidence of the assets and Group Executive Committee alike.

Global searches were undertaken at the senior asset and general managerial levels. Successful candidates were sourced from the international energy majors, located in Nigeria and Russia, with base salaries ca..£200,000 (US$325,000).

Case Study - Interim Global Marketing Director

Our client was an FMCG Consumer Goods start-up as a stand-alone subsidiary of a global FMCG listed plc.

The parent business had big ambitions for this start-up and wanted it based in The Netherlands, away from the global HQ. In order to move fast, and gain first-mover advantage, the client decided to hire an interim Marketing Director to manage the launch rather than wait for the permanent person to start. The interim Global Marketing Director was sourced by Hoggett Bowers in the UK and relocated to the Netherlands for this vital first year of operation on a salary of £150,000 plus bonus.

Case Study - Global Head of Risk Management

An international trading business wanted to secure a senior risk professional with a 'blue chip' i-bank background, who could embed a 'fit-for purpose' risk-management system and ethos across a fast-growing global trading business spanning Asia, Europe and America.

A comprehensive search quickly concluded that leading-edge risk-management thinking and procedures was more developed and focused in the leading i-banks than in commodity trading organisations. This insight led to a high calibre individual’s being secured from a 'bulge bracket i-bank' on a significant package which includd a base of ca. £210,000.

Case Study - Global General Manager

Our client needed a Global General Manager with technical experience of all kinds of well engineering projects around the world, from onshore shale gas drilling to ultra deepwater. The role also required strong leadership, influencing and transformation skills, in order to take the company into the top quartile of the Rushmore Drilling (safety) Index.

A worldwide search sourced the successful candidate within a month, in Houston, and he relocated to Europe on a package with a base of ca. £220,000 (US$350,000).

Case Study - Head of European Wholesale Origination

Our client, a European power and gas company, created a new position because it needed a senior financial trading professional to manage its pan-European power, gas and cross-commodity trading team across the major European energy hubs.

A global search was performed across hedge funds and financial organisations and the successful candidate was sourced from a market-leading commodity trader, on a base salary of €300,000 and competitive bonus scheme. Following this recruitment, we helped build the team further with a number of lower-level gas and power commercial developers and originators across Europe, on base salaries ranging between €110,000 to €140,000.

Case Study - Finance Director

Our client is a global FTSE Group with 3 key operating streams. Its operation in Japan was significant but not performing in line with its other regions in the Far East.  An individual was required to work alongside the local Managing Director to drive business performance. Local knowledge and credibility was critical. Equally, the importance of reporting to the Head Office in the UK, in line with both the Group’s reporting requirements and with IFRS, was critical. 

A local search was complimented with a targeted search globally to identify individuals from organisations with operations in Japan. The successful candidate remained in the Tokyo office for 3 years before moving within the wider group.

Case Study - Director of Procurement

We were approached by a global Pharma company who required a Director of Procurement to be based in Singapore.

The original search had been conducted by a local firm based in Singapore and 20+ candidates had been assessed by the Client without success during the preceding 6 months.
We utilised one of our researchers who has a strong track record of Supply Chain and Procurement assignments but a particular expertise in the Far East. Five shortlist candidates were within 6 weeks. Two of these could have been offered the role.

The final candidate, a Singaporean, successfully progressed through all of the screening meetings including several video conference interviews and a visit to the UK for a day of final meetings, before being offered the role. 

Case Study - Interim Director Shared Service Centre

Our client was a private European firm providing multiple levels of further education and language teaching in multiple locations to students from around the world.

Due to the increasing numbers of students from Asia wanting to study in the West, our client decided to create a new SSC in the same time zone as the Asian Regional Sales Team to support the growing business there. An expert on setting up new SSCs on green field sites was sourced in The Netherlands and was relocated to Singapore on a contract for 12 months on a basic salary of ca. £260,000.

Case Study - VP Commercial

Our client, a global integrated gas major, with operations in 27 countries in 5 continents, was heavily focused on production in the Central Asian region. In order to gain maximum return on its investments in the region, our client needed a very strong commercially-oriented individual to position the company strongly for all current and future development projects being considered by governments there.

A global search resulted in sourcing an individual with the required background and local knowledge, who relocated to Kazakhstan on an expat package which included a base salary of ca. £150,000

Case Study - Interim Finance Director

Our client was a global FMCG company with operations in over 50 countries and significant operations throughout the Middle East headquartered in Dubai.

Due to its thorough succession planning, the business had identified a successful internal candidate to take on this role in the Middle East. When the time came, however, the chosen person was unable to relocate internationally in the required timeframe. The company had decided to relocate some finance operations currently serviced by one of its European offices, back into the region, meaning a significant project to map and transfer these finance processes into Dubai was required. Fluent French was also essential to the role. The successful candidate was sourced in Paris and relocated to Dubai for six months to complete the assignment on the Hoggett Bowers payroll at £1,200/day plus expenses.

Case Study - General Manager

This assignment was for a family-owned, Dubai-based conglomerate with investments in a wide range of industries. The owners’ ambition was to develop an upstream oil & gas business internationally. However, they recognised that they had insufficient knowledge of the sector and needed to recruit somebody with a strategic awareness and ability to take the first steps towards establishing and leading such a business.

The search focused on candidates able to bring domain knowledge of upstream oil & gas and communicate this successfully, in an entrepreneurial context, with stakeholders who were not familiar with the investment risk profile. The client wanted someone with experience of working in the Middle East, but not currently based there, to ensure the motives of the individual were purely business. The preferred candidate offered an unusual blend of commercial experience in a major IOC and a strong background running a family business.

Package equated to base of £150k tax free with incentive bonus opportunity.

Case Study - Managing Director

We undertook a search for a global contractor which was seeking a Managing Director for its business in the UAE; our client was seeking an experienced executive who had international experience, had led major projects and had been responsible for a business of over £500m.

This was a global search and the successful candidate came from European contractor where he had led a business of circa 1bn.

Case Study - Head of Infrastructure Projects

Working for a family-owned group expanding internationally, we successfully recruited an EVP-level individual with an international track record running infrastructure businesses, most recently in Australia. 

£250k base plus expat package.

Case Study - Chief Financial Officer

Our client is a multinational brand in IT services.  Its expansion in Central America was being delayed by a lack of leadership talent which understood both the local Mexican market and culture while also being familiar with the requirements of working for a multinational organisation. The client was keen to recruit an individual who was sufficiently internationally minded to move on to other locations within the group after succeeding in Mexico. 

The search focussed on US and UK multinationals with operations in Central America. The successful candidate had not previously worked outside of Mexico but had worked for a UK multinational.

Case Study - Engineering Manager

Our client was an international E&P business with a strategic stake in a new major offshore project in Brazil. Although the discovery of the offshore field was very high-profile and a game-changer for the client’s business, development of the project was to be led by the local national operator. Therefore the Engineering Manager’s role was mainly to be a vital influencer in the overall project. The brief, therefore, was to find someone with Brazilian experience and language skills and expertise in ultra-deep water project development, but who was not working for the local partner.

The successful candidate was an American national, already based in Brazil, who had a track record of success in comparable international projects and also had extensive South American experience working for both major clients and their contracting organisations.

£150k equivalent plus package.

Case Study - Manufacturing Director

The Australian subsidiary of a global food company

An HR Director we had worked with in UK was posted to Melbourne, Australia. He knew our expertise in the food industry, so when he needed to recruit a Manufacturing Director, he asked for our assistance.

This particular operation was suffering from a lack of skills to progress and grow the business and these skills were in short supply in the Australian market. This area of food production is more prevalent in the Northern hemisphere, hence our search being centred here. 

The Search was text book in terms of our approach. Despite discovering an aversion from candidates to relocate to Australia with about 75% of target candidates ruling themselves out due to children’s schooling and leaving aged parents behind, we appointed a candidate from Denmark at a salary level of Aus$250k.  

Case Study - Technical Director

Our client is a specialist meat production company and was having issues with one particular site. It became apparent that the appropriate skills could not be sourced locally, partly because of the influx of many UK trained Buyers and Technologists into Australia. We believed that the Technical candidates would come from the UK. Our search included target countries such as Canada, Denmark and the USA.

The successful candidate was relocated from the UK to Australia with their family. The appointment was hailed as a real success with tangible benefits throughout the factory and with the relationships with the customer base.

Case Study - Managing Director

Our client is a global pricing group with significant operations in West Africa. Its Nigerian business has been established for a number of years. With an additional mandate to recruit and develop local talent, the role required an experienced Managing Director with significant international experience. It also required someone whose family was equally internationally mobile and able to live comfortably in West Africa. 

A targeted search within multi-nationals with operations in West Africa was supplemented with a search focussed a multi-national fmcg organisations based in other challenging but emerging economies. The successful candidate (who had previous experience of West Africa) was, at the time of shortlisting, based in East Africa. Others in the shortlist had experience of Central America, South America and the Far East.

Case Study - Equity Partner

Our client was a specialist Risk and Finance Strategy firm operating in the Financial Services sector internationally.
 
Due to exceptional growth in South Africa and the wider Africa region, we were commissioned to find a Partner who could lead further expansion and develop new propositions across Financial Services which were closely aligned to their core offering in Risk Management and Finance.
 
We focused on their key competitors in South Africa i.e. Big 4 Consultancies and top global strategy firms, and we concluded the search over an 8 week period, from initial instruction to candidate acceptance.

Case Study - Commercial Lead

This was an extensive search of all the oil & gas operators active in Central and West Africa to find candidates with the appropriate commercial skills and background, able to take up a position in Gabon and then relocate back to their London head office after about one year.

£135k plus package and expat benefits.