Sourcing an interim HR director for a global team

Interim HR Director

Professional Services

Our client is a thriving $100M Professional Services business unit with a global team of c500 staff. The business has a prestigious list of clients, including Apple, Walmart, Johnson & Johnson and Pirelli. The business stream has grown by acquisition and organically, with a growing presence in the United States, the UK & Ireland. In the strategic picture, the Professional Services business unit represents a central part of their growth strategy.

The challenge was to find a high calibre HR professional with the relevant experience but also flexible enough to sign up to a fixed term contract, for 12 months, whilst the business was going through enormous change. After this contract, a permanent appointment was planned.

Our successful candidate joined as a member of the HR Director’s Leadership Team operating under the Ulrich model, whilst also a member of the Senior Leadership team within Professional Services, providing support and guidance to two MDs of these businesses, in the US and UK. The 2 main specific priorities for the SHRBP are HR integration following a number of acquisitions and the successful implementation and embedding of Workday, a new Global HR system. The SHRBP will also play a lead role in realigning the HR offering within the Professional Services business.

The shortlist of five candidates, largely drawn from the East Coast were all highly capable HR professionals reflecting the needs of the Client but more significantly all candidates were bought into the fixed term aspect of the opportunity, something not prevalent at this senior level in the US market.