The Brief
In light of a funding injection, a tech start up – focused on delivering solutions to encourage more sustainable practices across the food supply chain – was looking to create a new Consulting division. This division would be responsible for delivering on bespoke and one-off sustainability projects for their client base, as well as seeking out new opportunities (thus generating further revenue) to this end.
We were engaged by said client to help them find somebody to head up this new division. The brief was to find an experienced Sustainability Consultant with 10+ years’ experience, combined with leadership and commercial nouse. However, it was also paramount to identify somebody with their finger on the pulse from a technical perspective – in particular, somebody with a strong data analytics strand to their background.
Agri/Food sector exposure would also be a big bonus!
The Process
It was apparent that candidates at this level with the specific skills required were unlikely to be floating around on conventional job boards or in other easy-to-find areas. As a first step, we therefore set about making enquiries within our network – with our years of experience working in this domain, it was likely that relevant candidates could come from those that we’d had prior engagement with…
This yielded some options and helped us build a shortlist of candidates for interview… however the successful candidate came from our further search process, designed to tap into new pools of candidates that weren’t already in our circle. This derived from identifying other businesses engaged in sustainability related activities that were likely to have relevant people working for them, and then discretely approaching specific individuals within those pools.
Eventually we were able to land upon an individual who is highly experienced in this world and, whilst his current role wasn’t AgriFood related, he had worked in this sector in his earlier career. As a result he had a sound knowledge of the dynamics of the domain and, importantly, a genuine interest in working in this world again! Whilst initially only passively looking, the role was a solid fit for his career ambitions, along with the lure of working again in the AgriFood sector.
The Outcome
After expectations for each candidate had been laid out at the beginning of the process, a batch of interviews were conducted with the previously mentioned candidate ultimately being offered the position. The offer to acceptance process was straightforward, with the role turning out to be a very strong match in both directions and both parties happy.
A testimonial from the successful candidate:
“AgRecruit connected me to a fast-growing sustainability tech company that I am now working for in an exciting new role. I received a professional service throughout – I was kept informed and updated through the recruitment process, and AgRecruit offered unbiased advice and support throughout. Would highly recommend from a candidate’s point of view”
