Candela was retained to identify a VP IT and Global Head of Enterprise Data + Analytics reporting directly to the SVP + CIO. The role was newly created and would be charged with the responsibility of transforming the company’s enterprise data technology environment.The successful candidate would have strong technical domain experience, the ability to articulate strategic technology vision and be well-informed of the current industry technology landscape. S/he needed to be able to influence and shape both short term and future state technology architecture and roadmaps through strong business acumen and leadership capabilities.
We began the search by focusing primarily on businesses of relevant scale and complexity while also targeting companies within industries known for having sophisticated data and analytics capabilities, such as technology, finance and retail. The research was then broadened to include other industries as the search progresses over the coming weeks. Speed was key with this search as there was a talented team underneath this leader, and the CIO did not want them to wait for a long time without direction.
We executed this search in less than two and a half months, despite significant legacy from past recruiting efforts by other firms and internal talent acquisition. The shortlist was delivered within five weeks and was made up of candidates from leading data focused companies and environments, such as American Express,Bank of America, PayPal, Uber and Wells Fargo. The shortlist was 80% diverse with three female and two BAME candidates. In the end, we placed a top female executive from the financial services world.
We were retained by the Group CFO of a leading, global, sports and footwear brand based on the West coast to help the company assemble a world-class data and analytics function. This organization is a pioneer in wearable fashion, but as they evolve their offering to focus more on direct selling and ecommerce in parallel with their traditional channel partners, they are keen to add further data and analytics driven capabilities to sharpen their customer experiences and journeys. We were tasked with recruiting their SVP + ChiefData Officer followed by two further VPs to oversee business analytics and data engineering respectively.
To deliver these critical hires in the right order, we scoped this project in a staggered fashion starting with the SVP & CDO search initially and the other twoVP roles four weeks later. Given this organizations vast manufacturing, supply chain and wholesale retail onus, they were open to candidates from a wide variety of comparable industries. There was, however, a heightened interest in leaders from retail, ecommerce, and digitally disruptive companies even if they lacked their traditionally sought supply chain and manufacturing knowledge.
Our project was delivered end-to-end within three months from start to finish. The SVP and CDO assignment took us around the world in search of a game changing leader to spearhead their data and analytics. In the end, having met a diverse shortlist of six from leading companies such as Amazon, eBay, Expedia, P&G and Walmart, our partner opted to recruit their leader from a top global hotel and hospitality group pioneering loyalty analytics, and personalization. The additional two VPs hired to complete the rest of this leadership team were recruited from the world’s top theme park and media group and a leading clothing brand.
Under the direction of the CEO, this global pharmaceutical company began a major digital transformation with data and analytics at the heart of it. The successful candidate in this search would radically transform the way the company’s commercial leaders use data to expedite and improve the accuracy of fundamental decision making. This leader needed to have clear and practical views on the potential for data in a modern pharmaceutical and healthcare related industry. While the commercial data is structured, the challenge would be to apply the data in meaningful ways to offer a competitive advantage.
We placed much of our initial focus on finding commercial data leaders in the pharmaceutical and healthcare spaces. While these candidates would have the natural advantage of industry experience, the sector itself is considered somewhat behind in commercial data. As such, our client was open to meeting candidates in the CPG, telecoms, media, and retail spaces, where commercial data has carried more importance for longer period of time. Diversity was also a strong principle in this company. Hence, the client wanted to see a 50:50 split in the gender of the shortlist.
As the search progressed, the hiring manager became more interested in seeing candidates from outside pharma who could bring in outside strategies and perspectives. In the end, our final three candidates all came from outside pharma. They were from Media, CPGand financial services. Our three finalists were all female and two with BAME candidates. The hiring manager chose to recruit a candidate from the media industry. She has gone on to became very successful in the organization and Candela has now also hired her number two, another female placement.
