Headhunting a CFO for a leading Manufacturer of Liquid Chemical, Gases and Oil products

Following a friendly takeover, the new management team required a CFO to put in place a new operating structure.

Assignment Overview

Extensive changes were afoot when we met with the client due to their recent takeover of the business. 

They needed a new Chief Financial Officer to manage the entire finance function of the acquired company. In total there were four operating sites across the UK and the incoming CFO would be involved in setting up the new operating structure of the business in conjunction with the new shareholders.

This was an exceptionally successful company with a very strong track record and a great reputation.

Calibre of Candidate

The incoming CFO was expected to be able to take a leading role in the whole business management structure as part of the senior team and would be required to  match the culture and vision of the business, where health and safety, quality and sustainability are paramount.

This was a challenging role with huge amounts of autonomy, so the right person needed to be an experienced finance pro with a sterling track record.

Our client laid out an almost blank canvas for their new CFO to map a business unit on to; the role would be responsible for building internal treasury, tax and company secretarial functions that hadn’t existed prior to the takeover.

Our Search Process

Our client’s culture was very positive, collaborative and responsible which had proven to be the perfect formula for success so we knew this was of paramount importance as part of our search process. 

As always, only the very best candidate would do, and for this particular headhunt, we focused our resources on the very best Chief Financial Officers and Finance Directors with proven success in facilitating big business mergers and joint ventures. We also concentrated on individuals with demonstrable experience in domestic and international business environments with all of the necessary qualifications and gravitas.

Whilst our initial search targeted those individuals within the client’s existing manufacturing sector, we also widened our search and deployed our resources over a number of additional sectors, focussing on the key transferrable skills required for this role.

We also employed rigorous cultural and psychometric profiling for all candidates who made it to interview stage, ensuring they would be a good fit with the organisation. 

Appointing the best possible candidate

After an exhaustive search, the successful candidate was an exceptional prospect and had also been approached by several other companies about opportunities. We worked closely with them to understand their motivations and career aspirations though, so were able to convince them of the benefits of choosing our client as their next employer.

They were a highly qualified financial leader, experienced in managing teams through various projects from M&A and integration assignments to the day-to-day financial running of a business.

They came with extensive experience working within engineering and energy industries and was an expert when it came to working in safety conscious environments.