CTO Seeks High-Tech Logic Board Maker for Team Rebuild

The Challenge

For the CTO the focus was on high tech experience and academic excellence. The field was so narrow that the CTO had to be as technically credible as the founder of the firm and then also be business savvy.

The Approach

High touch recruiting and a private almost secretive nature to the process
Discretion was crucial to the search due to the small number of potential candidates. We also worked directly with the client on interviewing skills to be sure the focus was not only technical. We followed a personal referral networking approach to be sure we had effective access to the true leaders in the field. We also did this through private equity channels to make sure we had the business component properly balanced.

Technology, Chemicals and the Business
The circuit board technology was based on specialty chemicals and material science; so the right candidate had to have both areas covered. But, the real issue was the candidate’s ability to think this through to the business operations level. This was part of a teaming effort to move the current founder into a more effective commercial mindset.

Team interview facilitation skills
We worked with the client and the candidates to be sure the interviews were structured to avoid false negatives. There was a tendency on the parts of some of the management team to focus too narrowly on academic minutia and not on the longer term business needs.

The Magellan Difference

• Developed a very personalized and discrete recruiting process to attract the best candidates and make them feel appropriately respected.
• Used indepth one page backgrounder to level the playing field on the cultural and business side of the selection process.
• Provided on-boarding and integration services beyond the search to ensure a long term fit.

The Results

Four qualified candidates
Despite the narrow nature of the search requirements the team was able to identify four viable candidates for the client to take all the way through the hiring process. To ensure proper focus on both quantitative and qualitative skills we developed a one page back grounder to use with each candidate that contained our interview notes around behavioral attributes required for success in the role – beyond technical expertise. This proved crucial to completing the search.

CTO on-boarding
By setting up regular monthly meetings with both the CTO and team we were able to ensure a smooth transition. We worked with both sides to achieve the right level of group harmony.