THE CHALLENGE
Miramar partnered with a global FTSE250 specialty chemical business to recruit the new role of Group Head of Sustainability & ESG. The company has been making good progress with regards to sustainability and ESG initiatives, but they lack a dedicated leader at a corporate level to further develop the strategy and take ownership for leading group-wide sustainability opportunities and requirements.
Reporting to the Group Executive, this individual is responsible for working with all major functions globally to drive forward a broad range of sustainability and ESG initiatives. A major requirement of the role is to drive change and transformation, working through influence in a matrix organisation. To achieve this, we searched for individuals with the ability to drive change in a multi-faceted environment with a wide range of stakeholders and demands, each with their owns goals and priorities.
THE SOLUTION
Our research strategy included a broad range of manufacturing, material and process-intensive sectors across the UK and Europe. We targeted organisations with mature and tenured sustainability functions, considering that in some cases these mature environments are fragmented and siloed into very specific sustainability-related disciplines. We were in search of a well-rounded profile.
We engaged the market by talking to Chief Sustainability Officers and business unit-level sustainability talent. We also spoke with commercial leaders (General Managers, divisional Presidents, Marketing, R&D, Innovation and Supply Chain leaders) to understand who they had enjoyed working with and felt would be capable of building strong, credible relationships quickly.
THE RESULT
Our team mapped the UK and European sustainability leadership market, identifying over 200 potential candidate profiles whilst gathering data on how the sustainability function is structured within other manufacturing business.
The data and market insight gathered enabled us to advise the client throughout the process. Receiving real-time insight during the process was critical in providing confidence to the client’s decision making for this new role.
Our client met with a shortlist of six candidates delivered over a six week time period. All candidates possessed a proven track record in leading sustainability transformation within a corporate and matrix organisation. We identified and secured an executive from the chemicals industry with both sustainability leadership experience and an impressive previous career in Managing Director, Technology Director and Commercial Director roles in the UK, USA and Asia.
