To succeed in the Technology sector, an Organisation needs a Leadership team with experience, knowledge, and expertise in the industry.
Understanding this level of importance is why Innovex is an Executive Search Firm that specialises in finding Executive talent in the Technology industry. To support Organisations in finding the right Leadership team to focus on growth.
Innovex is known for its 97% success rate in the Technology sector, working for companies worldwide, including leading Cyber Security Firm Avast (now Gen) and Dutch Fintech pioneers Ohpen to deliver C-Suite and Executive level roles.
Keyloop is a leading global supplier of digital solutions within the Automotive industry. They use their platform to connect Retailers, OEMs, Partners, and Consumers to create a buying experience designed to increase customer service and dealer profits.
Keyloop needed a VP of Infrastructure and Cloud Operations to drive them through the following challenges:
- Bringing all 40 of Keyloop’s products onto the cloud.
- Professionalizing and growing the global team.
- Bridging the gap between the CTO and CIO functions.
Keyloop’s Global Head of Talent Acquisition was confident that partnering with Innovex would lead to a high-quality delivery.
Keyloop’s partnership with Innovex began, and their first search ended in a roaring success, with a shortlist presented within a two-week record timeline with the chosen candidate accepting an offer within five weeks of the search process starting.
Below, we have outlined the step-by-step process the Innovex team undertook to achieve a successful VP of Infrastructure and Cloud Operations search.
Step One: Understanding Keyloop.
To find a VP that would push the Keyloop team in the right direction, Innovex needed to know more about Keyloop and what the “right direction” meant.
Therefore, Jake, Innovex’s CEO and Founder, met with Keyloop’s CIO to understand Keyloop’s business model and their growth plans and from this meeting, he gained understanding of the following:
- Their mission.
- Their vision.
- Their purpose.
- Subsidiary brands.
- Supplier overview.
- Core insights including current challenges.
- Their approach to identifying innovative solutions.
- Each department structure and KPI overview.
Jake understood how the new VP needed to fit into the Business. He understood the values a successful Candidate would need to have, as well as the skills and experience required to deliver their growth plans. He implemented this into a Candidate brief.
This process is one of the many reasons the search was so successful. Jake always works closely with the Client to gain a deeper understanding of the business and become fully grained-and invested in ensuring the best outcome for the Client. This was also reflected when giving context on the business to Candidates, as a result, increased the level of engagement of Candidates in their search.
Step Two: Creating a Research Strategy
After the briefing was complete, the next step was to create a research strategy for his research team to identify the Candidate that met this brief via a fast but effective process.
The research strategy outlined the following:
- Background of Keyloop.
- Role overview.
- An example credible Candidate.
- Where to identify Candidates.
- Approach call brief with core questions attached.
This research strategy allowed the team to identify over 70 Candidates within one week from the initial briefing. Ready for the Delivery team to engage and interview.
Step Three: Creating the Interview Framework
After identifying Candidates that are relevant to the brief, the Delivery team undertook initial interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the following:
- Profile background.
- Industry expertise.
- Technical ability.
- Experience in maintaining and increasing growth.
- Size and scale of the organisations of their previous experience.
- The current geographic location of themselves and their teams.
- Leadership and management style.
- Core strengths and capabilities.
- Current compensation package.
The team created a shortlist of Candidates that exceeded expectations and were presented to Keyloop two weeks after beginning a search.
Step Four: The Final Interview Round
For the final interview round, Keyloop and Jake decided the best approach was to set up a meeting with the CEO.
This approach meant each Candidate could get a real insight into the businesses’ current form and future direction. In addition, the CEO could meet first-hand a prospective team member they will need to depend on to deliver their growth targets.
To ensure the CEO’s time was maximised and they could make a confident decision, Jake briefed each candidate before the interview round to ensure they had the knowledge of Keyloop’s operation and were confident in their preparation for the final round.
Step Five: Candidate Placement
After interviewing Candidates, there was one that exceeded the CEO and Hiring team’s expectations. As a result, Jeff Heathcote was placed as Keyloop’s new VP of Infrastructure and Cloud Operations, starting his position in October 2022.
Congratulations, Jeff. We know you will make a huge impact at Keyloop.
