This organisation is a high profile global not-for-profit consultancy who work with governments in low and middle income countries to strengthen their education systems.
When they approached us, the Chief Executive Officer was leading the organisation through a period of structured change and needed an experienced Chief Operating Officer to lead both ‘business as usual’ across all aspects of their operations – including finance, HR, internal comms and governance – whilst also taking the lead in driving the wider organisational and people transformation agenda, ensuring it dove-tailed with their new three-year strategy and business plan.
A ‘lynchpin’ role, they were looking for someone who could work collaboratively with the Chief Executive Officer, SMT and key stakeholders, ensuring the smooth delivery of objectives across the organisation, whilst providing stability and clarity through change.
In seeking the right interim candidate, we were looking for someone with demonstrable experience of working at Chief Operating Officer/Chief Executive Officer level, with a proven track record in leading change. Able to establish credibility and trust quickly, this person would need strong ambassadorial and networking/relationship building skills and be able to be responsive and resilient to the changing needs of staff and the organisation.
The candidate placed is an experienced C-Suite leader, having just completed a 12-year tenure as Chief Executive Officer of a national charity, where they led the organisation through significant transformation, growth and innovation, as well as previous experienced of working in a global context.
With an entrepreneurial approach and clear passion for helping organisations develop, they brought a genuine depth of knowledge and a broad based skillset to the role, giving them the ability to respond flexibly and agilely to challenges.