Client: a boutique PE technology advisory firm, London-headquartered, building its US team.
The brief
A VP to lead ERP-centred carve-outs for private equity sponsors in the US. The specification was unusually tight: an MBB consulting background, plus real years of hands-on ERP delivery underneath it. Strategy consultants without delivery were out. Systems integrators without consulting craft were out.
What we did
We mapped the market across the United States, Canada and Mexico rather than restricting the search to a single city, since the role is remote-first. The strict combination of MBB and delivery narrowed a large population to eight genuinely suitable profiles across North America.
What we found
Five of the eight sat above the client’s budget. That was the real finding of the search, and we fed it back rather than presenting a shortlist that could never close. It changed the conversation from who is available to what this profile actually costs in the US market, which is the conversation worth having before interviews start, not after.
The outcome
An offer was made to one of the remaining candidates, at a package agreed after that market feedback, six weeks from instruction.