To give you an indication of the depth and quality of service we have to offer, in particular the lengths to which we go to solve interim recruitment needs for our clients, here are some recent case histories.
If you would like to discuss any of these projects further or ask about other examples of our work, please call Natalie Brown nb@barclaysimpson.com on 020 7936 2601.
Success story 1 – Interim Information Security Manager
When the Chief Information Security Officer for a FTSE 100 commercial group asked us to find an Interim Security Manager to drive forward a security implementation into its largest subsidiary, he recognised it was a challenging brief. The implementation was politically sensitive and the interim manager would be required to skilfully manage relationships with a wide group of stakeholders. Experience of managing a major security implementation in the private sector was essential and the role also involved mentoring and developing a member of staff to continue after the completion of the interim role. An additional problem was that the client was not in London, thereby cutting down the number of candidates who could commute there.
We promoted the opportunity on our website, on two major online job boards and in SC Magazine, all at no cost to the client. We then conducted a thorough analysis of candidates on our database, which led not only to a number of relevant CVs, but also to direct referrals from interim candidates who were tied up in other roles.
With a week, we were able to present four excellent candidates, all of whom had experience of a major security implementation and of mentoring security staff. The client interviewed all four and eventually chose a Head of Information Security from a major financial services firm who had recently taken redundancy and was looking for a position for six months whilst he secured a senior permanent role. He had a wealth of relevant experience and, during the course of his contract, he was also able to help develop group strategy and with several other areas not originally envisaged.
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Success story 2 – Interim Business Continuity Officer
The Head of Compliance at a niche financial services company wished to recruit a business continuity expert to perform a business impact analysis of continuity risks, document a business continuity plan and co-ordinate operational and tactical arrangements. Based on finding a candidate with excellent policy formation experience with regard to business continuity and with financial services experience, the client asked our advice on what kind of package was required. After collecting and reviewing the latest market information, we advised them on the budget required to attract the right calibre of candidate.
We then advertised the role on several specialist websites as well as on www.barclaysimpson.com. Within four days of taking the brief, we were able to submit six CVs, a mixture of new candidates and some already registered with us. Three were selected for interview, one of whom was considered ideal for the role and made an offer immediately.
The candidate’s acceptance came just 12 days after we were initially briefed and he started very shortly afterwards. This particular candidate had experience in 5 different financial services groups and had been focusing on business continuity planning and policy work in particular for several years. Having taken a year out for family reasons, the role was the perfect way back into work.
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Success story 3 – Interim Sarbanes-Oxley Team
One of our established clients, a specialist insurance company, needed to recruit a team to implement Sarbanes-Oxley. The team was to consist of one manager and three auditors to identify the key financial risks and then document the financial procedures in order to comply with the act. The contracts were to be for three months and all four contractors needed to have financial services internal audit experience. In addition, they required individuals to be either MIIA or CCAB qualified. A more significant complication was that the client company is based in a part of the country where the next nearest internal audit department of a commercial organisation is over 20 miles away.
Given our experience in corporate governance recruitment, we were given an exclusive brief to recruit these roles, to conduct the interviews on behalf of the client, to recommend the candidates to be chosen and to arrange for all the successful candidates to start work at the same time.
Accordingly, we advertised the vacancies on www.barclaysimpson.com, in the Internal Audit and Business Risk Journal and on a carefully selected recruitment jobsite. All of the adverts were run at no cost to our client.
Combining a mixture of candidates from our database and responses to the advertisements, we were able to identify and secure four ideal candidates, all of whom started work together, much to the satisfaction of our client.
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Success story 4 – Interim Head of Compliance
A major international commodities trading house that was seeking to appoint an Interim Head of Compliance to cover a 9 month period of maternity leave approached us under serious pressure to find a suitable interim manager, as its preferred recruitment suppliers had failed to find an appropriate candidate.
The brief was to find a senior compliance manager from a major investment-banking environment with experience of managing staff and introducing new regulatory directives, who could start work within two weeks.
The recruitment agencies that had originally been tasked with this role had already used the usual online advertising media, so we focused on our database to find a suitable candidate. Having recruited in corporate governance for 18 years, we have built up a vast database of compliance and risk professionals and, after undertaking a thorough search of our database, we identified three potential candidates. The client chose two to interview, one of whom was appointed immediately. The successful candidate was legally qualified, and had previously been the UK Head of Compliance for a major international investment bank, holding the CF10 post.
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Success story 5 – Interim Risk Director
A FTSE100 company briefed us to recruit an Interim Risk Director for a 12-month contract. It was a high profile role, reporting to the finance director of the shared service business. The risk director’s remit was very broad, but had two main objectives.
- To raise the profile of risk management within the business by increasing the size of the current risk team, improving their skills-sets and influencing senior operational managers to ‘buy into’ a risk aware culture.
- To identify and map all of the risks associated with the planned off-shoring of part of the client’s business.
Such a high profile role for such a top company required a candidate with exceptional skills and experience. The task of finding such an individual was made harder by the fact that Basel and Sarbanes-Oxley projects were in full swing at the time and competition for high calibre risk professionals was intense.
We advertised the vacancy in a number of dedicated recruitment media and on www.barclaysimpson.com. However, a comprehensive search enabled us to find the successful candidate on our database. This individual had been registered with Barclay Simpson for many years and had undertaken a number of previous contracts for us. As such, we were completely confident that he would do an excellent job and that the client would be very happy with the results achieved.
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Success story 6 – Interim Project Auditor
The Head of Audit at one of our long-standing clients needed to recruit a highly competent and influential Project Auditor on a contract basis. The organisation had commissioned the development of a unique bespoke computer system, from a leading software company, to handle millions of financial transactions. The transactions would affect many other companies, so this was a key project, which would involve the contractor travelling to a number of locations around the UK to ensure that correct controls were in place prior to the implementation of the system.
We were tasked with finding an internal auditor with both an accounting qualification and a specific computer / IT audit qualification, coupled with experience of working on similar sorts of projects. As the majority of internal auditors have either one or other qualification, insisting on both qualifications narrowed our target considerably.
We started by searching our database for candidates with both qualifications. The search brought up five potential candidates, of which two were selected for interview. Following the interviews, the client said they were confident that both candidates could have successfully undertaken the contract and had been impressed with the quality of all 5 CVs presented. They offered the position to the preferred candidate, who accepted. They have subsequently said how delighted they have been with the appointment.
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