THE CLIENT
Leading Beverages Company
THE FUNCTION
Technology
CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY HIRES FOR A LEADING BEVERAGES COMPANY
The Brief
A well-established beverages business embarked on a full technical and digital transformation, a programme that required capabilities the organisation did not hold internally.
Five distinct positions sat at the centre of the challenge: data specialists, systems leads, cybersecurity and governance, architecture, and a head of supply chain technology. Each role demanded a rare combination of niche systems expertise, genuine industry experience and, given the operational realities of the business, a workable location.
The client set a demanding condition alongside these requirements: every hire needed to land within the timescale of its corresponding project milestone, which meant recruitment could not simply run in parallel to the transformation programme; it had to move at the same pace as it.
CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY HIRES FOR A LEADING BEVERAGES COMPANY
The Approach
Work began not with a job specification but with a conversation. Sitting down with the CTO and the Head of Programs, MacGregor Black mapped the transformation roadmap itself before mapping any candidate against it, ensuring that every recruitment decision was tied to where the business was actually heading rather than to a static list of requirements.
That grounding shaped the sourcing strategy directly: rather than casting broadly, the search targeted FMCG organisations known to have already undergone comparable transformation programmes, on the basis that candidates who had lived through this exact type of change would understand its demands in a way a conventional technology hire never could.
Shortlisting was held against a firm set of non-negotiables, systems knowledge, industry expertise, locality and personality fit, with no flexibility on any one of them in exchange for strength in another. Budget did emerge as a constraint partway through the process, requiring a direct conversation with the client to realign expectations rather than quietly lowering the bar on candidate quality.
Throughout, the client received weekly updates covering market conditions, outreach activity and candidate progress, keeping the process transparent even where it had to adapt. A well-established beverages business embarked on a full technical and digital transformation, a programme that required capabilities the organisation did not hold internally. A well-established beverages business embarked on a full technical and digital transformation, a programme that required capabilities the organisation did not hold internally.
CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY HIRES FOR A LEADING BEVERAGES COMPANY
The Result
Eighteen candidates were presented, and five were hired, a ratio that reflects how exacting several of the roles were; certain positions carried only one viable candidate for one hire, with no compromise made to fill a seat faster. Every candidate placed came from directly relevant industry backgrounds and was positioned to contribute from day one, both technically and from a business perspective.
The cybersecurity role was closed within seven days from start to finish, and every other position was completed within the timeframe the transformation programme required. The client’s feedback centred on the honesty of the market picture provided and the consistent calibre of candidates put forward, including those who were not ultimately hired, rather than a volume of loosely relevant CVs.
Beyond the hires themselves, the client received full market mapping and salary insight for a type of project it had never undertaken before, insight without which the transformation could not have been approached with any real confidence. Since completion, the business has moved to new systems and streamlined internal processes, strengthened its relationships with supply chain partners and suppliers, and seen tangible gains in productivity.
MacGregor Black continues to work with the client on further roles and across other functions of the business. Work began not with a job specification but with a conversation. Sitting down with the CTO and the Head of Programs and meeting on site to do so, MacGregor Black mapped the transformation roadmap itself before mapping any candidate against it, ensuring that every recruitment decision was tied to where the business was actually heading rather than to a static list of requirements.
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