Built four global functional leaders into a global maritime services group operating across commercial shipping, offshore and specialised maritime sectors, in 12 weeks.

The mandate

A global maritime services group operating across commercial shipping, offshore and specialised maritime sectors engaged us in 2023, as part of an ongoing phase of global expansion and operational optimisation. The brief was to strengthen leadership across both commercial and talent functions, with leaders capable of operating inside a truly global organisation, managing geographically dispersed teams while ensuring consistency in performance, safety and compliance across regions.

Four roles anchored the build: a Global Head of Talent Acquisition, a Global Head of Talent Management, a Regional Sales Director and a General Manager. The talent leadership roles required individuals capable of building scalable global frameworks; the commercial and operational roles demanded a strong balance between strategic oversight and hands-on execution at country and regional level.

The work sat squarely inside our maritime sector practice, leveraging deep industry network and an international research footprint to identify and attract leaders who could navigate this complexity and drive sustainable growth across the group’s global operations.

Our approach

The mandate ran across four phases.

01. Calibration

Two weeks. Joint calibration with the Group CEO and the relevant functional heads. Each of the four roles defined a distinct decision-rights envelope; calibration time was spent largely resolving how the new global functions would interface with operating regions.

02. Market mapping

Two weeks, four parallel maps across multiple time zones. The maritime services talent layer is unusually globally distributed; mapping ran across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.

03. Longlist research

Four weeks. International primary research with daily triage. The maritime-experience filter compressed the candidate pool meaningfully but produced a stronger qualified longlist than a generalist search would have surfaced.

04. Shortlist and assessment

Four weeks. Final-round assessment was sequenced by the Group CEO’s diary rather than search velocity. All four offers were signed by week twelve.

The other roles delivered

The talent market intelligence section below covers the Global Head of Talent Acquisition seat. The mandate also delivered three further appointments.

Global Head of Talent Management. Senior HR specialist hired to build a scalable global talent management framework across the group’s international fleet and onshore operations.

Regional Sales Director. Commercial leader hired to drive regional sales execution alongside the global commercial agenda.

General Manager. Operational leader placed into one of the group’s specialised maritime regions.

The outcome

Four offers were signed within twelve weeks of engagement. All four remain in seat at eighteen months. The hires have strengthened the group’s leadership capability at both global and regional levels, supporting the group’s continued focus on safety, performance and consistency across its international fleet and onshore operations.

The team

The mandate was led by the partner heading our Logistics and Transport practice, supported by two research directors (full-time across twelve weeks, working across time zones), a market analyst (full-time across six weeks) and a delivery PM (full-time throughout). Quarterly retention check-ins continue as part of our 24-month standing commitment.

Four roles across four time zones in twelve weeks. We had run global searches before; we had not had four close cleanly inside a single quarter. The discipline of the process is what made it work.