A complex APAC leadership role, vacant for over a year, filled with an accepted offer just 42 days from briefing.
A year-long vacancy in a complex market.
Following a restructure within the APAC region, Wolverine had a critical and long-outstanding requirement for a Senior Director to lead the Saucony brand across the full APAC market.
It was a highly complex market, with multiple distributors as well as a joint venture in China. The successful candidate needed experience driving a third-party business, a real understanding of the nuances across different countries, and footwear and sports category knowledge. The role could be based in either Hong Kong or Shanghai.
Before we were assigned the search, Wolverine had tried to source candidates directly and through other search firms without success. The role had been vacant for over a year.
Three routes to the right leader.
Alongside a detailed briefing with the hiring manager and several key stakeholders, we spent significant time understanding why previous attempts had failed, and how the search needed to pivot in order to succeed.
Our approach ran on three levels: a comprehensive map of target candidates from an agreed list of sports and footwear brands across APAC; globally based candidates with strong prior APAC experience or links to the market who might relocate to Hong Kong or Shanghai; and a referral and recommendation strategy drawing on our extensive regional network.
That combined map produced a thought-provoking shortlist within 14 days of briefing.
Filled in 42 days, then trusted again.
The successful candidate accepted the role 42 days from initial briefing. Given how long the position had sat vacant, the global and territory leadership and hiring teams were delighted.
We have since been asked to conduct a similar search for another of Wolverine's brands in the territory.
Facing a similar brief?
Hard-to-fill leadership roles in complex international markets are where our search methodology does its best work.