Executive Search for Cyient: Global Head of Mining Role

As an engineering and technology company, Cyient helps all kinds of industries, including the mining sector, apply technology to make their operations more efficient and reliable. It’s niche and technical work.

So when Cyient’s mining division needed a new executive as Global Head of Mining, they began to look at targeted search options that would source them a high-calibre candidate. This type of role requires someone who has a combination of skills at the executive level — mining operations experience, business networking, and high-level client management.

Here’s how they tackled the executive search process.

The challenge: Securing candidates with diverse skill sets

The Global Head of Mining role was a skilled and tricky role to place because it required someone with an unusual combination of operational leadership experience, business development, intrapersonal, and customer service skills. The ideal candidate needed to have:

• Senior mining operations management experience
• A desire to work in business development
• Client relationship management skills in a mining
• Extensive knowledge of the mining industry and sales components

“The Global Head of Mining role is a key senior leadership role in Cyient’s mining business,” says Nathan de Jong, APAC Regional Manager at Globe 24-7. “Without the role filled, a key high-level stakeholder relationship was missing. It’s the critical link between the client relationship and the business.”

But on top of the job’s fundamentals, the challenge for sourcing this role was convincing candidates to change from the comfort of operational mining management roles, into consulting environments that can be, at times, challenging.

As Nathan says, “Most candidates at this level feel more comfortable in standard operational roles… so to try to attract them out of those environments and put them into businesses like Cyient is always a big challenge.”

A collaborative approach

Cyient tried to fill the Global Head of Mining role internally. However, a position of this type needs time and focus to ensure the right candidate is secured. They wanted dedicated support to map the market and conduct a thorough executive search, leading their Australian head office team to approach us.

“We had regular discussions along the journey with our client so they could have confidence we were meeting their expectations. These were ongoing proactive discussions around who was available in the market, current salary expectations and feedback around Cyient and their opportunity,” explains Nathan.

“Our job is to bring the most suitable candidates to the table. We provide the client a map of the local candidate market, they can see our work, and then we work towards a suitable shortlist.”

Cyient wanted to find someone they could partner with that could help them fill the role. But more importantly, they wanted to collaborate with a local mining specialist with in-depth knowledge of the mining and consulting industry; once the managing director was comfortable, the partnership formed.

The recruitment process

Recruiting for this role was an extensive job. Globe’s Australian recruitment team approached over 80 people about the position. “With these senior-level roles, it’s imperative that you get them right. You need to follow a rigorous process,” states Nathan.

Attracting good candidates out of their existing mining management roles for a Global Head of Mining position is difficult in Australia. “We need to have a compelling opportunity for candidates,” says Nathan. This adds an extra layer to the recruitment challenge.

“We need to understand the skillset and background that the client requires,” says Nathan. “But we also consider other aspects including cultural fit, personality, the candidate’s prior work environment, history and experience.”

After the debrief, the recruitment process included:

• A market map of suitable candidates in the Australian market
• Approaching and headhunting
• Presenting and discussing the pool of candidates with Cyient
• Adjusting the search and selection, if required
• Creating a shortlist to send to Cyient so they could begin formal interviews

The outcome: A new Global Head of Mining is hired

After successfully reviewing the shortlisted candidates and conducting interviews, Cyient was able to find a great candidate for the role.

“They got the right result, and 6 months later, the candidate is doing an exceptional job and they are very happy with the result,” says Nathan.