The profile was rare, the timeline was tight – and we delivered in just eight weeks.
The problem
Deep banking and payments expertise is not uncommon. Neither is consulting pedigree. But the combination of someone who could originate and grow senior client relationships, shape a practice, and lead large-scale enterprise transformation is a unique skillset.
The internal team had already taken a candidate to the final interview stage, which had reduced the perceived longlist before we began. But we wanted to rethink the search.
The solution
We ran a research-led search across Tier-1 consulting firms, major UK banks, Fintechs, payments businesses and global technology firms with financial services transformation practices.
Our assessment focused on what the role actually demanded: transformation delivery, commercial impact, leadership style and cultural alignment. Within four weeks, we’d produced a diverse shortlist of five people that balanced across consulting and industry backgrounds.
The outcome
Following structured interviews and capability assessments, the client appointed their preferred candidate and closed the search within eight weeks of launch.
The impact
A specialist brief, a thin market, and a short runway. With eight weeks from search to appointment, with no compromise on quality, we showed what our experience and precise process can deliver for global organisations, giving them the confidence to act quickly.
Post-placement integration
Making the transition into a Big 4 partnership is rarely straightforward, even for those who look like a natural fit on paper. The appointed candidate brought deep domain expertise and a strong track record of delivery – but they had built that reputation in environments where directness was valued, decisions were made quickly, and communication tended to be functional and output-focused. Partnership culture operates differently. At this level, how you say something carries as much weight as what you say. Relationships are long, institutional memory runs deep, and the ability to bring senior stakeholders on a journey, rather than presenting them with a conclusion, is often the difference between an idea that lands and one that quietly stalls.
What made this transition particularly complex was that the individual themselves did not initially recognise communication style as the friction point. Performance felt strong, effort was undeniable, but early traction with certain senior leaders was harder to build than expected. Our work in those first months involved careful and candid coaching, helping the individual see the gap not as a criticism of how they had always operated, but as a new set of rules for a new environment. Once that reframe landed, progress accelerated.
The expertise that made them the right appointment was never in question. It was giving them the tools to let the right people see it that made the difference.
