- Head of Talent Acquisition
- Reporting to the Managing Partner
- Strategic Consulting & Investment Banking Firm
- Boston and New England area
BSG Team Ventures has commenced an executive search for a Head of Talent Acquisition for our client, which provides Investment Guidance, Value Creation, M&A Advisory, and Technology Strategy to growth companies. The Head of Talent Acquisition will have 4 key responsibilities: achieve talent acquisition goal, build the talent acquisition strategy and tactics, hire and leverage a team, and build a “talent quality matrix”.
Opportunity Overview
HEAD OF TALENT ACQUISITION
THE COMPANY
Our client provides strategy consulting and investment banking to companies and investors in the Software Economy. Our client’s passion is value creation and realization for businesses whose core competitive asset is proprietary software. Founded in 2009, headquartered in Boston, and already turning down three projects for everyone it accepts, our client has experienced exponential growth in its first five years of existence. In fact, it is already beating out strategy heavyweights for projects in the tech sector due to deeper industry specialization. What makes our client even more unique among consulting firms is the fact that our client houses Strategy Consulting and Investment Banking arms under the same roof, and even has a small PE fund. Currently, our client has two primary locations centered in Boston, MA and London, England.
COMPANY'S CULTURE
Our client has built a collegial, tight-knit culture, where employees genuinely enjoy spending time with each other inside and outside of the office. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the layout of the our client’s Boston office, where the back of the house includes exposed brick walls and wide open space (mirroring a Silicon Valley startup) allowing an open flow of information and the best brains to work together seamlessly. Our client hosts a team meal every other Friday at a restaurant across the street and places an emphasis on the social impact of food (health, where it’s sourced, etc.) as well as the community aspect of sharing a meal together our client also hosts an off-site excursion for the whole firm every summer.
Our client also values open communication (the quality of an idea over the position of the one with the idea). Our client’s Managing Partner has been known to tell employees that his goal for them is to have more job opportunities in the current year than the year before.
In addition to our client’s mentoring system, there is also easy access to senior leaders for less formal interaction.
COMPANY HISTORY
Our client launched in 2012 as the brainchild of our client’s Managing Partner who brought with him decades of experience advising software and tech clients in the investment banking world, and found that the skill set he was optimized to serve and consult for the new software economy. Our client also brought on a technology executive and entrepreneur to build consulting operations as Head of Strategy Consulting.
For a young boutique firm, our client has compiled an all-star roster of advisory members. Some members of the Advisory Board include:
- A board member who pioneered the creation of West Coast technology banking as an industry.
- A board member who is currently a VP of Employee Experience at an online marketplace and hospitality service company, former Senior VP of HR at an e-commerce retailer platforms and Principal at a global management consulting firm.
- A board member who is currently a CEO of hedge fund, former Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of a global financial services firm.
SERVICE OFFERINGS
STRATEGY CONSULTING: Our client’s largest focus in their strategy consulting practice is diligence work for PE firms.
Our client works exclusively with businesses whose primary strategic assets are software and data. Our client has sector specialization in the following concentrations:
INVESTMENT BANKING: Our client delivers comprehensive Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Placement services to private and public companies in the Software Economy. Our client’s team brings the experience of over 300 successful M&A Transactions, Private Placements, IPOs, and Restructuring transactions.
Industry expertise
Our client’s ability to understand technology and its disruptive potential is one of its core capabilities. With a multi-decade track record of impactful positioning of businesses to investors and acquirers based on technology and product differentiators within an industry, this dedication to the technology industry gives our client a unique advantage in software-specific valuation analysis and support.
Tailored Processes
Our client’s investment banking practice designs bespoke processes to fit each client’s unique situation. Key considerations include shareholder dynamics, specific market dynamics and competitive sensitivities, business, customer and product specific timing, limiting management distraction from business execution and maintaining financial performance. No two deals are alike, so the our client invests considerable time up front understanding clients’ businesses and designing processes to deliver optimal results.
Network & Relationships
Our client’s relationships with investors and buyers are both broad and deep. Our client understands better than others the key players, competitive dynamics, and what is driving demand for investments and acquisitions within a sector. Similarly, our client cross border capabilities in North America and Europe offers a global perspective and the ability to work efficiently with clients and their prospective partners in both geographies to deliver the optimal outcome.
THE POSITION
The Head of Talent Acquisition, reporting to the Managing Partner, will have 4 key responsibilities:
- Do—1st year talent acquisition goal is a net +30 consultants. As a player-coach role, leading by example in recruiting activities is critical
- Build—build the talent acquisition strategy and tactics that will ultimately source talent from a combination of a robust campus recruiting engine, web-based resources, and harnessing the power of crowd-sourcing from the our client’s existing employee network
- Lead—hire and leverage a small SWAT team into the talent acquisition function will be key to delivering on new talent goals
- Improve—talent acquisition is just the beginning of the talent life cycle. This role is also tasked with building a “talent quality matrix” that captures and codifies the talent DNA that will thrive in this specific culture, embody our client’s values, and adhere to performance goals
Success in this role will lean on 4 pillars of skills and experience:
- Proven functional track record in talent acquisition roles
- Prior experience in management consulting/strategy consulting sector
- Strong career history in industries broadly touching the technology sector or related
- A hunger to drive to “first principles” on which to build best practices
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
A summary of key competencies required to be successful in this role include the following:
FUNCTIONAL PRIOR SUCCESS IN
- Captive recruiting execution and leadership
- Third-party recruiting resource evaluation, selection & management
- Evergreen talent acquisition strategy & execution at all levels and functions within the organization (executive, manager, consultant, administrative, operations, finance, etc.)
- Campus recruiting, with focus on both undergrad & Masters programs (MBA etc.)
- UK and/or international talent acquisition
- Competencies/attributes/skills/experience heat map creation, resulting in clear successful “hiring genome”
- Strategy consulting experience
- Recruitment of software technology sector talent
MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
- Leveraging horizontally & vertically to harness the Company’s knowledge and network
- Hiring, managing and motivating efficient but high "BTU" HR & shared services team
- Player-coach responsibility. Ability & passion for doing both.
- Working with strong, bright, educated team members
INDUSTRY STRATEGY CONSULTING/INVESTMENT BANKING
- Strategy consulting (e.g. Parthenon, LEK, etc.)
- Management consulting firms (management consulting e.g. BCG, Bain, McKinsey)
- Professional services/consulting firms (other, e.g. Accenture, CapGemini, etc.)
- Technology consulting firms (e.g. Sapient, etc.)
- Venture capital
- Private equity/growth equity
STAGE OF COMPANY EXPERIENCE
- Experience working with founders and board directors in closely held companies
- Growth phase of company development and rapid employee expansion, from 75-150+
- First-stage structure & process building of SOPs
- Working with privately-held investor-backed businesses (VC & PE)
- Working with founder-led businesses
GENERAL:
Finally, this individual should have as many as possible of the traits required to succeed in this leadership position:
- High levels of intelligence, analytical strength and conceptual ability.
- The ability, and willingness, to set and communicate demanding standards for professional staff and to hold people accountable for their performance; at the same time, sensitivity to, and insight into individuals’ capabilities and development needs, and the combination of firmness and likability that all good leaders possess.
- Decisiveness, when necessary, coupled with a willingness to seek input and build consensus as much as possible.
- Unquestioned honesty and integrity; also, loyalty to colleagues and to the organization, and the ability to inspire loyalty. This person should have the ability to identify and focus on the Company’s best interests, rather than the agenda of any individual or group within the firm.
- A very high level of energy and commitment, combined with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
- Excellent writing and speaking skills; this individual must be able to communicate complex ideas and information clearly and concisely.
- Outstanding planning and organization skills.
- Good strategic instincts and long-term vision; the ability to address both big-picture issues and detailed, day-to-day management concerns.
- In general, the business and personal skills, and the absolute commitment required to make a major contribution to The Company during the coming years.
- Attention to detail required to deliver consistently accurate data, information and reporting on time and on budget.
- A sense of ownership, not just of his or her own work, or that of their department, but a sense of ownership for the company as a whole.
- Work ethic required to do what it takes to get the job done, and investment of time required to deliver on key responsibilities efficiently.
Team
Our client’s team currently numbers approximately 60+ and is slated for 100%+ growth in 2017-18.
Financial Backing
Our client is proudly self-funded.
Compensation
Compensation is competitive with the position’s requirements. In a performance-based environment, this will include base salary and bonus structure based on corporate qualitative and quantitative strategic KPIs.
CONTACT or SUBMIT RESUME:
