Initial Situation & Challenge
A complex requirement profile meets a tight candidate market
The client is an internationally oriented company in the digital life sciences environment with locations in German-speaking Switzerland and worldwide. Customer service and support are regarded as essential to ensuring product quality in the market. Accordingly, the Head of Customer Service & Support position to be filled was of high strategic importance. The search focused on a leadership personality who combines technical service expertise with a strong customer orientation, thereby elevating service quality and customer loyalty to a new level. At the same time, the external candidate market proved particularly challenging: specialists with comparable profiles are scarce, and many potential top candidates were not actively seeking a new role.
Key challenges:
- Highly significant leadership role with direct impact on customer retention and business success
- Tight candidate market in the specialised IT services and support segment
- High demands on communication skills and industry experience in the life sciences / medtech environment
- Broad competence profile combining technical service excellence, leadership strength, and customer focus
Our Approach
Precise profile definition and direct approach
At the start of the mandate, the team of two headhunters engaged intensively with the objectives of the role. Together with the client, the requirement profile was sharpened and consistently focused on the most critical core competencies, beyond purely operational aspects. The deliberate search was for a leader rather than a manager, someone who actively captures customer needs and translates them, together with his team, into excellent solutions. The market positioning of the role was correspondingly compelling: the focus lay on the opportunity to shape a high-performing service organisation, strengthen customer proximity as a competitive advantage, and actively contribute to product development – not merely on handling support requests.
Guiding principles shaping the approach:
- Uncompromising customer orientation – consistent focus on customer satisfaction and value creation
- Connecting technology and communication – a candidate who acts as a translator between customer requirements and technical solutions
- International mindset – experience in global service management and leadership of distributed teams
- Continuous improvement – capability to systematically enhance support processes and tools while introducing innovative impulses
Search & Selection Process
Structured, multi-stage, and closely aligned – with quality taking precedence over speed
Based on a systematic market screening, profiles were selectively identified that matched the demanding role both professionally and personally. Many of the approached candidates were not actively looking for a new position, yet were open to the role due to the clear positioning and the substantive depth of the discussions. In personal interviews, the headhunters placed strong emphasis on transparently conveying both the functional requirements and the cultural framework and development perspectives. Motivation, willingness to change, and long-term fit were assessed with equal care. The process was tightly managed and clearly structured at every stage, supported by a continuous dialogue between client and search partners.
The selection process at a glance:
- Targeted identification of relevant leadership profiles in the market
- Personal direct approach and preliminary alignment on interest and suitability
- Multi-stage interviews for thorough professional and personal evaluation
- Presentation of a shortlist after 4 weeks
- 3 candidates in the final interview round
- Ongoing alignment and feedback loops with the client
This dialogue-oriented approach made a decisive contribution to building mutual trust and ensuring commitment on both sides. Thanks to the structured process management, the client maintained full transparency at all times and was able to make well-founded decisions.
Outcome & Client Value
Successful appointment in less than four months – with lasting impact
Despite the challenging market conditions, the key position was successfully filled in just under four months. The selected candidate fully matched the jointly defined target profile and impressed with extensive leadership experience, strong communication skills, and pronounced customer focus. For the client, this meant not only the successful appointment of a critical role, but above all a tangible strengthening of the service organisation: with the new Head of Customer Service & Support, the company now has a strong leader who sustainably anchors customer proximity and further develops service as a competitive advantage.
Value delivered to the client:
- Successful appointment of a key position despite difficult market conditions
- High decision confidence through a structured and comparable selection process
- Acquisition of a leader with an ideal mix of service expertise and customer orientation
- Relief of internal resources through professional process leadership and advisory support
- Long-term competitive advantage through improved customer retention and feedback culture
Key KPIs:
- 4 weeks from project start to presentation of the shortlist
- 3 candidates in the final selection round
- Less than 4 months total mandate duration
Lessons Learned
Success factors for appointing demanding service leadership roles
- Precise role definition and expectation management are critical, particularly for complex, strategically oriented leadership positions
- Direct approach is essential to reach truly relevant personalities in the market
- Industry knowledge and communication skills are just as important as technical excellence for delivering sustainable customer value
- Closely managed, trust-based processes increase commitment and decision security on both side
