Executive Summary
A European medtech company headquartered in the German-speaking part of Switzerland was looking for an experienced leader for the position of Head Software Demand Management — a role at the intersection of software development, customer requirements and strategic product management. The position was newly created and intended to play a key role in ensuring the release capability of a modern SaaS solution in the medical environment. Internally, differing views on the requirements profile made a clear role definition a prerequisite for a successful search. Through structured direct outreach in the relevant specialist market, early alignment of all stakeholders involved and a process-driven selection procedure, the position was filled in less than four months — two months ahead of the original projection.
Situation & Challenge
A new key role, diverging expectations and a tight specialist market
The company is one of the leading providers of practice management software in the German-speaking healthcare sector, operating at more than a dozen locations across several European countries with over 350 employees. With the market launch of a new, modern SaaS solution for medical practices and healthcare institutions, the company was at a decisive growth milestone. Capturing customer needs in a structured way, analysing and prioritising them, and translating them into actionable requirements was not a peripheral operational task — it was a business-critical function.
For this purpose, the position of Head Software Demand Management was newly created. The role holder was expected to act as Product Owner for two software solutions, lead a small requirements engineering team, manage external project managers and simultaneously serve as the central communication hub between end customers, sales, support and software development. The position reported directly to the CIO as a member of the executive leadership team.
An additional complexity was that internal stakeholders held differing views on the ideal profile. Without a shared foundation, neither a meaningful search structure nor a sound selection decision was possible. The market for experienced requirements engineers combining leadership experience and knowledge of the medical software environment was, moreover, exceptionally narrow.
Key challenges at this stage:
- Newly created function with broad interface responsibilities and direct impact on product quality
- Diverging internal expectations regarding profile, leadership approach and functional priorities
- Specialised candidate market with a limited number of suitable profiles in requirements engineering and medical IT
- High demand for both leadership competence and subject-matter depth in equal measure
- Need for external recruitment to deliberately draw on knowledge transfer and experience
Our Approach
Establish a shared understanding of the role first — then approach the market with precision
Before the actual market search began, the focus was on a thorough exploration of the role itself. In detailed conversations with all relevant internal decision-makers, the requirements profile was jointly refined and a consistent understanding established of what skills, experience and personal qualities would define the ideal candidate. This step was not merely preparation — it was the prerequisite for the subsequent process to unfold in a targeted and efficient manner.
The market positioning of the role deliberately emphasised substantive content and ownership: working on a modern SaaS solution with genuine market potential, direct customer proximity, short decision-making paths and a Swiss company with a proven commitment to its home base. Only through this differentiated framing was it possible to approach leaders who were not actively looking, but who could be engaged through the concrete opportunity and the depth of the conversation.
Guiding principles behind the approach:
- Early stakeholder alignment to establish a shared understanding of the role
- Precise market positioning beyond generic job descriptions
- Focus on experienced requirements engineers with a leadership track record in software environments
- Exclusively targeted direct outreach
- Transparent project communication through regular reporting and briefings
Search & Selection Process
Systematically identified, personally approached, carefully assessed
Based on the refined requirements profile, a systematic market analysis was conducted across relevant target companies in the DACH region. Profiles were identified that matched both the technical prerequisites — several years of experience in requirements engineering, business analysis or product management in software environments, knowledge of agile methodologies such as Scrum — and the leadership qualities sought.
In direct outreach, the emphasis was not on merely generating interest, but on a genuinely substantive exchange about the role, the environment and the development perspective. Motivation, fit and long-term alignment were assessed as carefully as professional qualifications. The entire process was tightly structured, with clear responsibilities on both sides, regular feedback loops and a consistently disciplined approach throughout.
In parallel, interview briefings and debriefings were used to continually calibrate the assessment of the individuals approached and to keep the selection panel on the same information level at all times — enabling decisions to be made swiftly and with confidence.
The selection process at a glance:
- Systematic market review and targeted identification of suitable profiles within relevant companies
- Personal direct outreach with substantive depth and individual relevance
- Preliminary assessment of fit, motivation and framework conditions in confidential conversations
- Multi-stage interviews to evaluate professional and personal suitability
- Presentation of a qualified shortlist after six weeks
- Four leaders in the final interview round
- Ongoing project reporting and close coordination with the client
Result & Client Value
Filled two months ahead of schedule — with complete profile alignment
Despite a tight specialist market and the particular demand for leadership experience in the medical software environment, the position was successfully filled in less than four months — two months earlier than projected at the start of the mandate. The appointed candidate matched the jointly defined target profile and convinced in the final selection round through professional substance, clarity in leadership and cultural fit with the organisation.
For the client, the outcome was more than a timely placement: by fully assuming organisational and process-related tasks — from candidate preparation and case study development to in-depth assessment of professional competencies — the internal team was free to focus on what truly mattered: assessing personality, values and team dynamics.
Value delivered to the client:
- Successful placement of a newly created key role with high strategic and operational relevance
- Two months saved against the original mandate projection
- Initial conversations already impressed through profile precision — the individuals presented matched the defined ideal profile from the outset
- Maximum relief of internal resources through end-to-end process management
- Clear, comparable decision-making basis through structured selection methodology
- Trusted exchange at management level throughout the entire mandate
Core KPIs:
- 6 weeks from mandate start to shortlist presentation
- 4 candidates in the final interview round
- Less than 4 months total mandate duration
Lessons Learned
What made this placement a success
- Stakeholder alignment before mandate start: Early harmonisation of all internal expectations is a prerequisite for a targeted search — and prevents costly corrections mid-process.
- Role positioning with substantive depth: Only those who can describe a function in a differentiated and compelling way will reach experienced leaders who are not actively looking.
- Direct outreach as the only path to the right profile: In tight specialist markets, the right leaders are reached through targeted, personal engagement — not through broadly distributed approaches.
- Structured process management creates decision confidence: Consistent transparency, interview briefings and ongoing reporting enable swift, well-founded decisions at management level.
- Full operational relief as genuine added value: The more administrative and preparatory tasks are assumed, the more capacity the client retains for what is ultimately decisive — assessing the person.
