Sales & Marketing Director - Air Freight Integrator

IRC Global Executive Search Partner

HR Partners, IRC Global Executive Search Partner - China / Taiwan / Singapore

Search

Sales and Marketing Director, Singapore

Client/Industry

Air Freight Integrator

Situation

We had conducted numerous searches across the Asia Pacific for the regional operations as well as various country offices in the region of this international company. For this position, a contingency firm was previously engaged in the search that surfaced candidates the clients were not impressed with. Furthermore, the role was vacant for about two years as the marketing function was managed by the Country Managing Director.

Challenge

As we were taking over the search from a contingency firm, our final shortlist of candidates had to be outstanding and better to maintain our reputation with the client.

The Country Managing Director was the Sales and Marketing Director, Singapore for 2 years before being promoted to his current position. Hence, the successful candidate must be of similar calibre and possess the same level of intellectual bandwidth and business mindset. He/she must also have good knowledge of the express and freight forwarding business.

Methodology/Solution

Our search covered the major multi-national express logistics, freight forwarding and contract logistics companies The primary targets are companies that specialize in freight or express businesses. We targeted candidates holding sales, or marketing or business development position in managerial roles like sales manager, sales director or general manager for sales and marketing.

The focus was on surfacing candidates who have strong sales background with sharp business acumen, proven track record in developing and securing new businesses with large customer accounts and effective people management experience.

Successful Candidate

From our shortlist of 3 best candidates, the clients decided to meet with 2 of them, as they wanted to compare with another 2 surfaced by the contingency firm. By the third round of client interviews, it was clear that one of our candidates was favoured over the rest.

The successful candidate came from a direct competitor, with a proven track record in consistently achieving and exceeding sales targets assigned to her or her team. She was consistently rated as being in the top percentile for performance.

Her ability to forecast and control her span of responsibilities enabled her to do well in terms of customer, pipeline and people management. Her intimate knowledge of customers ensured she was able to fulfill their requirements to a high level of satisfaction. She has a good grasp of what is required of senior management roles, a deep understanding of broad strategy and its impact on the business, as well as in-depth knowledge of processes.

As she was with her previous company for more than 10 years, we had to manage and align her expectations very closely, advise her on how to manage her resignation and pre-empt any possible counter-offer. She accepted the offer 3 months after the search started.

Go to Top