Consumer, Retail, Media & Services

Client – British MNC one of the world’s leading alcoholic beverages company

Role – Executive Vice President Manufacturing

Location – Bangalore

Search Background:

Our client is world’s leading AlcoBev company with a majority market share globally.

Need:

In India, the client has taken over an Indian AlcoBev organization and was involved in a change of leadership and key roles across the organization. The client was going through major transformations across people, processes and practices. We were assigned to hire a Head of Manufacturing to take care of a complex manufacturing network of more than 70 plants – own and third party.

Search Challenges:

As the organization was going through major transformation, the challenge in this search was finding someone who had the ability to lead change, work in complex manufacturing environment and handle large number of factories, along with taking tough calls of handling unions, regulatory officers and factory closures.

WalkWater Strategy:

WalkWater first charted out similar set of companies across consumer/ pharma/automobile sector by identifying the complex supply chain and manufacturing challenges in each of these organizations. We also understood very early in the search that the right candidate may not be found only in India. Hence, we mapped the target organizations across middle east and South East Asia. We also looked at senior manufacturing leadership talent in USA and Europe. We then zeroed down on 5 shortlisted candidates based on the fitment in span of 6 weeks.

Result:

Our efforts led to the identification of the selected candidate who in his last role was based in Vietnam and was leading the integrated supply chain function of the Vietnam operations of a US MNC, one of the world’s largest food companies. Prior to this role, he had worked in India with the country’s largest consumer goods and FMCG company. He came across as a great culture fit in terms of managing stake holders, people leadership and hands on approach. He continues in this role and has been highly successful in building a top-notch team that has helped the organization to address challenges of sustainability and operation excellence.

Client – World’s second largest snacking company.

Role – Chief Legal Officer

Location – Mumbai

Search Background:

Our client is a US MNC and one of th world’s largest snacking company. It has been operating in India for the last 25 years. Recently they had a shift of guard and the new CEO was setting up a team in her leadership to redefine the organizations long term focus and strategy in the India market.

Need:

The client was looking at a Chief Legal Officer, as the organization was growing in double digit there was a lot of litigation activity around trade, marketing and sales functions. The need was to find out a legal professional who would be a strong business partner and someone who understood the business and demands of a growing organization. Someone who would come across as a solution provider rather then just a legal expert.

Search Challenges:

The most critical challenge in the search was to find a leader who was a culture fit. Client was ideally looking for a seasoned legal professional who understood the complexity of food business in India and its ever-changing rules and regulations. Someone who was a true business partner.

WalkWater Strategy:

Walkwater did an in-depth study and mapping of global FMCG and Pharma companies in India. To find an ideal fit was a challenge as the culture fitment and ability to drive change was a big factor in this role.

After intensive screening, reference check and assessment process, WalkWater presented 4 candidates within a time frame of 4 weeks.

Result:

Our efforts led to the identification of the selected candidate who in his last role was with a leading Pharma company and had also worked with one of the most admired brands globally. He came across as a great culture fit in terms of managing stake holders, quick decision-making ability and hands on approach. He continues in this role and has been highly successful in building a top-notch team that has helped the organization to address challenges of scalability.

Client – Indian MNC in the Non-Alcoholic Beverages business, a subsidiary of one of India’s largest conglomerates.

Role – CFO Russia

Location – Moscow

Search Background:

Our client is an Indian conglomerate and one of the most respected companies globally. They have multiple businesses and one of the leading business is in the healthy beverages’ category.

Need:

This was a recent acquisition in Russia and the client was looking at hiring a CFO to be based in Moscow. The need was of an Indian who was based in Russia or has earlier worked there, someone who understood the Russian laws for operating a foods company and the complexity of finance and accounting function in Russia. Knowledge of local language and familiarity of local culture was a must for this search.

Search Challenges:

The most critical challenge in the search was to find an ideal candidate to be based in Russia with all the required qualifications and has food / pharma background. Someone who has worked in Indian MNC was a must to have a strong culture fitment. Someone who will be a strong partner between India and Russia leadership team. Someone who has the ability to take tough calls and corrective measures to increase the profitability of the company along with building relationship with his Russian counterparts.

WalkWater Strategy:

WalkWater did an in-depth study and mapping of ideal candidates both from MNCs and Indian organization.  We specifically targeted organizations who had strong business presence in Russia and closer locations.

WalkWater presented 3 candidates for the search within a time frame of 3 weeks.

Result:

Our efforts led to the identification of the selected candidate who in his last role was a Regional Finance Director in Russia & CIS countries with an Indian Pharma company. He was living in Russia for 10 years and understood the local culture and language very well. He continues in this role and has been highly successful in building a profitable business in Russia and India with a stable team.

Client – Global Fashion Retail Brand.

Role – Head E-Commerce

Location – Gurgaon

Search Background:

Our client is a global fashion retail brand, founded more than a century ago and with approx. 1500 stores across 57 countries. India is the second largest market for the brand and its business growth is very critical to the organization globally. In India, they operate more than 100 stores in more than 30 cities across the country.

Need:

Our client was looking at a leader who could spearhead the E-Commerce business for both inhouse online platform as well as marketplaces, eventually leading to contribute 25% of the organization’s revenues and building a strong omni channel for the organization. We had to identify a senior leader with demonstrated leadership experience in building, running and upscaling robust e-commerce businesses.

Search Challenges:

The most critical challenge in the search was to find a leader who had strong experience of building and successfully running and growing an inhouse single brand online platform for a large organization/brand in India. Client was ideally looking for a seasoned e-commerce leader as well as someone with hands on experience and energy to start things from scratch. Finding talent with this combination was a challenge. The ability to understand the e-commerce space, technology, operational issues, cost and consumer insight was the key.

WalkWater Strategy:

WalkWater did an in-depth study and mapping of e-commerce leaders from the following target sectors: Retail companies (Indian & Global); E-Commerce/ New Age Companies; Consumer companies. WalkWater successfully mapped leaders from more than 35 organizations and presented two separate level of candidates within a time frame of 4 weeks.

Result:

Our efforts led to the identification of the selected candidate, who had the right mix of experience in building as well as managing the online business for a few organizations and was selected after being interviewed by the Indian as well as International leaders within the organisation. The candidate was in between jobs and could join within a month of being offered. He continues in this role and has been building a strong online business for the organization.

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