Hired as VP, Promoted to Chief People Officer: A People Leader Who Had Already Run the Next Stage, for a VC-Backed Industrial IoT Company

The Challenge

• VC-backed industrial IoT software company, Germany
• One executive hire
• August 2023 → November 2023
• VC Value Creation: International Expansion Phase

The client builds messaging software that moves data between connected machines, vehicles and enterprise IT. Fortune 500 car makers and manufacturers use it in production, and by 2022 more than half its revenue came from US customers. It had raised about €50M of venture funding, most of it in a 2022 Series A to grow its go-to-market teams.

That meant its people function had to work on both sides of the Atlantic. In August 2023 it opened a search for an SVP People / Chief People Officer.

Few People leaders based in Germany have covered the US. The company wanted one who had also run more growth than it was planning, yet would still join a business of its size.

They turned to The Big Search.

Executive Search Across German and European Tech Growth Companies

We worked three pools:

• German start-ups and scale-ups with a US presence, plus companies with teams in both Germany and the US. Their People leaders had already managed staff across the Atlantic.
• A sprint on German companies operating across Europe or globally.
• European start-ups and scale-ups with a German presence, which often keep senior People staff in Germany.

The brief asked for:

• Experience as the number-one People leader in a high-growth company
• Europe and US scope
• Has seen growth from 200 to 400+ people across several locations
• A sparring partner to the CEO and leadership team, able to build a people strategy for an international business
• Has seen both high growth and downsizing
• Based in Germany

We undertook an exhaustive mapping exercise across Germany and Europe, identifying 334 candidates.

First shortlist

39 days from kick-off

We sent 8 calibration profiles the day after kick-off, and the client scored them all within a week. Europe plus US scope and living in Germany were pluses. Growth no bigger than the company's own was a minus. So were profiles that looked too senior and large-scale, and mostly B2C careers with short stints. They also asked us to avoid a company that shared their chairman.

Of the 42 people we contacted, 10 were shortlisted and met the client, and 3 got as far as the co-founder. The hire wasn't looking when we messaged them. Six weeks later they had an offer, after rounds with the CEO, the chairman and the co-founder.

The Placed Candidate: A Fintech People Leader Who Had Run Hypergrowth, a US Build-Out and Layoffs at One Company

They had spent 7 years at a European fintech scale-up with a large team in Germany, most of that time running or shaping its People function, and wanted a smaller company. Our assessment gave them 5/5 on four of the five brief criteria. They got 4/5 on having been number one in a start-up or scale-up. They joined as VP People & Culture in February 2024, after a 3-month notice period.

• Growth bigger than the client's — they led People as the company grew from 1,000 to 6,000 staff across 14 markets. Growth was the theme the client raised most in calibration.
• Europe and the US — the UK and US teams grew from 100 to 600 staff while they led People, and they hired the US head of People.
• CEO sparring partner — they worked with the CEO and McKinsey on a restructuring when the company had 1,000 people. The CEO and deputy CEO then asked them to lead People.
• Hiring at volume — they rebuilt recruiting when the company wanted 800 hires a year and was making 20–30 a month.
• Both sides of HR — after leading a People team that peaked at 400, they ran the people side of the layoffs.
• Based in Germany — they lived in Berlin, wouldn't relocate, and took the role there.

A growing company needs a People leader who has already seen its next stage. Hire someone at your current size and they learn it on your time.

One search, an offer 15 weeks after kick-off, and a hire who joined as VP People & Culture and became Chief People Officer 20 months later.

The fit was narrow. Of the people ruled out along the way, 22 were marked overqualified and 21 underqualified, and 28 turned the role down as not attractive enough.

If your next stage needs that kind of People leader, let's talk.