The challenge

The ideal candidate needed a rare combination of skills and experience, including broad expertise across Sales, Marketing, NPD, and Supply Chain within the consumer goods sector. They required a track record of delivering growth through geographic expansion, coupled with inspirational leadership, innovation, and a hands-on approach. The talent pool was particularly limited, as few Australian brands or products within closely aligned sectors have successfully achieved international market entry and expansion. This scarcity of local executives with firsthand experience in driving global growth added an additional layer of complexity to the search. Compounding the challenge further, the role was based in Brisbane, a talent market with significantly fewer executives of this calibre compared to Sydney or Melbourne. Relocation constraints further narrowed the pool of potential candidates, making the search uniquely complex.