Building a C-Suite for the Next Stage of Growth
MNC is an established independent agency with more than three decades of experience helping challenger brands grow. Following an introduction through a longstanding client relationship, I was brought in to support the agency during an important period of growth and evolution.
Over the course of our partnership, I worked closely with the senior leadership team across a number of strategically important hires, from C-suite leadership through to senior commercial talent. Each search required a very specific profile: experienced agency operators who could combine strategic thinking and commercial credibility with the autonomy and entrepreneurial mindset needed to thrive within an independent agency.
Four strategic senior hires. Two C-suite appointments. All delivered within four weeks.
- Agencies
The Client
- Agencies
MNC is a specialised, DTC eCommerce-focused agency with more than 30 years’ experience helping fast-growth challenger brands scale through full-funnel, channel-agnostic performance media strategies.
Alongside its primary media offering, MNC has expanded through Club and Ventures, creating a wider ecosystem designed to support challenger brands at different stages of their growth. Their offer spans from performance marketing strategy through to VC investments for brands.
At the point that we began working with MNC, the business was entering a particularly exciting period of accelerated change.
It had recently acquired one of our longstanding clients, a specialist eCommerce growth consultancy, as part of a move to further strengthen its digital capabilities.
With the business evolving, MNC was ready to strengthen its senior leadership team, bringing in genuine C-suite powerhouses capable of helping shape the agency’s next chapter.
We were introduced to MNC Partner Joe Benn following a strong referral from a longstanding Withfrontier client. From there, we worked closely with Joe and Head of Talent Hattie Ward.
What started with one senior search developed into a relationship spanning around 12 months and a series of strategically important appointments.
The Challenge
These roles weren’t straightforward by any means. They demanded genuine leadership heavyweights and people with genuine DTC eCommerce pedigree.
MNC needed people who genuinely lived and breathed DTC, challenger brands and eCommerce as a minimum. But that was just the baseline.
For the two C-suite appointments, CCO and CSO, the brief demanded an unusually broad combination of skills:
- People with the strategic and marketing brain to remain sharp and current
- The commercial and operational capabilities to help lead a business, the leadership experience to manage sizeable teams, and the gravitas to operate comfortably with founders, boards and C-suite stakeholders.
And they needed all of that from people who understood the agency world inside and out. The available talent pool was extremely small, but we knew where to look.
Chief Strategy Officer
The CSO would be in charge of helping define MNC’s strategic direction for the next five years and beyond, shaping its proposition and aligning strategy across Media, Club and Ventures.
This wasn’t simply a senior strategist. It was somebody capable of helping determine the future direction of the entire business.
Initially, MNC had considered hiring somebody directly from a major DTC challenger brand.
After talking through the remit, we determined together that the role really required deep, senior agency experience. They needed somebody accustomed to moving between brands and challenges, leading sophisticated strategy and advising senior stakeholders while understanding how an agency itself operates.
Chief Client Officer
The CCO search was equally demanding.
MNC wanted somebody with deep DTC/eCommerce credentials, who was still close enough to modern marketing and performance to genuinely lead strategy. However, the person also ideally needed to have successfully developed into effectively an MD-level business leader without the title – all whilst coming from a strong paid performance background.
They needed somebody who had led large teams, worked directly with founders, influenced C-suite stakeholders and understood how challenger brands operated, their pain points and what made them tick. This was no small task.
Senior Partnerships Manager
MNC had built partnerships into a genuine commercial function that was doing well. These were relationships that generated revenue opportunities for the agency, while creating a strong ecosystem of complementary specialists that could add further value to its clients.
They needed somebody who could help lead and scale that function further.
This wasn’t traditional business development. The right person needed to know the DTC/eCommerce agency ecosystem and combine strong agency and marketing credentials with genuine experience building strategic, commercially valuable partnerships.
Growth Manager
MNC needed their first Growth hire. They needed somebody with a strong cross-channel paid media background, with a particular focus on DTC eCommerce. They also needed a strong agency pedigree. As the first hire into their brand-new Growth team, this hire was massive.
How We Got to Work
For headhunting searches of this magnitude, simply sticking to job-title-based searches would never work.
Titles don’t consistently reflect remit at that level. So we started meticulously mapping the DTC and eCommerce agency landscape, identifying the businesses we respected most before working backwards to understand the people within them.
We looked closely at:
- Career progression and trajectory
- Where people had started
- How their responsibilities had developed
- The teams they’d led
- The clients and founders they’d led
For the Chief Strategy Officer, that process produced a target list of just 10 people.
That wasn’t because we couldn’t find more. It was because there was a small number of people who would precisely fit the bill.
We approached all 10 and held qualification conversations with nine. From those conversations, six made the final shortlist and were introduced to MNC. Two reached the final stage.
Tim Bonney was ultimately offered the role.
The Chief Client Officer search followed the same philosophy.
We identified the businesses most likely to contain the right person, worked backwards into the individuals and scrutinised career trajectories rather than titles.
The resulting target list contained just 12 people. Four ultimately made the cut.
Damien Bennett prevailed.
For the initial Head of Partnerships search, I identified 20 strong potential candidates. Following a thorough qualification process, five were selected to be put forward based on their experience within relevant DTC-focused agencies, ability to operate autonomously, and proven track record of delivering commercial results.
Lydia Bhahirathan ultimately emerged as the standout candidate and was successfully appointed as Head of Partnerships.
The Result
The laser-focused approach paid off, resulting in four strategically important senior hires, including two C-suite appointments.
Tim Bonney – Chief Strategy Officer
Time to hire: 3 weeks
From an initial target market of just 10 people, nine were engaged, six were presented to MNC and two reached the final stage, with Tim ultimately appointed.
Damien Bennett – Chief Client Officer
Time to hire: 4 weeks
An intentionally focused target list of just 12 people resulted in four candidates being presented, with Damien ultimately appointed.
Lydia Goonetillake – Senior Partnerships Manager
Time to hire: 3 weeks
Having known Lydia through previous conversations, we instinctively knew her combination of agency, DTC and partnerships experience would suit MNC and introduced her directly to the opportunity.
Aine Corry – Growth Manager
Time to hire: 3 weeks
I targeted 30 strong candidates, all from reputable, high-growth DTC eCommerce agencies. In the end, Aine Corry was the chosen one. She was promoted to Head of Digital in 6 months.
Successful delivery on the initial searches led directly to further briefs, developing into a relationship with MNC that has now spanned around 12 months.
4 senior hires
2 C-suite appointments
3-4 week time to hire
~12-month client relationship
A Successful Hire From Both Sides
What the client had to say
Not ashamed to say I’m usually speculative when it comes to working with recruiters, but I have to say James filled 3 key senior roles for us in the space of 3 months. He was easy to work with and kept coming up with good candidates until we found the right profiles. I can (and have) heartily recommend him.
What the candidate had to say
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