With over 10 years of experience working with international startups and fast-growing tech companies, we are no strangers to C-level hiring for VC-backed companies.
So when a leader in the digital job marketplace reached out to fill an urgent and crucial leadership role, we knew exactly how to move and deliver quickly.
Here’s how our executive search team at Nederlia filled Jobandtalent’s new role of Chief Information and Security Officer (CISO) in less than 60 days.
Reach out today to start your next executive search.
About Jobandtalent
We first had to understand our client’s company.
A leading online temp agency offering Workforce as a Service (WaaS), Jobandtalent matches gigs with workers through proprietary AI technology. It specialises in filling short-term roles in the manufacturing and logistics sectors.
As an investor-backed European unicorn based in Spain that’s raised $1.3 billion in funds to date, Jobandtalent has an annual growth rate of 130%. It received $500 million in Series E funding in December 2021 and $250 million in debt financing in May 2022.
In its first 9 months of operation, Jobandtalent placed over 100,000 workers in temporary roles. 1,300 companies, including Amazon, Walmart, DHL, FedEx, eBay, Sainsbury’s, and IKEA, use its marketplace.
Through its app, workers can self-manage the admin of their employment, from job application and paperwork submission to contract signing and receiving payments. A higher-than-industry average net promoter score (NPS), 56 vs 18, reflected its loyal customer base.
Jobandtalent operates in Spain, Germany, Sweden, France, Portugal, the U.K., Colombia, Mexico, and the U.S. The company plans to open in 20 more countries by 2025.
Why Jobandtalent urgently needed the perfect CISO
Jobandtalent’s rapid growth and future global expansion meant it needed someone who could set up and establish an IT security and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programme from scratch.
A more complex and renowned online presence would expose Jobandtalent’s framework to increased cybersecurity threats. Opening in new countries meant Jobandtalent needed to be compliant with local regulatory laws.
The company’s original structure could no longer sustain its growing security and GRC needs. The IT department was shouldering the website monitoring while the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and Data Protection Officer (DPO) oversaw the remaining responsibilities. Without suitable measures in place and proper guidance during this crucial growth stage, Jobandtalent risked data leaks, cyberattacks, security breaches, and hefty fines.
To ensure Jobandtalent could remain safe and compliant while scaling rapidly, it had to find a CISO who could architect a security system to protect company applications, communications, and resources from external and internal risks.
What’s the best CISO profile for a fast-growing tech company?
We knew a promising scale-up with 33 investors like Jobandtalent needed to find help fast. And they couldn’t afford to make mistakes.
The right CISO for Jobandtalent would ensure quick integration with the company and efficient goal delivery. But a perfect CISO required more than specific industry experience, professional security management certifications, and company-required certification knowledge.
The right Jobandtalent CISO needed to be:
- Senior yet very hands-on.
- Highly motivated yet agile.
- Self-driven while knowing how to build trust with the leadership team.
- Able in promoting security throughout the organisation.
- Capable of translating complex concepts to different levels of understanding.
Above all, a Jobandtalent CISO needed the right culture fit and a growth mindset – a person with proven leadership experience in a rapid-growth, highly fluid tech scale-up about to break out in various countries.
We knew exactly how to find the right match.
How Nederlia found Jobandtalent the perfect CISO fast
Here’s how we delivered the perfect CISO for Jobandtalent in just under 2 months:
Alignment
We had a small expert team sit down with Jobandtalent’s chief of staff (COS) to qualify the CISO position. Then, we summarised the role in a Word document and shared it with the COS to confirm we were on the same page.
We then ran a sample search by collecting LinkedIn profiles, which we then shared with the company. This method allowed us to verify if our example candidates were completely aligned with Jobandtalent’s expectations or if we needed to tweak profile characteristics.
Identification
After adjusting our profile sample based on Jobandtalent feedback, we ran a second search to create a longlist.
We studied tech companies with similar features to Jobandtalent such as:
- Large data streams.
- Rapidly growing startup environment.
- About to or already gone through an IPO.
From this initial company selection, we then searched for suitable profiles within those companies and created a list of our first candidates. We included candidates regardless of whether they were openly looking for a new position.
Screening
We reached out and spoke to 12 initial candidates via video calls. Our screening process included:
- Qualifying hard and soft skills.
- Understanding the candidate’s motivation.
- Discovering their salary expectations.
- Sharing information about the position and the company.
We didn’t push candidates at this stage to avoid presenting anyone who may not be ready and potentially waste our client’s valuable time.
Instead, we asked the candidates who passed the screening process to think about the opportunity and get back to us within a couple of days.
Presentation and selection
After the 2-day deadline, we created a shortlist of 7 vetted candidates who confirmed they wanted to go forward.
We shared their profiles, CV, and background information with Jobandtalent. We then organised the selection process for the company:
- First interview: the candidate meets with the CTO.
- Second interview: the candidate meets with the platform VP.
- Third interview: the candidate meets with the CMO.
- Fourth interview: the candidate submits a business case and discusses it at a round table with the CTO, CMO and platform VP.
- Fifth interview: the candidate meets the CEO.
Facilitation and support
After each interview stage, we asked for feedback from the candidate and the company to understand if both wanted to move forward with the selection process.
For example, after the first interview, we prepared the candidate and gave them more information about the next interview. This allowed us to gauge the candidate’s engagement while also representing Jobandtalent in a professional way.
Whenever there were doubts from either side, we made sure to guide and handhold the candidates through the process. We did this not only to prepare the candidate but understand if there were underlying, hidden factors at play.
We wanted to discover if:
- Candidates’ interests had changed.
- Their salary expectations remained the same.
- They were in another recruitment process.
- Their timeline still aligned with the company’s.
Our method ensured we presented Jobandtalent with a candidate who was fully committed to the recruitment process and wouldn’t have backed down at the last minute. We knew time and expertise were crucial and made sure we delivered motivated candidates in every step of the selection process.
Jobandtalent’s IT security is now in good hands
Out of the seven candidates we presented to Jobandtalent, three made it to the fourth round and presented a business case. Jobandtalent considered two of these candidates, then one was selected. The entire process from qualifying the role to placing the candidate lasted about 60 days.
Jobandtalent can now rest assured that its IT security and GRC are under control. The new CISO currently works fully remote from the U.K. and is helping one of the fastest-growing start-ups in Europe to scale its business securely and compliantly across the globe.
“Nederlia ran the process of finding our Chief Information Security Offer. Their expert advice was invaluable at every stage: from candidate shortlist all the way through to making the final offer. Throughout the process, they adapted particularly well to our way of working and we managed to synchronize beyond expectations. We will 100% work with Nederlia again and would thoroughly recommend partnering with them to hire Executive Leaders who’ll make a real impact.” – Ramón Egea Hernansanz, Head of Tech Talent Acquisition at Jobandtalent
Find your next C-level hire with Nederlia
Finding your next C-suite hire doesn’t have to be difficult or slow when you work with the right executive search service.
As leadership recruitment specialists for high-growth tech companies, we know only experts with the right cultural fit, skills, and experience in startup and scale-up environments will do. And we know how to find them fast thanks to our industry knowledge, skilled recruiters, proven processes, and streamlined approach.
Contact us today to start your executive search.
