When One Search Led to Three Appointments
A search for one Operational Risk executive led the client to consider a broader range of leadership possibilities. After meeting five candidates from different professional backgrounds, the organisation created three separate positions and appointed three of them.
The Situation
A major financial institution appointed Third Eye to search for an Executive Vice President in Operational Risk. The mandate required someone capable of strengthening the organisation’s risk framework, developing a stronger risk culture and advising senior management on emerging operational risks.
Looking Beyond the Obvious Market
The initial search covered senior professionals within banking, but the available market presented limitations. Many experienced banking executives had spent much of their careers with the same institution and were not open to moving. Others possessed relevant technical experience but did not demonstrate the leadership presence required for the appointment.
Third Eye therefore extended the search into consulting, insurance, energy and other risk intensive industries. The search was not broadened indiscriminately. Each sector was assessed to determine which experience could transfer effectively into banking and which remained too specialised. The focus was on candidates who could bring a valuable new perspective while meeting the leadership and stakeholder demands of a regulated financial institution.
A Considered Range of Candidates
Five candidates were presented from different professional backgrounds. Rather than offering several versions of the same profile, the selection allowed the client to consider complementary capabilities across enterprise risk management, business continuity, governance, technology risk, compliance and organisational change.
The candidates demonstrated how experience developed outside conventional banking roles could be applied to different aspects of the institution’s Operational Risk function.
The Outcome
The client initially intended to make one appointment. After considering the range of experience presented, it created three separate positions and appointed three of the five candidates.
Each brought a different area of expertise, allowing the institution to strengthen the function more broadly than originally anticipated. What began as a search for one executive became an opportunity to build a more diverse and complementary leadership capability.
The outcome also strengthened the client’s confidence in Third Eye, leading to five further EVP level search mandates.
A considered search does not limit the client to a predetermined answer. By presenting credible candidates from different backgrounds, it can reveal possibilities that were not apparent when the original mandate was defined.