Click Here for Case Studies “As a venture-backed technology company, we were running at full speed and needed to know that the ultimate candidates chosen would possess the skills and experience necessary to hit the ground running. The team at McDermott & Bull conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism and provided a formal yet urgent approach to the search process. We strongly believe in the retained search process and would enthusiastically recommend McDermott & Bull.” Gary Hallgren - Chief Operating Officer Wireless Car “We were moving aggressively into networking and wireless products and needed a senior manager that could develop a new product line from start to finish, and have it on retail shelves in 90-120 days.This included working with contract manufacturers, component development companies, engineering companies,and fulfillment and distribution firms. McDermott & Bull found a slate of candidates for us to choose in about 40 days, and we ended up making the offer to a candidate with direct experience with our types of products, and demonstrated success doing exactly what we needed.” Van Andrews - CEO US Robotics. “Our company consisted of engineers focused on developing next generation wireless semiconductor products.We retained the principals of McDermott & Bull to recruit a Vice President of Business Development and Marketing to take our technology to the customer segments and ensure we were on target with our development effort. McDermott & Bull brought us an individual who came directly out of the market we were targeting. Their candidate was able to open the doors to a large percent of our target customers within a short period of time, bringing back significant market information that has guided our product development effort.” Shahriar Sadri - CEO Morpho Technologies “Please ignore all of those things I said during our early discussions. It is clear to me now that we could never have found a quality candidate such as the person we hired without your able assistance. The candidates you presented (in very short order I might add) were all top quality. I also appreciated your input during the hiring negotiations with the candidate; you smoothed the process on both sides and represented our firm like we were a Fortune 500 company. Good job all around!” David B. Jones - Chairman Dartron, Inc. “We were able to interview three of the four finalists within 40 days of launching the search, and McDermott & Bull had the entire group ready to meet with the management team from our Lithuania plant when they visited our headquarters just 60 days after the search was launched. We were pleased with all four finalists, and were able to hire a candidate who brought all of the unique and targeted experience that we needed. I wouldn't hesitate to use their professional services again.” Michael D. Cannon - President Biotechnology Division, EVP, SICOR Inc. CASE STUDIES: The Problem: Small talent pool and under qualified active candidates. The Solution: McDermott & Bull principals put their unique retained search process to work on this recruiting challenge. We targeted over 100 companies within parallel industries, all within a 60-mile radius of our client. Through our diligent recruiting and screening efforts, we found a slate of candidates in the “been there, done that” category. All had significant experience commercializing computer-related products from concept to global distribution. The Problem: A Fortune 100 company needed someone with an “entrepreneurial” mindset for their new division. Our multinational aerospace client was launching a service that was so unique, no one else had successfully commercialized anything close to it. Technical challenges were great, not to mention the challenge of significantly changing consumer behavior. They needed a Vice President of Global Sales who could design a winning sales strategy and recruit, train and lead the initial sales team. As important, this person had to build a nimble, entrepreneurial group while working within the established corporate culture of a Fortune 100 company. The Solution: McDermott & Bull principals used their experience from other similar searches to develop the compensation plan, and then created a descriptive position specification that would attract the right candidates without giving away any trade secrets. They then targeted over 150 candidates that had successfully built new sales organizations selling products and services similar to our client’s. Within 45 days, our client’s senior management team interviewed our slate of five outstanding candidates, ranked them, and ultimately gave the nod to the top ranked candidate. The Problem: Find a candidate in the next 60 days with significant telecomm industry knowledge and a readily accessible Rolodex. An Asian manufacturer of wireless phones was beginning an aggressive expansion into the Americas. Profitability hinged on securing annual unit volume in excess of 1MM pieces. To achieve that goal, they needed a business unit GM/Business Development executive with extensive knowledge of the industry along with a strong and accessible network of industry contacts. The launch was targeted for January, and we were given the assignment in November. The Solution: Due to the time constraints, McDermott & Bull assigned two research teams and two consultants to the search. The team identified 150 candidates with domain experience. Their rigorous screening identified 5 finalists who had successfully launched new products into the wireless system operators. The GM of the business unit in Asia interviewed all five and narrowed the pool to two finalists who were flown to Asia just prior to Christmas. The selected candidate had extensive experience throughout South and North America, speaks English, Spanish and passable Portuguese, and “hit the ground running” just after the first of the year. The Problem: Recruit the first non-related senior manager for a family-owned business. Our client, a large, family-owned food company, had set out a goal of tripling their business over the next five years. They knew that they needed a professional manager to achieve those objectives, however, recruiting an outsider at the senior management level was still a sensitive issue to most family members. They retained our firm to recruit a COO, with the intention of promoting that candidate to CEO within a few years. The Solution: Our search strategy centered on finding someone with industry knowledge. As important, we sought someone who could work effectively in the family-owned business culture. We also targeted candidates with a track record of achieving aggressive growth. We helped the client structure a compensation plan that would attract a candidate to this unique opportunity while providing a performance-based component that satisfied the concerns of the family members. The final plan which attracted a highly qualified candidate included “phantom” equity rights, relocation assistance, commuting expense reimbursement, and a competitive pay plan that leveraged 30% of the total compensation plus the equity appreciation rights against the attainment of complicated MBOs. The Problem: Reorganize senior management to move through Chapter 11. A fifty-plus year old national specialty store retail chain entered Chapter 11 and its relatively new CEO recognized that significant senior management reorganization was paramount in resurrecting the company and moving it through the bankruptcy process. This venerable chain had antiquated systems, minimal operating best practices, and was in danger of having significant morale problems quickly manifest into further performance declines. The Solution: One of our principal consultants, with more than 20 years of retail senior management experience, met extensively with the CEO, venture capital partners and the VP of Human Resources to define the challenges in short, medium and long-range time frames. Next, a thorough analysis of functional expertise and needs was completed. The client initially believed their primary requirement was for a COO. Upon collaborative problem-solving, we helped the company redefine its needs from a COO search to searches for a CFO with strong operating experience, a Controller with extensive team and functional assessment skills capable of recreating the entire function, and a seasoned Director of Stores who has managed field executives through adverse situations. Within 80 days, each position was filled with professionals who were currently employed at other specialty store retail chains. In using this strategy, the client was able to promote a COO from within, to be guided by the operations experienced CFO, thus, sending a strong retention message throughout its organization while bringing in the seasoned, visionary senior management leadership needed to emerge from bankruptcy as a successful, profitable retailer. The Problem: Recruit a seasoned regulatory professional to take on a 6 to 9 month assignment in Lithuania and lead US regulatory strategy for the biotech division. Our client established the foundation of their biotech strategy when they purchased a biotech manufacturer in Vilnius, Lithuania. They wanted to capitalize on the investment quickly, and the first step to that challenge was to bring in a strong regulatory professional who could bring the plant up to FDA standards and hire and train the QA staff for the facility. Once that project was completed, the candidate would be in the US developing the regulatory strategy, which included introduction of the first generic biotech drugs. The Solution: Time was of the essence, so we assigned a double team of researchers, under the direction of the leader for our healthcare/life sciences practice to expedite the process. Due to the international relocation and extensive travel requirements, we targeted a large universe of over 240 regulatory professionals from the biotech industry. Within 40 days, we had identified and screened 4 finalists and coordinated their final interviews with the Lithuanian management team that was in the US for a brief visit. All the finalists had international and plant inspection experience. The selected candidate had written policy for the Center for Biologics Review (CBER) and had conducted 12 plant inspections. She also had extensive experience building a QA team and strong leadership and business skills.