A narrow field, and no margin for a near-enough hire.
The role needed a genuine specialist, and the local pool of people who could actually do it was small. A scattergun search would have produced volume but not the right person, and the cost of getting it wrong was high.
The brief to K2 was to find the few credible candidates who existed, assess them properly, and give the organisation a shortlist it could trust.
A targeted search, run on evidence rather than reach.
We mapped the specialist market precisely, approached the people who actually fit, and ran each through the same recorded, structured assessment — so a short list was a credible list, not a padded one.
- 01
Mapped the market & calibrated competencies
Defined exactly what the role required before approaching anyone, so the search targeted genuine fit in a narrow field.
- 02
Recorded, structured interviews
Every candidate met the same framework, recorded with consent, so even a small field was compared consistently.
- 03
Competency-mapped reports
Each recommendation came as evidence the organisation could rely on — not a CV with a covering note.
- 04
Mid-campaign calibration checkpoint
We recalibrated against what the market was telling us, and kept the brief realistic without dropping the bar.
"In a market this small, we expected one option if we were lucky. We got four credible ones, each properly assessed."
A short list that was actually a strong list.
The targeted search surfaced four credible candidates in a market most assumed was empty — each assessed on the evidence — and the organisation made its appointment with confidence, at the fixed fee agreed up front.
