The Company
Lisa was engaged on a major Executive Search project for Power Network Operator – who are responsible for maintaining and upgrading 13,000 km of overhead power lines, more than 44,000 km of underground electricity cables and so much more. This covers the diverse communities between the beautiful Lake District landscapes to the bustling city of Manchester and all the wonderful towns and villages located in-between.
Their network in the Northwest is one of the most reliable in the country, and they are investing £1.7bn between 2023-28 to ensure they continue to deliver an excellent, safe and affordable service to customers.
The challenge
The business needed someone to take responsibility for their approach to DSO transition, including management of teams to develop their engagement and communications strategy, their flexibility strategy and for the management of commercial and contractual arrangements, whilst maintaining high levels of network reliability at all times.
This role was an important appointment that would require networking both across the business and at industry level, representing the business’s interests on the industry working groups and in discussions with Government, Ofgem and key national and regional stakeholders.
The solution
- 6-week turnaround
- Approached 87 potential candidates
- Throughout the process held weekly progress meetings with the client
- Created, profiled and presented a longlist of 8 energy industry professionals
- Shortlisted 2 candidates who went forward to interview
The result
This role was hard to fill. Firstly because of the small talent pool of candidates that understand the Distribution Network Operations space, and secondly it was difficult to find someone strategic enough to take this new service to market.
However, Lisa successfully found their new DSO Commercial Strategy Manager, someone who was strategic, an innovative commercial leader with the ability to transform strategic growth through building client relationships, partnerships and customer advocacy.
The successful candidate was an extremely knowledgeable utilities professional, possessing energy, integrity and a passion to genuinely champion the customer as well as to deliver strong results.
