Case Study

Regional Manager – mining services group, South Africa

Scenario

The client is a fast growing mining services group based in Perth, Australia. The business is an ASX listed group and is currently undergoing extensive global expansion as they become a true global player across industrial products, global procurement and supply chain and project logistics services. Currently, offices are located in Australia and the UK and the business is planning to open offices in South Africa and China. The company has a strong balance sheet and increased revenue by 46% in the last financial year.
The key challenges for the role were:
  • Establishment of new South Africa office location
  • Building a supplier base in South Africa
  • Servicing African and Aus/UK client base
  • Developing supply chain operations for Africa
The client was specifically looking to recruit someone with technical product knowledge of drilling, mining equipment and consumables (MRO and industrial product groups) experience in Africa. As regional manager this person would drive the organisation’s Africa strategy and grow a team of suitable employees.
The organisation had previously worked with Michael Page in Australia and as a result, they approached the South African business and agreed to a retained assignment.

Solution

Due to a tight interview schedule and pre-agreed interview dates, there was a limited amount of time allocated towards sourcing and screening suitable candidates. Fortunately, there were a number of active candidates on the database with the right skill set, so the first step was to speak with existing candidates and ask for industry referrals. Coupled with tools such as web advertising, LinkedIn and local career portals, we were able to provide the client with a shortlist comprising of six suitably qualified candidates, two of whom were working on similar projects and based in North Africa.
Within three weeks from the date of our briefing, five interviews had been arranged with the Group’s MD, who had flown into South Africa for this purpose.

Outcome

The role was presented to Michael Page International on 10th January, we had reached an agreement on a retained assignment by 17th January and subsequently two of the five candidates were presented with offers by 24th February.