Interim CFO Recruitment for a B2B Utility Business
9 April 2026
Form the West Wing to The Board Room
9 May 2026
COO Successor Executive Search Case Study
Douglas Jackson was engaged by the CEO of a fast growing business services outsourcer to conduct a confidential search for a newly created Head of Strategic Planning role with a clear succession path to the Chief Operating Officer role.
The organisation had grown through a series of acquisitions and was planning to scale significantly over the following five years.
That growth had created complexity.
Processes and procedures were not fully centralised, leadership capability was inconsistent across the senior management team, and the business needed greater strategic and operational focus.
Search at a glance
Sector: Business Services / Outsourcing
Role: Head of Strategic Planning – COO Designate
Level: Senior Leadership / COO Succession
Search Type: Confidential Executive Search
Key Challenge: Build operational capability for rapid growth and identify a potential future COO
Outcome: Successful appointment from a five person final shortlist
The Challenge
The business had reached an inflection point.
Growth through acquisition had created a number of operational challenges, including inconsistent processes, fragmented procedures and gaps in senior management capability.
The organisation needed a leader who could create a more coherent operating model and put the foundations in place for significant future scale.
The brief was not simply to improve current operations.
The successful candidate would be expected to work closely with the CEO and CFO to shape the operational vision, strategy and planning required to transform the organisation into a more performance led, quality driven business capable of delivering double and potentially triple digit growth.
Crucially, the individual also needed to have the potential to succeed into a future Chief Operating Officer role and within a very short period post appointment, if all went well.
What the Role Needed to Deliver
The brief included responsibility for:
- Setting the operational vision and strategy
- Designing and implementing change initiatives
- Developing and coaching the management team
- Using data, MI and insight to identify operational improvements
- Embedding a stronger performance culture
- Improving processes and service levels
- Strengthening communication across the organisation
- Using customer feedback and insight to enhance customer experience
This made the role much broader than traditional strategic planning.
It required a future focused operator capable of building the infrastructure, leadership capability and performance disciplines needed for scale.
A Confidential Search
The assignment needed to be conducted under the radar and in the strictest confidence.
Douglas Jackson worked under NDA and maintained confidentiality throughout the initial market engagement.
The identity of the organisation was not disclosed to prospective candidates until CV submission stage, once an NDA had been signed.
Defining the Leadership Profile
Douglas Jackson met with the CEO and CFO several times to refine the search and build a clear picture of the leadership profile required.
Because cultural and behavioural fit were considered as important as technical experience, job-fit analysis and behavioural assessment were incorporated into the process.
This helped the client assess not only who could perform the role immediately, but who had the potential to develop into the future COO the organisation would eventually require.
Mapping the Market
The search was geographically focused within approximately two hours of the organisation’s primary site.
Although the assignment began during the early stages of the pandemic, the development of the head office and future growth around that location meant proximity remained important.
This added another layer of complexity to the market mapping exercise.
Douglas Jackson developed a detailed longlist and reviewed the market with both the CEO and CFO, giving the leadership team visibility of the available talent and helping them understand the shape of the market before moving to shortlist.
Shortlist and Final Selection
Five candidates were presented on the final shortlist.
All five progressed to first-stage face to face meetings, with three selected for the final stage.
One of those three was offered the position and accepted.
The successful candidate remained in post for more than a year at the time the original case study was produced.
Client Feedback
The CEO, Tim Morris, commented:
“We found what we know is the ideal person for the job. Having had many years of working with recruitment consultants, this has probably been the best result that I’ve come up with.”
What This Demonstrates
This assignment demonstrates the value of hiring for future capability rather than simply today’s vacancy.
The organisation did not just need a Head of Strategic Planning.
It needed somebody capable of:
- Professionalising operations after acquisition-led growth
- Creating a scalable operating model
- Strengthening management capability
- Embedding greater performance discipline
- Using data and insight to improve decision-making
- Working closely with the CEO and CFO
- Eventually stepping into broader COO leadership
By defining that succession requirement from the outset, the search could assess candidates against both immediate delivery and longer term leadership potential.
Planning for COO Succession?
Douglas Jackson works with CEOs, Boards and investors appointing senior Operations, Transformation and Strategy leaders with the capability to scale organisations and step into broader enterprise leadership.
We help clients assess what the next phase of the business genuinely requires — whether that means an immediate COO appointment or identifying the leader capable of becoming one.
Talk to us about your next COO or operational leadership appointment →
