Chief Customer Officer Recruitment for a Utilities Business

A retained executive search for a Chief Customer Officer within a private, PE-backed Water business navigating ownership uncertainty, major customer and digital priorities, and preparation for the next AMP period.

The role was business critical: the successful leader needed to manage customer strategy, stakeholder relationships, social purpose, communications, smart metering, revenue collection and debt recovery, while helping the organisation navigate potential ownership change and increased public scrutiny.

The Challenge

Douglas Jackson had an established relationship with the business through previous senior leadership appointments and ongoing sector insight work with the CEO.

When the incumbent Chief Customer Officer decided to leave, Holly Beeston was asked to lead a retained search for a successor during a period of significant uncertainty.

The brief was unusually broad. The new Chief Customer Officer needed to:

• lead customer strategy and the wider customer function
• navigate potential ownership and shareholder change
• support preparation for the next AMP period
• lead significant digital and smart metering initiatives
• strengthen customer trust and transparency
• shape social purpose and community engagement
• improve customer service and commercial performance
• support revenue collection and debt recovery

The business also wanted to improve diversity and identify candidates with genuine succession potential, while balancing Utilities experience with broader regulated-sector expertise.

What Made This Search Difficult

This was not simply a replacement appointment.

The business was operating in a highly scrutinised sector, customer trust was low, ownership was uncertain and the incoming leader would need to manage both immediate operational priorities and longer-term strategic change.

The successful candidate therefore needed a rare combination of customer leadership, commercial awareness, stakeholder influence, regulatory understanding and the ability to operate effectively through ambiguity.

That section is important because it tells a hiring manager why this was a hard search, not just what the job description said.

Our Approach

Holly worked closely with the CEO, Group HR Director, Head of Recruitment and the outgoing Chief Customer Officer to understand the role, team dynamics, strategic context and behavioural requirements.

Once the brief and behavioural profile had been agreed, Douglas Jackson conducted a cross-sector retained search.

The search included:

• market mapping across Utilities and other regulated sectors
• outreach to high-performing and award-winning customer leaders
• identification of ascending talent with succession potential
• recommendations and referrals across established networks
• use of external networks including WiCX and WUN
• behavioural and psychometric assessment

An initial longlist of more than 150 individuals was created.

From that group, 10 candidates completed behavioural profiling, with six presented as the initial shortlist alongside supporting evidence and a tailored interview guide.

Five progressed to first stage interviews, and four reached final-stage face-to-face meetings.

The Outcome

The campaign was completed on time and within budget, with the successful candidate accepting the role.

The strongest part of this case study is the client feedback, so I would definitely feature it prominently.

At shortlist stage, the CEO said:

“That’s the first time in a number of years that I’ve come into this sort of conversation and haven’t raised my eyebrows when it comes to candidates that have been presented to me.”

“I’ve been impressed with your professionalism, calmness, preparation, communication and thoughtful approach.”

And the HR Director quote is excellent commercially:

“Knowing it has been in safe hands when we have been so busy has meant it is one thing we have not had to worry about.”

What This Demonstrates

• Chief Customer Officer recruitment
• Utilities executive search
• Water sector leadership
• Customer and commercial transformation
• Smart metering and digital leadership
• Regulated-sector recruitment
• Succession planning
• Diverse talent identification
• Behavioural and psychometric assessment
• Executive stakeholder management

Hiring a Chief Customer Officer or senior Customer leader in Utilities?

Douglas Jackson works with CEOs, Boards and senior leadership teams across Energy, Water and regulated services to appoint Chief Customer Officers and senior leaders across Customer, Operations, Transformation, Strategy, Insight and Analytics.

We help organisations identify leaders who can improve customer outcomes, strengthen trust, navigate regulatory complexity and deliver commercial performance.

Talk to us about your next leadership appointment →

Utilities Executive Search
Chief Customer Officer Recruitment
Retained Executive Search