Context

A market-leading European consumer business, operating across multiple brands and geographies. The business was moving through an active acquisition and consolidation programme, bringing several recently integrated entities under a single operating model across the wider region. With that scale came heightened regulatory exposure and an urgent need to embed a unified approach to governance, risk, and compliance across the combined organisation.

The Mandate

Identify and secure a Director of Governance, Risk & Compliance to lead the newly consolidated structure. The successful candidate needed to combine multi-jurisdictional GRC expertise, the credibility to influence a recently combined executive team, and the pragmatism to design a unified control framework without slowing the integration agenda.

Our Approach

Working in close partnership with the client's leadership team, we aligned early on the specification — prioritising M&A integration experience, depth in EU regulatory frameworks, and demonstrated fluency across enterprise risk, internal audit, and compliance disciplines. Every candidate was assessed against a structured, scored framework covering technical expertise, integration leadership, cultural agility, and change delivery.

The Outcome

Within a compressed search window, we delivered a shortlist of high-conviction Director-level candidates, each fully vetted and ready to engage. The client hired from the shortlist in a rapid and focused process.