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Global Petro-chemical company - APAC Chief Administration Officer
With the intention of executing an aggressive M&A strategy throughout the Asia Pacific region, the client needed an experienced Chief Administration Officer who could rebuild and implement a broader HR and administration function throughout the APAC organization.
The client was a world-wide operator and a leading global brand in petro-chemicals, specializing in fine and specialized chemicals and specialized petro-chemical products in Japan. Operations in Japan consisted of sales and marketing functions with some refining facilities.
The client was looking to establish a proper HR function within their Japanese organization which had between 150 to 200 people. Up until that point, a member of the sales and planning team had been covering the HR function and the incoming president from France, who had long experience in the APAC region, realized that a HR professional was needed to implement structured human resource management systems. The company’s objectives in Japan also involved the Asia Pacific region and in the next 3 to 5 years the company intended to make several acquisitions of their competitor’s specialist petro-chemical divisions within the region. The HR Manager’s responsibility was more than likely going to expand into Asia Pacific as the merger activity continued.
Upon consulting the client, Optia’s Partner for HR recruiting was able to quickly ascertain the type of candidate who would be suitable for the role. Three candidates were chosen and met from the initial five resumes presented. It quickly became apparent that one of the candidates who had recently obtained his MBA from an internationally recognized university would be the most applicable and appropriate. His career ambitions also matched the role and he was interested in working for a multi-national firm with a chance to expand his experience on an APAC scale.
The candidate was offered the role, however to the client’s surprise and disappointment, was counter offered by his existing company and decided not to take the position. This put a stop to the momentum of the project and the position was put on hold until further instructions were received from corporate headquarters.
Optia Partners kept in contact with the client and 2 months later corporate headquarters decided to upgrade the position. Now the title was Chief Administrative Officer which would not only include implementation and management of all HR functions for the Japanese office, but to also oversee the whole APAC region.
The Optia consultant re-adjusted the parameters of the search to now identify a more experienced and internationalized candidate who could handle the entire APAC region. Fortunately he was recently in touch with such a candidate who was looking for this kind of role. The candidate had a background in a consulting firm, experience as a HR Director at a global IT company, strong communication skills in English and Japanese and experience in administration as well as HR. At the candidate’s request, a first informal lunch meeting with the client was organized. The initial impression from the President was very positive and he wanted to focus on securing this particular candidate. Second and third meetings with other members of the management team were organized and executives were flown in from headquarters. The candidate was also in demand from other companies and by the time the interview process was over, he had offers from two other companies additionally. After a tense week of negotiations and discussions the candidate chose the position with our client, citing that the depth and range of responsibility was more appealing and challenging than the other offers.
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