HELPING AN EV SCALE-UP MAKE THE RIGHT DATA LEADERSHIP HIRE
A high-growth EV business was preparing to hire its first Chief Data Officer. As the organisation scaled and data became increasingly important to future growth, leadership believed a CDO would provide the strategic capability needed to support the next stage of the journey.
Before entering the market, they engaged Practicus through our Advisory Service to ensure they were solving the right problem before making a significant leadership hire.
The Challenge
The business was experiencing increasing complexity as it continued to grow:
- Operations were scaling rapidly
- Commercial requirements were becoming more sophisticated
- Data was playing a more critical role in decision-making
- Leadership believed a Chief Data Officer was the logical next hire
- There was uncertainty around whether the organisation was ready for CDO-level leadership
The challenge wasn’t finding a senior data leader, it was understanding what capability the business genuinely needed at its current stage of growth.
The Goal
The objective was to define the right leadership requirement before going to market:
- Assess organisational data maturity
- Understand immediate business needs
- Determine whether strategic or hands-on capability was required
- Align leadership investment with growth stage
- Reduce the risk of over-hiring
Our Approach
We worked closely with the CEO and CFO through a series of advisory conversations designed to challenge assumptions and create clarity around the requirement.
This included:
Assessing the organisation’s current data maturity
Evaluating strategic ambitions against operational foundations
Reviewing internal capability, structure and leadership needs
Benchmarking data leadership profiles across similar growth-stage organisations
Facilitating discussions with experienced Chief Data Advisors
Rather than starting with a job title, we focused on understanding the outcomes the business needed to achieve.
What Changed
Through the advisory process, a key insight emerged.
While the organisation had ambitious plans for its future data capability, it had not yet reached the point where a board-level Chief Data Officer would deliver the greatest value. The business required a hands-on data leader capable of building robust foundations while supporting immediate operational and commercial priorities.
This shifted the brief significantly. Instead of pursuing a CDO, the business moved forward with a Head of Data role better aligned to its current needs and growth stage.
Building for Growth
With the brief refined, the organisation was able to secure a high-calibre Head of Data who could deliver immediate impact while creating a pathway for future leadership growth.
The outcome provided:
- The right level of capability for the business today
- A strong development pathway for the successful candidate
- Flexibility to scale data leadership in the future
- A more commercially efficient solution
What We Learned
One of the most common mistakes growing businesses make is assuming the most senior title is always the right answer but in reality, the best hiring decisions are driven by organisational readiness, capability requirements and growth stage. The strongest outcomes occur when businesses take the time to define the problem before defining the hire.
The Outcome
The advisory process enabled the organisation to make a more informed leadership decision before entering the market.
Key outcomes included:
- Placed a high-calibre Head of Data aligned to growth stage
- £40,000 annual salary saving
- Secured exactly the capability the business required
- Created a strong development pathway for the successful candidate
- Positioned the organisation to scale data leadership at the right time
Before vs After
Before:
- Planning to hire a Chief Data Officer
- Uncertainty around organisational readiness
- Risk of over-investing in senior leadership
- Leadership requirement based largely on future-state ambitions
After:
- Appointed a Head of Data aligned to current requirements
- Greater clarity around leadership capability needed
- Reduced annual salary cost by £40,000
- Clear pathway for future data leadership growth
Key Takeaway
The smartest hire isn’t always the most senior title and by taking time to refine the brief before entering the market, this EV scale-up avoided over-hiring, reduced costs and secured the data leadership capability it needed for its current stage of growth.
Getting the brief right is often the most valuable step in the entire hiring process.
Thinking about a leadership hire?
Before deciding who to hire, it’s worth understanding what capability your business actually needs.
Our Advisory Service helps organisations:
- Assess organisational readiness
- Define leadership requirements
- Align capability with growth stage
- Reduce the risk of costly hiring decisions
Sometimes the biggest value comes before the search even begins.