Chief Executive Officer and Sales Director to lead KPN Mobile International’s operations in Spain
KPN is the leading telecommunications and ICT service provider in the Netherlands, offering wireline and wireless telephony, internet and TV to consumers, and end-to-end telecom and ICT services to business customers.
In other countries in Europe, including Spain, KPN pursues a multi-brand strategy in its mobile operations through KPN Mobile International.
Bruce Humphreys, KPN Mobile International’s Chief Human Resources Officer in Brussels, briefed Spectrum to search for a world-class Chief Executive in Madrid, with the objective of further enhancing KPN’s ‘challenger’ position in the Spanish market.
The search requirement was for a highly experienced CEO with a successful track record of business growth and value creation within the Spanish consumer telecommunications marketplace, and for this person to also represent a strong cultural fit to the entrepreneurial approach to business followed by KPN Mobile International. They also had to be sufficiently global in mentality to represent a good ‘fit’ into a multinational corporation.
Spectrum conducted market and candidate research from London, and exploratory meetings with potentially interested candidates were then conducted locally in Madrid.
A long list was then interviewed by the Chief Human Resources Officer, with the first round of interviews commencing less than two weeks after the search had begun.
Candidates were continually interviewed over the following weeks in Madrid and Brussels. The final three candidates met with KPN Mobile International’s CEO, Stan Miller, and the preferred candidate was offered and subsequently accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer, KPN España.
As a result of the CEO search process, an additional candidate was identified who would make an excellent Sales Director for the client, and he was subsequently offered, and accepted the position of Sales Director, KPN España.
When we started our new MVNO operation in Spain we had to recruit some key executives that had to match some stringent requirements, as well as being local. Bearing in mind less successful attempts, we talked to Daniel who assured us he would find the right profile. Following a short but effective search, Daniel came up with the right candidates, which were instrumental in our success in Spain. I can recommend Spectrum to anyone who wants a quality job done in a demanding environment.
Bruce Humphreys, former Chief Human Resources Officer, KPN Mobile International
This was a particularly interesting assignment for Spectrum to conduct for two primary reasons: 1) KPN Mobile International’s corporate culture was unusual in that it was highly entrepreneurial and dynamic, and 2) the number of suitable domestic candidates, in terms of their international outlook, commercial pedigree and successful track record of growing business value and realising it in the Spanish telecoms market, was very limited because of the market dominance of the national incumbent. However, we were successful in identifying that small number of candidates, and KPN were able to hire the very best of them to lead the commercial development of their operations in Spain.
Daniel Osmer, Managing Partner, Spectrum
Case Study Overview
Client:
Work Completed
Chief Executive Officer and Sales Director recruitment for Spanish operations
Consultant
Daniel Osmer