The Search Statistics
- Number of days to the first round of resumes: 6
- Number of candidates considered: 10
- Number of candidates interviewed: 4
- Number of business days to complete the search: 25
The Search
The Board of this newly-formed company approved the investment to build and launch the business by hiring a CPO. The objective was to keep the business lean and agile with a distributed model of remote teams. This CPO role was unique as they would be employee number one and report directly into the Board. Their mandate, as CPO, was to take over a product in an MVP stage and build it into a scalable product ready for release.
The Client
Our client is a startup backed by a large financial institution, developing a self-serve insurance platform app for international markets. The company’s mission and purpose is to help build wealth for all citizens in an under-served market by protecting their assets through appropriate insurance and helping to grow their assets through prudent investment management.
Search Requirements
We were seeking a product management leader with experience launching a successful consumer experience to millions of users. We were also seeking a leader willing to be an individual contributor until the business was ready to begin adding headcount. While the ideal candidate would have financial services background, this was less important than experience with a successful consumer facing product.
The Hire
This hire had over 18 years of employment experience, 6 of which were spent managing two high profile digital products used by millions of Canadians. This hire also had experience launching net-new consumer experiences across web and mobile, 8 years experience in the financial services industry, and is considered a subject matter expert in mobile banking products. Their ability to re-image and release products through teams working in agile pods of Product Managers, Designers and Engineers was one of the key attributes needed to be successful in this role.
“When hiring our first CPO, we were looking to branch out beyond our network. The Martyn Bassett Associates team was able to source candidates that we were wanting, but unable to get on our own. We were presented with a wide range of fantastic candidates.”