Client

A global BFSI enterprise (multi-brand, acquisition-led growth) with a centralized marketing function supporting multiple business lines and regions.

The Ask

The client didn’t want a “PPC person.”

They needed an omnichannel performance marketer who could operate across:

• Paid promotions (multi-platform performance)
• LinkedIn marketing (paid + audience strategy + exec-level messaging alignment)
• Curated PR pushes (earned + sponsored amplification)
• Online Reputation Management (ORM) using tools like Cision / Meltwater
  …and do it all while working directly with the CMO.

This role sat at the intersection of performance + communications + brand risk, which is why it stayed open.

The Problem

Internally, the role had been open for ~3 months with no confident shortlist.

Two reasons:

1. The title was misleading (it sounded like PPC/programmatic, but wasn’t).
2. The success criteria were cross-functional and high-stakes (exec-facing, reputation-sensitive, and acquisition-context heavy).

Most candidates were either:

• strong in paid, weak in PR/ORM, or
• strong in PR, weak in performance rigor, or
• too tactical to operate with a CMO.

Our Approach

We treated this like a role calibration problem, not a sourcing problem.

Step 1: Map the role in the marketing ecosystem
We quickly clarified:

• Where this person sits relative to Brand, Corp Comms, Growth, and Regional Marketing
• The decision velocity required (CMO cadence)
• The “failure modes” (brand risk, acquisition messaging inconsistency, wasted spend)

Step 2: Define ROI + measurable outcomes
Instead of vague “omnichannel ownership,” we anchored the role around outcomes like:

• improving efficiency of paid channels while maintaining brand safety
• coordinating amplification around reputation-sensitive narratives
• managing consistency across acquired brands and public perception
• building a repeatable playbook that integrated paid + PR + ORM

Step 3: Build a Hiring Canvas + Search Strategy
We translated the role into:

• functional capability stack (performance + LinkedIn + PR amplification + ORM)
• behavioral profile (CMO-facing, calm under ambiguity, narrative sensitivity, stakeholder gravity)
• ideal target environments (orgs with similar acquisition complexity and reputation surface area)

Step 4: Go-to-market with precision
We mapped organizations with comparable setups and targeted candidates who had already operated in:

• reputation-aware growth environments
• multi-brand / multi-division marketing
• leadership-facing roles where messaging errors have consequences

The Outcome

• We submitted one candidate.
• The candidate moved cleanly through the process.
• The role closed with an offer.

The internal TA team were working the role for months and were quite surprised!
So were we, honestly… but it validated the core point:

When a role is cross functional and high context, calibration beats volume.

Why This Worked

Traditional recruiting techniques fail on roles like this because teams base their search on titles & keywords.

We didn’t.

We searched for:

• the operating pattern
• the stakeholder environment
• the risk + ambiguity tolerance
• the blend of paid + comms maturity

That’s what made 1 submission possible.