Successful Applications: Chair of a Leading Engineering Company

Anyone seeking out a board appointment is no stranger to competition, and the importance of securing every professional advantage is more pressing than ever at this level in your careers.

March marks the return of our successful applications series of articles where we look at some of the applications that earned our members key board roles on the Nurole platform to give aspiring board members a better impression of how to increase their chances at landing non-executive positions.

This issue’s candidate won a role as the Chair of a leading engineering company through an application that not only highlighted her wealth of professional experience relevant to the role specifications but also more transferable interpersonal skills and how those skills have yielded positive results in the boardroom.

Leading Engineering Company

Though the company asked to be anonymised, it sought a new Board Chair to help support its next stage of growth. The Chair for this role would need a firm background in enterprise software scale-ups with senior-level connections within the energy sector to negotiate new expansion opportunities.

Enterprise Software Scale-Up Experience

The successful candidate will demonstrate experience leading an enterprise software business through scale-up spanning a revenue range from £10 million to at least £100 million.

Brought in as chair for a founder-owned software business selling complex solutions to the social housing sector with [x] staff and a T/O of £ [x]m. The business was effectively loss-incurring with a tired and over-stretched management team.

I organised the introduction of a professional CEO to the business and a ‘good leaver’ exit for the incumbent. I instigated governance and boardroom disciplines and focused executive action on sales and customer relationships. I addressed longstanding drift in R&D expenditure and introduced a family non-executive director to the board after the retirement of the founder.

Profitability was restored to c. £[x]m EBITDA with a complete shift to a SAAS revenue model. I also brought an external advisor team to the business and commenced marketing to private equity for growth investment. The sale was completed to a trade buyer on an [x] EBITDA multiple as lockdown started in March 2020.

Energy and Natural Resources Network

The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong network among the energy, natural resources, and energy trading majors. Candidates will have a thorough understanding of the sector landscape and will be able to facilitate introductions with senior individuals with the authority to make decisions about strategic acquisitions.

Chaired for a £[x] turnover, [x] people deepwater trust port operating in container, renewable energy, dry bulk and automotive sectors. Part of a major infrastructure facility for the [x] region with links to local and national government economic development plans.

Over the first two years, we have had major changes in the executive team and are in the midst of a turnaround with challenging economic conditions. We recently won the contract to house the base for all [Company X] operations for the [Company Y] offshore wind farm. I have also been involved in a strategic government initiative as a deputy chair, which lays out a national strategy for all aspects of the maritime economy.

Board Chair Ready

Chairing a board involves responsibilities beyond the advisory aspects of being a non-executive director. If you have not previously chaired a board, please demonstrate your chair-readiness by listing the different boards, panels or committees that you have sat on, including details of whether you have either directly chaired or else deputised for the existing chair. If you already have significant chair experience, please detail this.

Chaired for a public body responsible for the management of over £500m committed to [x] venture and angel funds and £[x]bn in government-guaranteed loans to small businesses.

As part of my role, I was a member of the Advisory Board for the new [Company X] and was responsible for integrating [Company Y] activities and staff into the new body. Much of my focus was on orienting the staff of [Company Y] for this change as well as guiding the complex legal and commercial process of integration.

Merger or Acquisition Experience

The successful candidate will have experience leading or advising organisations in merger or acquisition processes, including evaluating potential targets, due diligence, negotiation, acquisition and integration.

I was the first external director in a founder-led health business contracting with the NHS for community-based services. In this role, I introduced a professional management team across all disciplines and board meeting routines. I negotiated the exit of a founding shareholder and director alongside changing banks. The business achieved sales of £[x]m with [x] staff.

Private equity investment was completed to fund further growth and founder de-risking on [x] EBITDA multiple in April 2020.

Covering Letter

I am an experienced chair who enjoys the complexity of working across sectoral boundaries and assisting organisations to establish resilient and credible strategies for success. My role at [Company X] is to cajole and convince the major banks and business groups into agreeing to a new, independent mediation service to resolve disputes between them, some of which are over a decade old. The parallels with [Company Y] encouraging established operators to embrace something new and different is exciting.

Originally a venture capitalist, my focus on entering a new organisation is to understand and learn about its people, key strengths, areas for development and the context in which it is operating. I am a generalist with experience in a wide range of sectors, types of organisation and stages of development.

My contribution is to help the senior leadership shape their future direction and provide challenges and support in pursuit of the strategic goals. I sense [Company Y] is at one of those major points of inflexion in the life of a business. It needs to step up into the next league and demonstrate real value and sustainability, not just novelty to its customers. When I started at [Company Z] there were no working relationships with external stakeholders, including customers.

New to the industry, I built rapport and trust; asking questions of key stakeholders, seeking their opinions and demonstrating I had listened. Within a year, I was asked to be Deputy Chair of [Company XYZ]’s expert panel, setting the strategy for a major government initiative. The following year [Company XYZ] was invited to join two influential industry groups. We worked hard to gain entry into both despite being much smaller than other international members.

Recognising the successful future of the company would rely on data systems and technology as well as cranes and silos, we launched an innovation centre which is open to the whole industry. This centre has raised our profile with all stakeholders, boosted internal staff confidence and enabled us to learn from others.

Again, [Company Y] may benefit from my experience of being the outsider, using networking and collaboration as a tool for growing partnerships. I have dealt with inappropriate behaviour in the boardroom and also experienced stakeholder pressure. Understanding the motivation behind the behaviour is often the key to resolving any conflict. Openness and transparency in the boardroom are crucial. I walked into a major health and safety culture of fear problem when I joined [Company XYZ] linked to a board investigation of senior managers. Within a year these were addressed and [Comapny XYZ] won external accolades for its approach.

I have led formal board investigations of disputes between senior employees and again worked hard to maintain the confidence and trust of all parties throughout the process. As a chair, one must live and breathe the values and behaviours espoused by the organisation.

You can see more of our Successful Applications series by clicking here.

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