At a glance
- Time to delivery
- 6 weeks
- Shortlist
- ~20 candidates
- Finalists presented
- 2
- Location
- East Coast, USA
- Setup
- Remote + client travel
- Retention
- Still in seat after 15 months
The challenge
Hands-on electric infrastructure expertise meets client-facing consulting — in a market that didn't know the brand yet.
Our client was a growing company entering the US with a wireless charging infrastructure product. They needed an Engineering Project Leader to provide technical support to their business development manager — owning the engineering side of complex deployments across private and government clients on the East Coast.
The brief was deliberately narrow: candidates needed deep, hands-on experience with electric infrastructure and the seniority to consult clients in both private and public sectors on large, complex projects. Because the technology and the brand were both new to the US market, very few candidates were initially interested, and every shortlisted profile had to pass extensive fact checking before being introduced to the client.
The engagement
A focused professional search with heavy prescreening and fact checking.
We ran the mandate as a focused, time-boxed professional search. The market map covered EV and wireless charging, utilities, power electronics and grid-edge infrastructure players across the US East Coast — anywhere senior engineers had owned real, named electric-infrastructure projects with private and public clients.
Given how specific the brief was, we layered in heavy prescreening: structured technical interviews on electric infrastructure experience, deep dives into past projects with government and private-sector clients, and detailed fact checking on every claim before any candidate reached the client. The result was a tight, high-conviction shortlist rather than a broad CV pile.
Roles hired
One engineering leader to back up business development in the US.
Engineering Project Leader, US East Coast
Owns the technical side of US deployments for the wireless charging infrastructure product: supporting the business development manager on private and government opportunities, scoping projects with client engineering teams, and translating complex infrastructure requirements into deliverable programs. Remote role on the East Coast with regular client travel.
Candidate landscape
A narrow overlap between hands-on electric infrastructure and senior client-facing consulting.
Hands-on electric infrastructure engineers
Senior engineers with real, named project experience in electric infrastructure — power, grid, charging or related electric systems — who had built and delivered, not just specified from a desk.
Client-facing technical consultants
Profiles experienced enough to walk into a client and own the technical conversation on big, complex programs — comfortable with both private buyers and government / municipal stakeholders.
Government & private-sector project leaders
Engineers who had run projects across both private clients and public-sector entities, fluent in long approval cycles, procurement, and the realities of multi-stakeholder infrastructure work.
East Coast network with travel appetite
Candidates based on or anchored to the East Coast, comfortable with a remote setup combined with regular client travel across the region.
How we ran it
Six weeks, four phases.
- Weeks 1–2
Briefing & market mapping
Detailed kickoff with the client on the wireless charging product, the US go-to-market and the engineering profile required. Full mapping of senior electric-infrastructure engineers across the East Coast and adjacent US markets.
- Weeks 2–4
Outreach & fact checking
Direct outreach into a market that did not yet know the brand. ~20 candidates engaged and worked through structured technical interviews. Each profile went through extensive fact checking on prior electric-infrastructure work before being introduced to the client.
- Weeks 4–5
Finalists & client interviews
Two finalists presented with detailed assessments and references. Client interviews scheduled tightly, with full support on both sides through the decision process.
- Week 6
Offer & onboarding
Offer negotiated and signed inside the 6-week window. The new Engineering Project Leader joined to back up the business development manager on US deployments.
The outcome
Still in seat after 15 months — backing up US business development.
The hire joined as Engineering Project Leader and is still with the firm more than 15 months later — a strong retention signal for a senior, narrow profile placed into a brand that was new to the US market at the time of hire.
Day to day, the new leader provides technical support to the business development manager across private and government opportunities, owning the engineering scope of complex wireless charging infrastructure programs as the company builds out its US presence.
FAQ
Senior engineering hires for US market entry, answered.
- Why use professional search for a senior engineering hire in a new US market?
- When the brand is new and the profile is narrow, the right candidates are not actively looking and won't respond to job ads. Professional search reaches them directly, qualifies them deeply against a technical brief, and manages the process — especially important when fact checking and references matter as much as the CV.
- How do you assess hands-on electric infrastructure experience?
- We test for evidence of real, named projects — what was built, with which clients, with which constraints. Structured technical interviews and multi-source references focus on outcomes and accountability, not just titles or company logos.
- How did you get senior candidates interested in a brand new to the US?
- Confidential, well-prepared outreach explaining the product, the US opportunity and the role's technical scope. For senior engineers, the story has to be credible — we work with the client on the narrative up front so candidates can make an informed decision quickly.
- What did extensive fact checking look like in this search?
- Structured deep-dives on claimed projects, cross-referencing with public records and references where possible, and follow-up on the engineering specifics — scope, role, decisions owned. Every finalist had been validated before the client saw them.
- Can you support hires for remote-with-travel setups across the US?
- Yes. We regularly place senior individual contributors and leaders into remote or hybrid setups with regional travel, calibrating compensation, location flexibility and travel expectations as part of the brief.
Related
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