Case Study Snapshot
Role: Insurance Director
Sector: Fresh Produce
Geography: Latin America
Search Type: Retained Executive Search
Key Challenge: Finding senior insurance expertise within a highly limited regional talent pool, while adapting the brief as market evidence challenged the original assumptions
Outcome: Insurance Director appointed following an 11-week search
A specialist role the client had already struggled to fill
A global fresh produce business needed to appoint a standalone Insurance Director, creating a dedicated senior insurance role within the organisation for the first time.
The executive responsible for insurance had been managing it alongside a much broader risk remit for almost six years. The new appointment needed to take ownership of the insurance portfolio and allow that executive to concentrate fully on her wider responsibilities.
The client had already spent several months trying to fill the position directly. An internal LinkedIn advert generated 65 applications, but after a lengthy selection process, none resulted in an appointment. Their preferred candidate accepted the role before withdrawing five weeks later following a counter-offer. A second candidate's total compensation proved significantly higher than anticipated, while the third did not progress.
The experience highlighted some of the limitations of relying on an advertised process for such a specialised senior role. It had taken months to reach three potential candidates, yet the wider market remained largely unexplored. By the time LCR International was brought in, the HR Director was also leaving the business, leaving no internal resource equipped to run a global executive search.
What the Insurance Director needed to take on
The search focused on Latin America, with the successful candidate needing to be based within one of the client's key regional markets.
The successful candidate needed significant insurance experience and a strong technical background, ideally having begun their career within insurance broking before moving in-house.
The role also required someone who could operate independently. There was no large insurance department behind them, so the successful candidate needed to be comfortable working hands-on across the portfolio, communicating complex insurance issues clearly and building relationships with senior stakeholders across different countries.
Fluent English and Spanish were required, alongside experience working across international operations.
There was another important consideration. The person currently responsible for insurance would personally oversee the handover, making working style and chemistry particularly significant.
Why the original talent pool was so limited
The original brief created an extremely small talent pool.
LCR initially searched for insurance professionals who had moved from broking into an in-house position within fresh produce or agriculture across the client's target markets. The research quickly showed how few people matched that profile.
Fresh produce businesses within the region rarely employ a dedicated senior insurance leader. Many of the people with the right technical background were based elsewhere, while professionals within the target geography often held regional responsibilities beneath a global insurance leader.
LCR first tested the original brief against the market.
Seven calibration profiles were presented during the first steering meeting. Each represented a different trade-off, allowing the client to see what was genuinely available and decide where flexibility was possible.
That discussion changed the search.
Sector experience became flexible, while deep insurance expertise remained a firm requirement. The search expanded into adjacent industries including logistics, mining, energy, FMCG, chemicals and crop protection.
The title criteria also widened. Some relevant candidates were operating at the required level without holding an Insurance Director title, so searching by responsibility and experience revealed people who would have been missed by a conventional title-led approach.
A further issue emerged once interviews began.
The client felt some of the initial candidates lacked the level of seniority required. Interviews also showed that listed-company insurance knowledge needed to be tested more directly than originally anticipated.
These findings changed what LCR needed to assess.
Using market evidence to recalibrate the search
Because the assignment was retained, LCR had mapped the wider market from the beginning. That meant the team could recalibrate the search without discarding the work already completed.
Weekly steering meetings were used as working sessions with the client. Market evidence, candidate feedback and compensation information could be discussed as the search progressed, allowing the brief to develop around what the team was actually finding.
Following the initial calibration exercise, LCR expanded the sector criteria while keeping the agreed regional focus in place.
The assessment process was also refined. Candidates completed an initial screening interview followed by a structured competency interview covering the requirements of the role. English-language capability was assessed during both stages.
Compensation was examined in detail as well. Candidates confirmed their complete package, location, notice period and working arrangements in writing, giving the client comparable information before making decisions.
This was particularly useful because compensation had caused problems during the client's previous hiring attempt.
When the first client interviews exposed concerns around seniority and listed-company knowledge, LCR returned to candidates who had already been identified during the mapping process. Two people who had previously been parked because of cost considerations were brought back into the process within days.
The assessment questions were adjusted too, allowing LCR to test the newly clarified requirements directly in the remaining interviews.
In total, 46 candidates were mapped and six were shortlisted.
Six was deliberately higher than LCR's usual shortlist of three or four. Having recently lost a preferred candidate late in its own process, the client wanted greater comparison and credible alternatives available throughout the search.
Two candidates progressed to the final stage.
From 46 mapped candidates to a successful appointment
The client appointed an experienced risk and insurance professional based within the region.
The successful candidate had spent eight years with her previous employer, making resignation and counter-offer management an important part of the final stages of the search.
LCR remained closely involved after the offer was accepted, supporting the candidate through her resignation while keeping the second finalist engaged as a credible alternative until the appointment was secure.
The successful candidate joined the business following an 11-week retained search.
The appointment gives the executive who had carried insurance alongside her wider responsibilities for almost six years the ability to hand over that work and concentrate fully on her core remit.
The search also left the client with something it had not had during its original hiring attempt: a current view of the senior insurance talent available across its target markets, the experience that could realistically be found there and the compromises different candidate profiles required.
“We had an excellent experience from beginning to end. Emma took the time to understand the role, the skill set and the culture fit. LCR recruiting team provided excellent market insights and conducted a structured and professional methodology that enabled a smooth and efficient recruiting process.”
Senior leader, global fresh produce business
What this search showed about hiring specialist insurance talent
Sometimes the original hiring brief is only fully tested once it meets the market.
In this search, the first round of research showed that the client's preferred combination of sector, geography and insurance experience existed in very limited numbers. Later interviews clarified the level of seniority and listed-company knowledge the client needed.
Those discoveries could have triggered another restart.
Because the wider market had already been mapped and the client was reviewing the evidence with LCR throughout the search, the brief could develop without returning to the beginning. Candidates who had previously been set aside could be reconsidered quickly, and the assessment process could change as the requirements became clearer.
For a highly specialised appointment, that ability to learn from the market while keeping the search moving can be just as useful as the original brief.
