A Safer Way to Hire Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders
Hiring a senior Procurement or Supply Chain leader is a high-impact decision.
Many hires look right on paper — but fail because the role is unclear, expectations are misaligned, or the process is too narrow.
We reduce these risks before and during the search.
Around 30% of leadership hires leave within 18 months.
Where hiring typically goes wrong
They start with:
- unclear role definition
- fragmented decision ownership
- assumptions about what "good" looks like
- limited access to relevant candidates
This is why many hiring decisions disappoint — even when the process appears structured.
Procurement and Supply Chain Have Become Business Critical Functions
For many companies, the biggest risks and opportunities no longer sit inside the business.
They increasingly sit outside:
- supplier relationships
- material and component access
- capacity and production constraints
- logistics and geopolitics
- resilience and speed of response
Growth depends on access. Margins depend on procurement. Customer service depends on supply chain. Operational performance depends on leadership.
Yet many companies still hire and organise these functions as if they were operational support roles.
That increasingly creates the wrong type of leadership.
Frank Godbersen & Partners reduces hiring risk before, during and after the search process.
Mandate Risk
Many leadership hires fail because the role is unclear before the search even begins.
Weak decision rights, poor reporting lines, unclear ownership and responsibility without authority create failure for even strong leaders.
We help define the role before hiring starts
Functional Understanding Risk
Generalist recruitment firms often do not understand Procurement and Supply Chain deeply enough.
This creates poor role calibration and weak candidate evaluation.
With more than 20 years of functional leadership experience, we understand the difference between a strong profile and the right hire.
Confidentiality Risk
Sensitive leadership changes require discretion.
When the current leader is still in place, the wrong process can create unnecessary disruption.
We manage confidential searches with protected communication and highly selective outreach.
Commercial Risk
A poor leadership hire is expensive.
Delay, underperformance, supplier dependency and lost momentum create costs far beyond recruitment fees.
Our fee structure and guarantee model are designed to reduce commercial risk and create confidence from day one.
Shortlist Risk
Internal hiring and network-based recruitment often create a shortlist that is too narrow.
The business ends up choosing between familiar names instead of the best available leaders in the market.
We benchmark internal and known candidates against the real external market.
Stakeholder Fit Risk
Many leaders fail because they cannot influence the people around them.
CEO, CFO, COO, Sales, Operations, Engineering and key suppliers often determine success more than technical competence alone.
We assess leadership fit within the full stakeholder system.
False-Positive Risk
The wrong candidate often looks right on paper.
Strong CVs, impressive titles and good interviews do not guarantee success.
We assess real leadership fit, business maturity fit and execution capability—not just experience.
Speed Without Control Risk
Many companies feel forced to choose between fast hiring and safe hiring.
That is a false choice.
We deliver speed without compromising quality, structure or decision confidence.
Onboarding Risk
Most recruitment firms stop when the contract is signed.
That is often where the real risk begins.
We support onboarding, transition and leadership integration to improve early performance and long-term success.
Safer Hiring Decisions
We make leadership hiring safer - before the search starts, during candidate assessment and after the new leader joins.
Because critical leadership decisions require more than recruitment alone.
