Victoria Jackson was in conversation with a leading space and satellite company. The Chief Legal Officer was trying to build her compliance team during critical growth and regulatory change. After instructing multiple recruitment agencies and running interview processes, the right candidate had still not been found. Victoria advised the company to retain a specialist head-hunter with substantive compliance experience and someone who would take time to understand their business, key risks, and goals. After a few meetings, the company decided to run a retained search and instructed Victoria to appoint their first Chief Compliance Officer.

Based in London, this person needed global compliance experience with a deep understanding of US government contracting and the US regulatory regime, particularly regarding sanctions, export control and FCPA. As the first compliance hire, the successful candidate needed well-rounded operational expertise and creativity to see beyond program creation and implementation. They would serve as a key partner to the Executive Committee and build a global compliance team, which would serve as a critical interface between legal, trade, risk, and senior leadership.

We identified and approached a targeted list of individuals, producing a shortlist of candidates from the aviation, defence, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors. The Chief Compliance Officer was promptly appointed, and Victoria subsequently built the global compliance team from generalist compliance hires to specialists in customs, trade compliance and sanctions.