A few of the placements we’re proud of. Names are left out on purpose. Discretion is part of the job.
We have worked with Yellow Bricks over the years to hire senior operators. They always deliver high-quality talent, the process is always straightforward with no surprises, and the team hold us to account. They have also been a good source of information, providing feedback and insight to the SLT on how our wider team hire and retain.
Hired on a pilot. Trust came back. The role went permanent.
The business had taken investment and the leadership team had changed. The workforce felt it. Trust was low, productivity was suffering, and the engagement survey came back at 64% satisfaction.
We placed a Chief People Officer on a pilot basis, with a clear brief: rebuild engagement, drive the culture, and work with senior and middle managers so the vision and mission for the next phase meant something to the people delivering it.
Within three months satisfaction had risen to 72%, and it’s still climbing. Attrition fell. The pilot became a permanent hire.
After investment, the numbers get the attention. It’s the people who deliver them.
Permanent hire. Still in post, years later.
There was no head of tax. Global tax was handled by external partners, and the PE house wanted someone in the business who owned it and understood tax across every market they operated in.
Seven interview stages in five weeks. Each stage made sense on its own, but together they felt disjointed and repetitive, with the same questions from different people. A strong candidate starts to wonder whether the business knows what it wants. Confidence drops, and the hire you wanted is suddenly at risk.
We found a high-calibre tax leader with the global breadth the investors were after. Then we stayed close: we talked them through each stage, explained what the business was really trying to find out, and kept them focused on the role rather than the process.
They accepted, and six years on they’re still there. The business made immediate tax savings, and the CFO got better data to run the business on.
Finding the right person is half the job. Keeping them on side through a long hiring process is the other half.
Hired before two acquisitions. Stayed through both.
A US founder needed a CMO who could take the business from good product to known name, someone whose thinking fitted the growth plan rather than just a strong CV.
We deep-screened more than 30 profiles before we found the one. It’s what it takes to find someone who fits the strategy, not just the job title.
Halfway through, the candidate received another offer, and the founder was pulled away onto a project. With the process stalled and a firm offer elsewhere, the candidate pulled out. We didn’t let it end there. We kept talking, kept them close to the opportunity, and brought them back into the process.
Eighteen months after joining, the company was acquired and the CMO stayed. Within a year it was acquired again, and they stayed again.
The best candidates usually have other offers. Part of our job is making sure the right one wins.
Started as a pilot. Proved the role. Signed off.
The business knew it needed a Chief Data Officer. Getting the role signed off was another matter, and approval was moving slowly. Waiting meant months with nobody in the seat.
They had budget for three months. So instead of waiting for approval, we suggested a pilot: put the right person in, let them show what the role could do, and give the decision-makers evidence instead of a business case.
We found a CDO who was comfortable starting on a pilot basis and set it up properly from the start. They knew exactly what it was and what they needed to show.
They added value from day one. Knowing it was a pilot made them focus on big goals early, rather than spending three months settling in. Sign-off was granted, and the role became permanent.
Sometimes the fastest way to get a role approved is to show what it can do.
500+ applicants. The hire came from none of them. Placed in six weeks.
This wasn’t a typical EA role. It edged into chief of staff territory: the CEO needed someone who understood the whole business, including partners, goals and what was coming next, well enough to act for them. The package matched that: a senior six-figure salary, plus equity and bonus.
The client tried to hire directly. The advert drew more than 500 applicants from all over the world, and with that much noise it became hard to focus on quality. The people who could really do this job weren’t looking. They were already doing it somewhere else.
We mapped the market for senior EAs against a clear brief:
We identified two people with exactly the talent we needed. Both were in post and not looking to move. We worked to earn their interest: we met each of them in person, talked them through the role and understood what they needed from their next move. Both came into the process on a basis of trust and mutual fit.
The role was filled within six weeks, and the EA was a huge success.
The best person for the job is rarely the one who clicked apply.
We choose Yellow Bricks because we get Abby’s input every time, as she oversees the process. We know they won’t leave any stone unturned, and the candidates they place with us stay 5x longer than those from other hiring methods.
Tell us about it. We’ll tell you honestly how we’d fill it, and whether we’re the right people to do it.
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