Senior Project Director - Taylor Wimpey

What was the company?

Taylor Wimpey is one of the largest British based housebuilding companies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. They are a national builder with a local presence who take pride in building more than 15,000 high quality new homes a year across the UK.

What was the situation?

Lisa Taylor, Director of Key Accounts, was instructed by Taylor Wimpey to seek a Senior Project Director for a large joint venture regeneration scheme between Taylor Wimpey and York Road Winstanley Estate. This was a newly created role which needed to be filled by someone who had worked on large residential schemes with strong stakeholder management experience as well as ideally being MRICS qualified. During the pitch process, Lisa advised on the salary and package.

As Lisa used to walk past the company almost every day for 5 years, she was highly vested in the project and had a personal connection to the search.

Were there any challenges?

The main challenge was that the search took place during a candidate short market which occurred following the pandemic. Planning and social issues to tackle due to the regeneration project and scheme also provided to be a challenge.

What was the methodology?

To obtain this retained search, Lisa provided an array of solutions to source the best profiles. This included advertising, utilising deverellsmith’s data and research function, Linkedin Recruiter projects, harnessing her individual network and finally, conducted a colour-coded mapping project. The mapping contained different codes red, amber and green which was then presented back to the client in person, where they derived a shortlist of six individuals who were chosen for an interview.

What was the outcome?

With a personal touch, Lisa was able to execute filling the role successfully. Jonathan Watson who acted on behalf of Taylor Wimpey advised that Lisa has worked on a number of roles for him with great success. Jonathan mentioned her ability to identify a greater number of suitable candidates than other recruiters, as well as working quickly and communicating well throughout the process. Lisa and her team are Jonathan’s first choice for construction, project management and commercial roles.