“(Nicholson Glover) have been true partners in our various recruitment missions and have always been positive; upfront; professional; insightful; purposefully challenging(!) and just bloody good to have in our camp. I heartily recommend you get them into yours too!” – Founder and Global CEO, jump!

Who are jump!?

jump! is an innovation consultancy headquartered in Dublin, but with a budding team in London. They boast an impressive roster of clients, working with brands like Diageo, DAZN and Fitbit. They strive to help their clients come up with breakthrough ideas and concepts for innovation, whether that be in the realm of products, services, or business processes. They’re a small but mighty team that’s passionate about innovation, punching above their weight with major player clients. They stand out as a challenger innovation agency on the scene.

What did they need?

jump! wanted to make a big play to ‘own’ the front end of innovation, which is the space they typically operate in, meaning that they come up with unique ideas and concepts for innovation. They leave their clients with clear roadmaps, which serve as step-by-step guide for them to follow.

They were looking to hire a Head of Futures who would be responsible for building out intellectual property, in a bid to formalise jump!’s Futures offering. Thus, they needed to find someone with a clear idea of how Futures ties in with Innovation, someone with a unique vision as to how they could go against the grain and stand out against competitors, stepping outside the box and doing it differently. The ideal candidate would need to be able to embed tools like Horizon Scanning (for trends forecasting) and Scenario Planning. They would leverage these tools to adopt a different and exciting approach for clients.

Beyond this requirement, jump! were searching for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, with the ability to build a business from scratch. They would need to have leadership experience, which would stand them in good stead to lead a team and inspire new clients.

And yet, finding a candidate who fitted this profile was no easy task. They were seeking a business leader, someone with seniority and gravitas, who would be able to build a business from scratch and win clients, but simultaneously would need to roll up their sleeves, be hands-on with delivery, build out IP frameworks and then deliver on projects. 

How did Nicholson Glover help?

jump! came to Nicholson Glover with the task of finding them the ideal candidate for their Head of Futures role. We got to work straight away, speaking to every Futures person we knew of in the market from the get-go. Futures is a particularly niche market, a small sub-section of the insights sector, but an area that is very much on the rise.

As it was a new role, the profile of the ideal candidate was continually shifting, which meant the search lasted six months. It was an iterative process, and as a team, Nicholson Glover had to remain adaptable, learning as we were recruiting. The search was also complicated further by the fact that many criteria needed to be met, so there wasn’t much room for compromise.

Nicholson Glover shared 23 CVs, and 70% of candidates were put forward for interview. The team had to truly listen to the evolving needs of jump!, in order to put forward the best candidates possible. After a long recruitment process, Nicholson Glover ultimately found the perfect candidate, which led to a placement.